Recreating Traditional Wood Fire Saunas
Heaters for wood fire saunas do not refer to a ring of stones
around an open fire. You can buy a wood burning sauna heater for your outdoor
sauna from a number of online retailers. The smell of the dry birch and the view
of the flickering fire through the glass door really add to the enjoyment of the
sweating session as you soak up the heat.
A wood burning heater is the traditional stove most
home sauna owners prefer. The wafts
of steam, the humidity and heat in a sauna help to improve your senses. The
smell of the cedar of the sauna itself combined with the scent of a birch fire
helps you to sit back and relax in comfort. The glow and crackle of a wood fire
provides a homey feeling that an electric heater just doesn’t provide.
A wood burning heater won’t take up any more room in your sauna than an electric
or gas fired stove. Most stoves are made of cast iron with a stainless steel
exterior heat shield. Some sauna room
heaters come with an optional glass door and attached water tank as a
convenient source of hot water to pour on top of the rocks. Look for a stove
with a large rock capacity and heating elements that come into direct contact
with the rocks to produce the desired soothing steam.
A wood fired heater is the traditional method of heating a Finnish sauna. Some
builders in Finland incorporate an electric and a wood burning stove into their
design. The electric heater is more convenient for everyday use, whereas the
former is used for the ritual of a traditional Finnish sauna bath on weekends or for special occasions such as mutual
bathing with friends.
The wood fired sauna stove you install in your sauna must be UL certified and
do-it-yourself builders should follow installation instructions carefully with
regards to distances from interior surfaces and other safety considerations.
Make sure you select the correct stove for the area that needs to be heated and
consider that some of these wood burning heaters can weigh in excess of 200 lbs.
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