All About Home Sauna Kits

It seems everyone these days is talking about saunas. They are more popular than ever, with many people being exposed to them for the first time in their health club, weight lifting gym or at school. No matter where people find out about saunas, one thing is clear: People want their own sauna at home!

Many contractors now offer saunas as options in higher end homes, but for people who have existing houses and are not ready to buy or build a new house, often the answer is to buy a sauna kit.

When deciding to buy a sauna kit, the decision you need to make is where you are going to put your sauna: indoors or outdoors? In other words, will it be a room you convert, such as a large pantry or closet, or will it be a freestanding outbuilding? Both options are popular with different crowds, but most people will choose the indoor option whenever they can, especially if they live in a cold climate. Bundling up and walking through the snow to get to your sauna, just to strip all your clothes off can get old really quick.

When you decide to get your sauna kit, you need to take your budget in mind as well. If you are on an extremely limited budget, you may even opt for the very small and portable barrel sauna, or you may decide to go all out and get the redwood slats to lime the walls of your room if you are on a much larger budget.

Most sauna kits are extremely simple to put together, most being designed for the non technical layman. They come with detailed instructions and diagrams, and those that include the wood in the kit may even have the lumber labeled.

The choice of heater is a large consideration when buying a sauna kit, with the most popular option being the electric heater. The electric heater has a thermostat, a timer, adjustable controls and gauges designed to make everything as simple as possible. Some heaters will require special wiring, while others will merely plug into your existing outlet in the wall. These days, a lot of people are talking about far infrared heaters as the wave of the future, but so far, they have not made their way into many sauna kits.

Imagine the joy of no longer having to go to the health club or pool to enjoy a nice sauna bath! Get the right sauna kit and you can enjoy that sauna in the privacy of your own home.

What is it about saunas?

If you were a contractor who built new houses, it would seem to you that all anyone wants are saunas, saunas and yet more saunas! It is one of the most requested add ons in custom built houses and many of the most popular do-it yourself projects involve saunas, whether it is building one in your back yard, or converting a room in your house.

What is the deal with saunas? What does everyone know about saunas that you do not? In this article, we will discuss the history of saunas, the use of saunas and several different types of saunas, so you will then know the scoop on saunas too!

Saunas have existed in Finland for centuries, starting as holes cut in the side of hills and lined with wood, and heated by coals in a fireplace. They have evolved over the centuries to separate rooms in most Finnish houses that are wood lined and airtight. The air in the rooms is heated to about 200 degrees (f) or more and the bather (sitting in saunas is called taking a sauna bath) sits naked on a bench, and sweats. A lot.

The traditional Finnish sauna bath is a multi step process, that begins with rinsing yourself off. Then, you strip naked and sit on a wooden bench (you may have a towel about you, but you want to avoid constrictive elastic). The air in the room is super heated and has very low humidity, so the bather will begin to sweat profusely. The bather's pulse rises, their core body temperature rises and they begin to rid their body of clogged pores and harmful toxins. In traditional saunas, the bather will swat their skin with birch branches to stimulate the circulation.

After you have endured all you can of the heat, the bather will then jump in a pool of cold water, run under a shower or, in traditional Finnish saunas, dive into a deep snowbank! This rapidly decreases the body temperature, causing the body to rapidly adjust itself. This is then followed by a relaxing cold drink such as beer or soda while your body temperature normalizes, before you go back to the sauna to do it all again.

The two main types of saunas these days are those heated by an electric heater, which has been popular since the sixties, and the far infrared heater, which is a newer development in the last several decades. Both have adherents, but ultimately there is little difference between the end results.

Now, the next time saunas come up in conversation, you will be in the know!

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