Home Sauna kits
Home Sauna kits
Although once considered a luxury purchase, home saunas are now very affordable and they come in a variety of forms using different stoves or heater types.
The traditional sauna is called a Finnish sauna, a reflection of its origins in Finland where the sauna experience is a social activity and a part of everyday life. Taking a sauna is so popular in Finland that the number of saunas in the country roughly equates to its population.
The Sauna Kit
Until quite recently, the sauna goer had to visit a communal sauna for the hot and invigorating experience of a sauna or a steam shock.
Today however, you can purchase a home sauna kit that can take the form of either, a sauna lining with benches and a heater (known as a material kit), or a complete structural sauna with walls and even a roof.
Saunas of the latter type can be bought in an almost fully assembled state requiring only an hour or two to complete and locate. These pre-fab saunas can even take the form of a log cabin and stand independently in a garden or back yard.
Material Sauna Kits
Material sauna kits are exactly what their name suggests – a kit of materials that allow a room, or part thereof, to be transformed into a sauna room.
These sauna kits include all the materials necessary to line a room, provide bench seating, racks or rails for towels, and a heating unit or stove for the sauna effect (plus rocks). The sauna kit materials are always primarily of wood, of which several varieties can be suitable. The stove can be fired by gas, wood burning or (normally) electric power.
However, a recent innovation in the world of home saunas has seen the introduction of infrared sauna heaters. These heaters are an alternative to the stove units and they use infrared rays to radiate heat directly to the skin. These heaters require no heat-up time, no cooling-off period and they do not generate ambient heat or a humid environment. They produce an almost artificial sauna experience by making the skin feel hot, even though the air temperature is not. They also offer very low running costs.
Pre-fab Sauna Kits
Prefab sauna kits are much more complete sauna kits than material kits and they are usually self supporting and include a roof. These kits only require the connecting of prefabricated units, i.e. the walls, floor and roof, to complete the fabrication.
Pre-fab saunas tend to be more for outside use and they also favour the stove heater rather than the infrared heater.
The stoves themselves work by heating rocks on the top of the stove. These Finnish saunas are often called hot-rock saunas, and they create a warm and sweaty environment. This type of sauna stove also allows the addition of water to the hot rocks for the generation of steam. This is called a steam shock and is highly popular in the sauna’s native Finland.
Cost and Assembly Complexity
A sauna material kit is assembled indoors and it can take two or three days to complete. No special ventilation requirements are necessary and an opening window will provide sufficient air flow. These kits are cheaper than prefab kits, but they are not stand-alone rooms and they require a proficient level of DIY skill to assemble.
Pre-fab sauna kits are supplied in a near complete state and only rudimentary assembly skills are required.
The cost of either sauna kit type will be determined by the kit and heater size and the quality of materials (namely wood) used in the kit.