Building a sauna, what to consider
When you plan to build a sauna and build each "panel by panel", there are a lot of things to consider. Good planning gives an excellent result, as the saying goes, and there are a lot of things to think about before construction starts. Here you will find some guidelines and what you should take into account when you build a sauna.
Sizing" How many people will use the sauna at the same time"
The price " Deciding on materials and design"
The locations" Internal ceiling height of the sauna"
Sauna heater"The right aggregate strength for the volume you have"
Ventilation" Proper ventilation makes for the best sauna baths"
Sauna doors" Modern or classic look "
Bastulave" Durability and easy to clean"
Bastu panel " Luxury wall panelling or traditional"
Basturitning" Facilitates work "
If you're not going to opt for a ready-to-assemble sauna room and build a sauna from scratch, there are a few things to consider, as we explain here.
Choosing the right location for your sauna?
Where you choose to build a sauna is entirely up to you and you can basically build it anywhere, the only real requirement is that the sauna's internal dimensions are not less than 190 cm in internal ceiling height and that the heater, if powered by electricity, is not near a shower.
The ceiling height of a sauna is important.
In the 1960s and 1970s, it was popular to buildsauna which were large and with high ceilings sometimes up to 2700 -2800 mm but then electricity was also cheap so electricity consumption was not so much taken into account. With a large space, the room used to be filled with various things that you can store in the home, shoes, clothes, etc. and thus the sauna was not so easy to use. On the other hand, it takes a long time to heat up and costs a lot of money. Today, a sauna is used more as a health tool or for pure enjoyment and then you should be wise in your judgement about the ceiling height in your sauna.
One or two heights of sauna wood?
There is no rule about whether there should be just 2 heights of sauna lichen (bench). If you are now planning to have an internal ceiling height of 2200 mm and above, it can be good with two heights, but we see that more and more people are choosing not to use the top lichen today just to get the ceiling height down and with it get a faster heating and a more efficient sauna that is more energy efficient.
Size matters
When you decide on the height of your sauna, it should not be because you are going to sauna with your friends over the crawfish boil, but you should have an effective sauna all year round is our recommendation. Think about how you and your family will use it and how many people will normally be using it at the same time. The size, i.e. the total volume of a sauna, is related to which heater you should choose to get the most efficient sauna possible.
Sauna heater power and function.
All too often we get a support question from customers who have been recommended the wrongsauna heater with the result that it takes a very long time to heat up or that the heat is not a soft and comfortable heat. Most often this is because the seller has not taken into account the total volume of the sauna or has not taken into account whether customers have tiles or large glass surfaces in their sauna. For every cubic metre in your sauna, you should expect to have 1 kilowatt per 1.3 cubic metres of room volume. An example 2 x 2 x 2 metres =8M3 /1.3= you should have at least 6.15 KW for your sauna heater. These are the recommended heater outputs from the manufacturers and they are based on a "normal sauna" with wooden panelling and wooden door and with the right insulation in the wall and ceiling. So if you build a sauna with a lot of glass or with tiles as a wall construction, it requires a higher power on the heater than the recommended volume of the sauna heater. As a rule of thumb, for every m2 of glass/tile, you should add at least 0.5 to 1 KW. If the sauna example above had a wall surface of 2x2 metres of glass, you should increase the power of the heater by about 2 to 4 KW.
Operation of a sauna heater
If you have now calculated the best output for you, there are other things to consider. How should you control the unit with on/off switching. There are internal controls, i.e. a keypad on the unit with on/off and heat selection or an external control that is managed on a control panel that you usually put on the outside of a wall. With an external control panel, you get a better overview of time setting and temperature setting and with it also a safer sauna as you do not "forget" to switch off the sauna after use. The external control panels send a signal to the heater and the temperature sensor in the sauna about which degree you have set it to and how long you want to use it. Today there is a large selection of control panels with various functions. The right control panel is the one that is adapted to the strength of the heater you choose. More recently, we also have units and control functions that are controlled by an "app" on your mobile phone. This may be suitable for you if you are often stuck in a traffic jam on your way home from work and are a little cold and want the sauna to be ready for use when you get home.
How should the stone be stacked?
Use the sauna stone in the sauna heater, which is a well-known, solid block stone intended for sauna heaters. Note that it is forbidden to use porous stone or light ceramic stone, as this may cause overheating and damage the heater's heating elements. Start by stacking the sauna stones on the bottom of the heater's stone box and in such a way that they support each other but also leave room for air circulation. The stones must not be packed too tightly, but the heater must still be filled up around the heating elements. Once the stones are in place, a first run should be started to eliminate moisture and odours.
Large stone coffins with a lot of stone give a softer heat?
Finns are rarely wrong when it comes to sauna heaters. Most Finns strive to make their saunas as soft and warm as possible. A large stone chest and plenty of water will go a long way. A softer heat is achieved with a heater that has a stone box weighing 50 kilos or more, i.e. the weight of the sauna stones in the heater. If you have a larger stone chest, you usually sauna at lower temperatures 65 to 75 degrees as the water evaporates via a larger amount of stone and therefore gives that softer sauna heat.
What is the lifespan of the sauna stones?
The use of a sauna is essential, it simply depends on how much you use it. If you only use your sauna a few times a week, you should change the stones once a year. You can extend the life of the stone by restacking the stones from time to time as they break down with use and can cause the stone dust to settle and seal so that there is not a good air flow. A good air flow gives the unit a longer lifetime. Good air circulation is a prerequisite for the proper functioning of a sauna stove and increases the life of the stove thanks to the lower surface temperature of the stove.
Getting the right ventilation in a sauna
Ventilation to a sauna is important and as a rule of thumb you should either place the heater on the same side as the door or have a ventilation hole in the wall under the heater. A supply air valve is usually placed directly under the heater and usually has a diameter of 125 mm and for larger bathing facilities around 300 mm in diameter. For a family sauna, it may be sufficient to place the heater next to the sauna door, leaving a few millimetres under the door leaf to provide ventilation. An exhaust air vent should always be the same diameter as the supply air vent and should be placed high on the wall or ceiling to ensure good ventilation of fresh air. You should not have the exhaust vent directly into the open air as this can mean that the sauna does not get hot with too high an air exchange rate. The exhaust air vent should open into the same area as where the supply air comes from. In this way, the air is continuously renewed in the space where the supply air comes from because there is always a negative pressure indoors.
Building saunas and installing sauna doors
There is a very wide choice ofsauna doors in all its forms, from the classic old wooden doors to more modern doors with aluminium frames and tempered glass of different shades and colours. What you should look at first and foremost is the frame size you want when building your sauna. Note that the frame size is not the exact size of your door's leaf size, they are always in a smaller size. Frames can be chosen in the same type of wood as you choose for your sauna panel and if you want to build a more modern sauna, a door with an aluminium frame may be more right for you.
Bastulave, in other words, the sauna bench.
When you start to sketch out the dimensions of your sauna, you soon realise how much space you have left for the sauna lichen. We are all different and have different requirements for how the lava should be made. Some people want to build a sauna with an "L" shape, i.e. a long bench with a shorter side bench, similar to an "L". Others may want a "U" lava, which is a long bench with side benches on each side, like a simple "U". The choice of material is important if you want a long lifespan and a comfortable bench to sit on without a lot of sharp edges or surfaces. A sauna bench in heat-treated wood provides a maintenance-free bench for many years to come and also prevents "sweat stains" from appearing. Asauna leaves should be treated a few times a year with sauna lava cleaning and sauna lava oil for best durability. You can choose to build a lava with loose wood or you can order ready-made lichens that are easy to assemble and cut to your own measurements and therefore save a lot of unnecessary construction time.
Choice of sauna panel
When it comes to sauna panelling, there are requirements that the panel must be in good condition, by which we mean that it must be made of a durable material that is virtually knot-free. Knots in the panel are something you want to avoid as it weakens the durability of the wood. The wall panelling should also be free of resin, which knots can produce when heated. Some prefer lightbassupanelSuch as aspen wood, while others want a darker panelled wall in, for example, Al or heat-treated wood. recently, cedar has also become a very popular element in the sauna, partly for the good aroma and for the unique grain of a genuine wood such as cedar. Building saunas with mixed types of wood has become fashionable, why not have a nice background wall in cedar panelling or a sauna leaf in heat-treated wood, which is a darker type of wood mixed with a light aspen panel.
Large range for those who want to build a sauna
In our range you will find what you need to get a successful result. If you need help and advice, you are always welcome to contact us. If you have a basic drawing with measurements, we can help you calculate how much panelling, lichen and mouldings you need. After that you can get a quote from us, we have helped many people get a good result when they want to build a sauna.
Here you will find the various details you need to build a sauna