This video is quite informative but in my opinion overlooks few thing. I'm finnish architectstudent and have designed planty of saunas. Here is something that came to mind when watching the video: The ceiling height of a sauna is usually 2200-2500 millimeters. The height between the seating level and the interior ceiling is 1050-1300 millimeters. Traditionally, the height of the sauna and the vertical dimensions of the benches are determined by the height of the sauna heater's stone surface, as the goal is for the person sitting on the bench to be higher than the sauna stones, including their feet. The heater can also be placed higher than the level intended for feet, in which case the seating surface must be wide enough to allow the feet to be lifted up, or a separate railing can be built in the sauna on which the feet can rest. An oversized heater in terms of heating power can help keep a relatively small space warm even below the level of the stones, but in this situation, the feet cannot enjoy the steam. A common issue with Finnish saunas is that Finns have many different opinions on what makes a good sauna and good steam. The most important aspect of a sauna is the quality of the steam, which can be influenced by the size of the heater, air circulation, and the shape of the sauna room. Saunas are often also used for cleansing, so a good sauna should also have washing and dressing facilities. I am no means master builder nor designer with great experiense. Message that I want to deliver is that there is many ways to build and use saunas and it is form of art.
I love your message. I think that tent saunas are a perfect example of how simple but effective saunas can be. Regarding the “feet at rock level”, I agree that this is ideal, however you basically need a building as tall as a cathedral, which is not the case even in most saunas in Finland. The löyly here in Far North Queensland is excellent due to the humidity of the tropics especially during the wet season. Thanks for your message!
I am building a sauna now in Portugal on my little farm...budget is major issue, got great 28 mm pine grooved wood, cement floor...but not decided about ceiling yet...limited height ..is it ok to have a slanted ceiling 1.9 m on one side and 2.1 m on other side ..or should I have a flat ceiling (all 1.9m) ..the sauna is small 1.7 m x 2.1 m ...going for a wood stove with chimney out the side of the wall...so much to learn ...want to do this right
If you want to go with Finnish sauna. You should have air inlet below heater and outlet opposite side of sauna on wall quite high up.. When sauna is heating fresh cold air rises from inlet and spreads around sauna! Also if it's wooden heater it needs fresh air also, so it won't suck air that you are breathing.. You can have adjustable cover over outlet, but probably should not close it all the way.. As fresh air flow it really important for good sauna experience! When you throw Löyly, always some water seeps through heater to floor. So it's recommended to have a floor drain. Also you should clean "lauteet" the wooden platform you sit on, quite often. Depending how often you use sauna (weekly to monthly). Best practice would be to spray water over them after every use, as sauna is still warm they will dry quite fast. There are product made for cleaning saunas, as they don't use harmful chemicals which later evaporates into the breathing. As for spray water over "lauteet", it's mainly to wash out sweat which will make them last longer.
As for actual use of sauna, stay in as long as it feels good, then go outside to cool down. For us Finns it's quite common to go back and fort between sauna and lake to swim (summer or frozen hole in lake or sea). If there is no lake/sea near by just sit outside and cool down and then go back in. Some of us like to drink water while inside and outside of sauna, as it will make you last longer (quite recommended). Quite often that water is beer, especially when sauna:ing with a group of friends. Some might say it's not recommended drink beer while using sauna. IF it would be catastrophically bad, Finns would have gone extinct, as common it is.
Actually we have an air inlet all over the sauna because there is a 2cm gap between the wall and the floors. There is also an outlet on the opposite corner from the heater. This works amazingly well here in the tropics, where the temperatures rarely go below 15 degrees celsius. The tropical humidity makes the löyly incredibly pleasant
In a good sauna, the surface of the lower benches should be at the same level as the stones in the sauna. Good ventilation is an essential part of a good sauna experience. Is it sufficient in your sauna?
Did you watch the video? :) The ventilation is excellent, there is a gap between the floor and the walls surrounding the entire building. Secondly, "in a good sauna, the lower benches should be at the same level as the stones of the sauna" might work if you have a room the height of a cathedral. Having been in dozens of great saunas in Finland, more often than not, this is not the case.
@@coachpyry I have build several saunas in my life and noticed that sauna must be big enough, have to had good ventilation, benches have to be high enough, toes higher than kiuas stones and you have to use whisk. All my saunas haven't been like cathedral. Also the amount of stones must be at least 80 - 100 kilograms. There should also be a nice cooling area and a lake or hot tub nearby. Of course, you can compromise on something if you don't strive for perfection.
Would have been nice if you focused less on the dog and the hassles with the distributor, and more on details like: What are you insulating the roof with, what are you sealing the floor with? Interesting video, but for someone who wants a detailed guide to building a sauna and advice on what to look out for...this video is not that helpful. You spent 3 minutes just on the "wrong chimney color" issue.
Fantastic question. We did use a vapour barrier but no insulation. No insulation for two reasons, both related to the fact that I live in the tropics. Firstly, it's quite humid here. The ambient humidity is great for the löyly. Secondly, the annual lowest temperatures are around 10 degrees at night. I usually use the sauna in the evenings and the Harvia heater has more than enough horsepower to heat the room even on the coldest day of the year. What kind of a sauna build are you planning on?
@@coachpyrymakes sense. I live in Ireland where there is summer only a couple of days per year. My small build is insulated with 6kw electrical heater. All good.
@@alexklim76 Hi Alex, I live in Dublin myself and thinking of building a sauna. Is 6kw electrical heater enough? Can you share please your sauna dimensions and how long it takes to heat the room with 6kw? What is the electricity coast for one sauna use? Thanks.
@@eugene9937 my internal dimensions are 1800x1600x2100. As per sauna calculator 6 kw is enough for my sauna, but please do your research for this and make sure there is insulation, vapour barrier, furring strips etc. glass door is considered as a heat loss factor. Depending on the desired temperature in the sauna and the temperature outside it can take up to 40-60 minutes to heat up to 65-90 degrees C. I like it hot but most times I take it easy with more humidity at a lower temps. Electricity costs depend on the duration of your sauna session, how often you come in and out, your rate per kw and time of the day. I have 4 tariffs throughout the day. Let’s say I heat up for 1 hour and sauna for 2 hours with 3-5 sessions and tea, cold plunge in between. You may use appprox 18 kw or less with 6 kw heater. Add another 30-60 minutes to bake the sauna empty after use to dry and clean so you may get about 24 kw. Multiply to your rate and this will be your cost.
@@coachpyry yeah i am, live in perth but materials will be similar to qld, more similar than to finland at least haha Im trying to read/watch content from the Scandinavians etc as it seems a lot of stuff is wrong compared to what you guys have to say! Apart from the ventilation, seat height, head room, speccing the right size heater- are there any other obscure things to consider(apart from the method of building)?
Remember to check that your woodtype us safe for high temperatures．For example Pine with high resin content - Can release respiratory irritants and strong odors when heated．
Hi, Great video thanks, I’m about to start a Finnish Sauna build in my garden in Wales on a concrete slab. What did you seal the floor with and were you worried about the heat and off gassing of any chemicals from it?
I'm glad to hear that; that's awesome! We sealed it with Dulux Concrete & Paving Stages 1, 2, and 3. That's a good point, but as long as you have good ventilation at the bottom, the floor will never get that hot. Especially in Wales, the ambient air should be cool enough year-round. Even here in the Australian tropics, the floor and the bottom rung of the sauna are significantly cooler than the top rung even when the room is at 75-80 degrees Celsius, and I'm throwing löyly. What heater are you going to use?
Ah brilliant that’s great thanks. The concrete slab goes down next week so I’ll get on it. I have to use a 9kw Electric heater, can’t burn logs unfortunately due to proximity of neighbours. I was thinking of a Harvia Cilindro or a Huum Drop because of the larger stone capacity. I have about the same height as you internally, about 2.2m and not sure if a tower heater would work or I should go with something lower to be sat more above it.
@@Jason-rk4xc Oh, that's a shame about wood burning. Can't recommend Harvia highly enough. The most important thing is 110cm from the top seat to the roof. I think that a tower heater would work perfectly. It's better to have too much horsepower than too little. You can easily adjust the settings if the löyly is too intense for your liking, but the opposite is not true if the heater is not strong enough for the size of the room/your liking. What is the m3 size of the room?
Got it, I’ll make sure it’s 110. The room is 8.8 m3. Small changing room and a cold plunge tub under a porch. No drain in the sauna room though, so I suppose I’ll just mop up. I see you don’t have one either?
@@Jason-rk4xc I don't, and haven't needed one because the airflow is so good (Notice how we left the entire bottom of the sauna open). Just make sure you throw most of the water on the rocks😀. Dripping from the could plunge will probably make it a bit wetter. I'm going to set up one too. Very excited!
@@coachpyry Thankyou, I'm a Chippie, and want to build a Sauna as well after using my mate's barrel sauna when I stayed the for a while, it also has a Harvia wood burner and it was amazing.
@@-PORK-CHOP- Nice! Harvia heaters are the best. So far very strong recommendation for the paulownia boards, I really like the fact that they stay cool to touch even though the sauna is running very hot. Are you going to get a wood burner or an electric heater?
@@coachpyry Wood Burner Mate, the only way to go, I will look for the paulownia boards, thanks for the recommendation, we are unfortunately not blessed with any reasonably priced timbers in AU for Sauna's like the Nordic Countries or North America, I have also found Baltic Pine is good for Sauna as it also doesn't hold heat, and luckily we can get this a a decent price here, unlike Cedar which you need to sell a kidney to buy 🤣🤣, This is why you can't use Australian Hardwoods to Sauna because they are too dense and store the heat making it uncomfortable to sit on them, what timber are you burning in it ? if you can find properly dried Blackbutt or Spotted gum try them, they are so much better then most other timbers for heat output, when I was minding my mates house, I would use offcuts from decks we were building, Merbau was not bad but had nothing on Blackbutt or Spotted gum for heat output, the difference was measurable at around 30C hotter using Spotted or Blackbutt.
@@-PORK-CHOP- That's so true; Australia is way behind regarding saunas. Currently, I'm using lychee, which I cut down from my yard, and Bloodwood, which I bought. Both burn very nice and hot, super dense stuff! I've had some challenges drying the timber properly as I'm based near Cairns, but now that the dry season has kicked in, the wood is drying nice and fast. I'll keep an eye on Blackbutt and Spotted Gum for my next batch! Glad to hear you're going with a wood burner! I've come across a few decent electric ones and they were Harvias, but if you can, wood-fired is definitely the show.
This video is quite informative but in my opinion overlooks few thing.
I'm finnish architectstudent and have designed planty of saunas. Here is something that came to mind when watching the video: The ceiling height of a sauna is usually 2200-2500 millimeters. The height between the seating level and the interior ceiling is 1050-1300 millimeters. Traditionally, the height of the sauna and the vertical dimensions of the benches are determined by the height of the sauna heater's stone surface, as the goal is for the person sitting on the bench to be higher than the sauna stones, including their feet. The heater can also be placed higher than the level intended for feet, in which case the seating surface must be wide enough to allow the feet to be lifted up, or a separate railing can be built in the sauna on which the feet can rest.
An oversized heater in terms of heating power can help keep a relatively small space warm even below the level of the stones, but in this situation, the feet cannot enjoy the steam.
A common issue with Finnish saunas is that Finns have many different opinions on what makes a good sauna and good steam. The most important aspect of a sauna is the quality of the steam, which can be influenced by the size of the heater, air circulation, and the shape of the sauna room. Saunas are often also used for cleansing, so a good sauna should also have washing and dressing facilities.
I am no means master builder nor designer with great experiense. Message that I want to deliver is that there is many ways to build and use saunas and it is form of art.
I love your message. I think that tent saunas are a perfect example of how simple but effective saunas can be.
Regarding the “feet at rock level”, I agree that this is ideal, however you basically need a building as tall as a cathedral, which is not the case even in most saunas in Finland.
The löyly here in Far North Queensland is excellent due to the humidity of the tropics especially during the wet season.
Thanks for your message!
I am building a sauna now in Portugal on my little farm...budget is major issue, got great 28 mm pine grooved wood, cement floor...but not decided about ceiling yet...limited height ..is it ok to have a slanted ceiling 1.9 m on one side and 2.1 m on other side ..or should I have a flat ceiling (all 1.9m) ..the sauna is small 1.7 m x 2.1 m ...going for a wood stove with chimney out the side of the wall...so much to learn ...want to do this right
@@tarponjohn Hey mate, definitely recommend a flat ceiling because otherwise, the loyly won't spread evenly in the room.
this comment is more helpful than the video itself. Thank you.
If you want to go with Finnish sauna. You should have air inlet below heater and outlet opposite side of sauna on wall quite high up.. When sauna is heating fresh cold air rises from inlet and spreads around sauna! Also if it's wooden heater it needs fresh air also, so it won't suck air that you are breathing.. You can have adjustable cover over outlet, but probably should not close it all the way.. As fresh air flow it really important for good sauna experience!
When you throw Löyly, always some water seeps through heater to floor. So it's recommended to have a floor drain. Also you should clean "lauteet" the wooden platform you sit on, quite often. Depending how often you use sauna (weekly to monthly). Best practice would be to spray water over them after every use, as sauna is still warm they will dry quite fast.
There are product made for cleaning saunas, as they don't use harmful chemicals which later evaporates into the breathing. As for spray water over "lauteet", it's mainly to wash out sweat which will make them last longer.
As for actual use of sauna, stay in as long as it feels good, then go outside to cool down.
For us Finns it's quite common to go back and fort between sauna and lake to swim (summer or frozen hole in lake or sea). If there is no lake/sea near by just sit outside and cool down and then go back in.
Some of us like to drink water while inside and outside of sauna, as it will make you last longer (quite recommended).
Quite often that water is beer, especially when sauna:ing with a group of friends. Some might say it's not recommended drink beer while using sauna. IF it would be catastrophically bad, Finns would have gone extinct, as common it is.
Actually we have an air inlet all over the sauna because there is a 2cm gap between the wall and the floors. There is also an outlet on the opposite corner from the heater. This works amazingly well here in the tropics, where the temperatures rarely go below 15 degrees celsius. The tropical humidity makes the löyly incredibly pleasant
In a good sauna, the surface of the lower benches should be at the same level as the stones in the sauna. Good ventilation is an essential part of a good sauna experience. Is it sufficient in your sauna?
Did you watch the video? :) The ventilation is excellent, there is a gap between the floor and the walls surrounding the entire building.
Secondly, "in a good sauna, the lower benches should be at the same level as the stones of the sauna" might work if you have a room the height of a cathedral. Having been in dozens of great saunas in Finland, more often than not, this is not the case.
@@coachpyry I have build several saunas in my life and noticed that sauna must be big enough, have to had good ventilation, benches have to be high enough, toes higher than kiuas stones and you have to use whisk. All my saunas haven't been like cathedral. Also the amount of stones must be at least 80 - 100 kilograms. There should also be a nice cooling area and a lake or hot tub nearby. Of course, you can compromise on something if you don't strive for perfection.
Would have been nice if you focused less on the dog and the hassles with the distributor, and more on details like: What are you insulating the roof with, what are you sealing the floor with? Interesting video, but for someone who wants a detailed guide to building a sauna and advice on what to look out for...this video is not that helpful. You spent 3 minutes just on the "wrong chimney color" issue.
Thanks for your feedback. The roof was insulated with a vapour barrier, the floor was sealed with Dulux concrete and paving sealant stages 1,2 and 3.
forgive me my curiosity, did you not use any insulation and vapour barrier
in this build and why?
Fantastic question. We did use a vapour barrier but no insulation.
No insulation for two reasons, both related to the fact that I live in the tropics.
Firstly, it's quite humid here. The ambient humidity is great for the löyly.
Secondly, the annual lowest temperatures are around 10 degrees at night. I usually use the sauna in the evenings and the Harvia heater has more than enough horsepower to heat the room even on the coldest day of the year.
What kind of a sauna build are you planning on?
@@coachpyrymakes sense. I live in Ireland where there is summer only a couple of days per year. My small build is insulated with 6kw electrical heater. All good.
@@alexklim76 Got you. Yep, it's a completely different story.
@@alexklim76 Hi Alex, I live in Dublin myself and thinking of building a sauna. Is 6kw electrical heater enough? Can you share please your sauna dimensions and how long it takes to heat the room with 6kw? What is the electricity coast for one sauna use?
Thanks.
@@eugene9937 my internal dimensions are 1800x1600x2100. As per sauna calculator 6 kw is enough for my sauna, but please do your research for this and make sure there is insulation, vapour barrier, furring strips etc. glass door is considered as a heat loss factor. Depending on the desired temperature in the sauna and the temperature outside it can take up to 40-60 minutes to heat up to 65-90 degrees C. I like it hot but most times I take it easy with more humidity at a lower temps. Electricity costs depend on the duration of your sauna session, how often you come in and out, your rate per kw and time of the day. I have 4 tariffs throughout the day. Let’s say I heat up for 1 hour and sauna for 2 hours with 3-5 sessions and tea, cold plunge in between. You may use appprox 18 kw or less with 6 kw heater. Add another 30-60 minutes to bake the sauna empty after use to dry and clean so you may get about 24 kw. Multiply to your rate and this will be your cost.
Better get him out for another aussie holiday. Without work 😂
Hahaha I know, we’re trying to make that happen 🤣
Amen! Good job @apujoukko and congratz for your new baby @coachpyry I mean sauna 😂
Hahaha! Thank you, it was a long and hard pregnancy
Did you look at using pine or spruce? They seem cheap here in aust
No, I did not look at those options. Are you looking to build a sauna?
@@coachpyry yeah i am, live in perth but materials will be similar to qld, more similar than to finland at least haha
Im trying to read/watch content from the Scandinavians etc as it seems a lot of stuff is wrong compared to what you guys have to say!
Apart from the ventilation, seat height, head room, speccing the right size heater- are there any other obscure things to consider(apart from the method of building)?
@@markl4528 I would wholeheartedly recommend choosing a wood-fired heater vs an electric one if possible logistically
@@markl4528 Which one are you thinking of going for?
Remember to check that your woodtype us safe for high temperatures．For example Pine with high resin content - Can release respiratory irritants and strong odors when heated．
Hi, Great video thanks, I’m about to start a Finnish Sauna build in my garden in Wales on a concrete slab. What did you seal the floor with and were you worried about the heat and off gassing of any chemicals from it?
I'm glad to hear that; that's awesome! We sealed it with Dulux Concrete & Paving Stages 1, 2, and 3.
That's a good point, but as long as you have good ventilation at the bottom, the floor will never get that hot. Especially in Wales, the ambient air should be cool enough year-round. Even here in the Australian tropics, the floor and the bottom rung of the sauna are significantly cooler than the top rung even when the room is at 75-80 degrees Celsius, and I'm throwing löyly.
What heater are you going to use?
Ah brilliant that’s great thanks. The concrete slab goes down next week so I’ll get on it.
I have to use a 9kw Electric heater, can’t burn logs unfortunately due to proximity of neighbours. I was thinking of a Harvia Cilindro or a Huum Drop because of the larger stone capacity. I have about the same height as you internally, about 2.2m and not sure if a tower heater would work or I should go with something lower to be sat more above it.
@@Jason-rk4xc Oh, that's a shame about wood burning. Can't recommend Harvia highly enough. The most important thing is 110cm from the top seat to the roof. I think that a tower heater would work perfectly. It's better to have too much horsepower than too little. You can easily adjust the settings if the löyly is too intense for your liking, but the opposite is not true if the heater is not strong enough for the size of the room/your liking.
What is the m3 size of the room?
Got it, I’ll make sure it’s 110. The room is 8.8 m3. Small changing room and a cold plunge tub under a porch. No drain in the sauna room though, so I suppose I’ll just mop up. I see you don’t have one either?
@@Jason-rk4xc I don't, and haven't needed one because the airflow is so good (Notice how we left the entire bottom of the sauna open). Just make sure you throw most of the water on the rocks😀. Dripping from the could plunge will probably make it a bit wetter. I'm going to set up one too. Very excited!
LÖYLYT!
👊 No näin on!
Where did you buy the interior lining boards from ?
Hey mate, I got them from maywood.com.au/
@@coachpyry Thankyou, I'm a Chippie, and want to build a Sauna as well after using my mate's barrel sauna when I stayed the for a while, it also has a Harvia wood burner and it was amazing.
@@-PORK-CHOP- Nice! Harvia heaters are the best. So far very strong recommendation for the paulownia boards, I really like the fact that they stay cool to touch even though the sauna is running very hot. Are you going to get a wood burner or an electric heater?
@@coachpyry Wood Burner Mate, the only way to go, I will look for the paulownia boards, thanks for the recommendation, we are unfortunately not blessed with any reasonably priced timbers in AU for Sauna's like the Nordic Countries or North America, I have also found Baltic Pine is good for Sauna as it also doesn't hold heat, and luckily we can get this a a decent price here, unlike Cedar which you need to sell a kidney to buy 🤣🤣, This is why you can't use Australian Hardwoods to Sauna because they are too dense and store the heat making it uncomfortable to sit on them, what timber are you burning in it ? if you can find properly dried Blackbutt or Spotted gum try them, they are so much better then most other timbers for heat output, when I was minding my mates house, I would use offcuts from decks we were building, Merbau was not bad but had nothing on Blackbutt or Spotted gum for heat output, the difference was measurable at around 30C hotter using Spotted or Blackbutt.
@@-PORK-CHOP- That's so true; Australia is way behind regarding saunas. Currently, I'm using lychee, which I cut down from my yard, and Bloodwood, which I bought. Both burn very nice and hot, super dense stuff! I've had some challenges drying the timber properly as I'm based near Cairns, but now that the dry season has kicked in, the wood is drying nice and fast. I'll keep an eye on Blackbutt and Spotted Gum for my next batch!
Glad to hear you're going with a wood burner! I've come across a few decent electric ones and they were Harvias, but if you can, wood-fired is definitely the show.
Why would you build a sauna inside a steam room?
What? 😆 Did you watch the video?
@@coachpyry just kitting
@@wio2189 Not funny
Bummer when the shirts came off. Shirts off entire video or it's not a true Finnish Sauna.
Haha apologies
Dudesons build Sauna!
If you want some real heat get a #kuuma
Never heard of that brand before. Is it yours?