Benefits of At-Home Saunas
At-home saunas add a healthy, tranquil touch to the home and are a popular luxury among homeowners looking to relax.
Looking for a way to relax, improve your health and add luxury to
your home? Consider installing a personal sauna. There are a variety of
options, from easy-to-assemble kits to prefabricated outdoor retreats.
Our tips will take the guesswork out of choosing the right sauna for
you.
Dry vs. Wet
Traditional Finnish saunas
are heated with wood stoves, on top of which rocks are piled. The rocks,
usually of volcanic material, become very hot and, when ladles of water
are poured over them, make clouds of steam known as löyly in Finland.
The löyly increases the humidity in the sauna. Finlandia Sauna's Reino
J.A. Tarkianinen says Finns typically take a shower, enter the sauna and
stay in the dry heat for 10 minutes. Then they pour water on the hot
stones to ramp up the humidity. Most Finns visit the sauna three times a
week for about 30 minutes because they enjoy its benefits.
Sauna Benefits
Publications
like The American Journal of Medicine and Harvard Men's Health Watch
have claimed that saunas can reduce a host of ailments, from stress to
illnesses, caused by environmental toxins. Dr. Lawrence Wilson,
nutrition and lifestyle consultant in Scottsdale and Prescott, Ariz.,
documented sauna benefits during a yearlong intensive infrared sauna
therapy program in 2002, which he detailed in his book, Sauna Therapy.
"We
could really improve people's health if we could get them to use
saunas," he says. Dr. Wilson works with the elimination of toxins, such
as lead, mercury and nicotine, and says a sauna can dramatically speed
up their elimination, though it does take time. "It takes a couple
months of sauna therapy just to fix your skin," he says, "It's like
flushing your skin a couple times a week. Compared to most treatments
it's very safe — if it's done sensibly."
The basis is the heat —
whether from infrared saunas or traditional saunas — which raises the
heart rate and creates sweat, clearing toxins from the skin. "There
aren't many methods of getting these chemicals out of your body," says
Dr. Wilson. In addition, the increased heart rate releases a variety of
hormones, like endorphins, known to reduce stress. Using a sauna also
can help make breathing easier when you're congested.
While
clinical studies show that saunas temporarily soothe sore muscles and
arthritis pains, Reino recommends talking to your doctor first. "We
don't promote a sauna as something that's going to cure someone's
health," he says. And Dr. Wilson doesn't recommend using a sauna for
children under the age of 5, pregnant women or those with a disease
aggravated by heat. After you've cleared it with your doctor, there are a
variety of options for building or buying your own personal sauna.
When installing a sauna, first consider whether you want it outdoors or indoors.
Oudoor Saunas
If
building outdoors, you can alter an existing structure by adding
insulation, benches and a heat source for around $1,500. If converting
an out-building isn't an option, consider building a new one. This is a
project for an experienced builder but if you're game there are several
excellent books on the market, including Bert Jalasjaa's book, The Art
of Sauna Building.
A simpler alternative is to purchase a sauna
kit, which comes with snap-together wall sections and a roof, which you
assemble on site. You provide the waterproof pad (concrete, tile or
vinyl) and the electricity.
One such example is the Finlandia
Prefabricated Room (FPF). The standard walls are made of grade A Western
red cedar. They are shipped in sections, which you snap together. The
roof package includes rafters, plates, shingles, hardware and
instructions for assembly. The FPF is available in sizes ranging from 4 x
4 feet to 8 x 8 feet to accommodate more than one person.
Indoor Saunas
Indoor
saunas come in similar configurations, though with flat ceiling panels
instead of a roof. Choose a precut sauna package, also from Finlandia
Sauna Inc., which includes everything you need to build the sauna: the
heater, lights, door, flooring and water dipper. These kits are cut to
your specifications. A typical 4 x 6 foot precut sauna is about $2,700
when you buy through a wholesale contractor.
Don't be intimidated
by all the pieces or the price tag. "Building a custom sauna out of the
panel package maybe takes you a weekend," says Reino. And you'll get
more than do-it-yourselfer pride: "They (sauna) could last as long as a
house does," he says.
If you're not the handy type, go for a
prebuilt, freestanding sauna for around $3,000, available from the Sauna
Warehouse. All you supply is the nonporous floor, the electrical
service and the towels.
If space is a consideration, try a
portable or "knockdown" sauna, which comes in two pieces and can be
snapped together or taken apart quickly and easily (starting at about
$3,200). Reino recommends saunas sizes 4 x 6 feet and up, to leave
enough room for the sauna bather to lie down. Heat distributes evenly
over the entire body when lying down, as opposed to sitting, he says,
and makes for a better sauna experience.
Whichever sauna location
you choose, the material your sauna is made of is very important. Avoid
lumber that is 1/2 inch, as it may shrink when the sauna is used,
leading to deterioration of the room, says Reino. Finlandia Sauna's
standard is 1-inch lumber.
Sauna enthusiasts have several options
in heat sources, including wood stoves and electric stoves. Wood stoves
are probably best in an outdoor sauna, because they need ventilation.
But you also must be willing to cart in wood, feed the fire and clean
out ash periodically.
Because of their ease of use, electric
stoves are the most popular choice in the United States, and are
supplied with most sauna kits. Finlandia Sauna Inc. now sells an Ever
Ready AV heater for $1,500, which heats a sauna immediately without the
30-minute lag time. The heater's 250 pounds of rocks are kept at high
temperature at all times, making the sauna an instant luxury any time of
day.
If you can't handle intense heat, consider the infrared
sauna, which uses infrared radiation to heat the skin. Air temperatures
in an infrared sauna can be 70 degrees, and you'll still sweat because
the light warms your body instead of the air. Dr. Wilson's patients have
used saunas with great success, including a cosmetologist whose adult
acne cleared up after two days of infrared sauna use. Dr. Wilson does
warn against claims that say you can lose weight in infrared saunas:
"You lose water weight, but then you jump out and drink water and gain
it back."
Whether you chose to go traditional, or explore the
options of an infrared lamp, modern saunas come from a long line of
predecessors in every major civilization. Choose one that's right for
your lifestyle and you'll be enjoying the benefits in no time.
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