Sauna Stove
What Is A Sauna Stove?
There is a common misconception in the world of saunas that a sauna stove is
the same thing as a sauna heater. This is not the case. A heater is a multi
purpose device used to heat up rocks for all kinds of saunas, whether Turkish,
Swedish or Finnish. A sauna stove is specific only to Finnish saunas, and is
quite distinct for several reasons.
A heater is an electronic device. A stove is most often a barrel or an ancient
smoke stove. Both aim to store mass amounts of heat in a pile of rocks for a
long time. However, a stove keeps this temperature a mild 60-80 degrees. The
feeling of warmth you get is derived from pouring water onto these stones.
Saunas that use stoves need to have some sort of ventilation system (most often
a chimney) due to the fact that they use wood as their source of fuel. Obviously
wood makes smoke and breathing in smoke is very bad for you.
Because the stove is the heart of any authentic Finnish sauna so if you are
building one please spare no expense with the stove. It and it alone is the
prime-determining factor in your level of enjoyment. If it burns out of control
and you cannot control the temperature of your sauna, its healing properties
are useless.
Generally men prefer hotter sauna stoves then women or children, so you should
be aware of who is planning on using your sauna before buying the stove. While
a Finnish presents very little health risk to those who are enjoying it, you’ll
want everyone to be as comfortable as possible, while still getting maximum
benefit from the device.
Benefits of A Sauna Stove
Luckily, stoves are usually safer than heaters. The casing of a stove never
gets burning hot, unlike a heater. If you have children in the sauna they will
undoubtedly be curious about the stove and the soothing steam shooting off of
it. While they should never touch it, on the odd chance that they do, they will
not be badly injured.
Stoves also consume less energy than a heater. This difference is, when a heater
is turned on it immediately begins heating the entire sauna. This can be wasteful
if people are not in there using it. A stove on the other hand, sits and simmers
as it builds heat. The stove with a closed lid will store the heat until it
is needed. When it is needed, simply raise the lid and all the heat is released.
Having a stove will also save you money on paneling. If panels are kept too
hot for too land, as they are in a dry heater sauna, the paneling dries up and
cracks. This may result in having to change the paneling every two years.
