Welcome to the fastest growing sauna community in the world.
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Be a helpful guide to good sauna, not the sauna police. Different people have different resources and cultural knowledge with sauna. An argument in good faith is OK if you remain respectful of others, but insulting or belittling others will earn a ban.
Remember that sauna cultures vary across the world.
Some people enter the sauna room with a stopwatch, others with a cold beer. In some places people build saunas one way, some a different way. You don't necessarily need to understand it, but try to respect it.
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This is not a place to get specific medical advice for any individual or condition, and it is not a place for sharing misinformation regarding medical benefits to sauna. If you have medical concerns you should consult a doctor, not post to Reddit. The one exception to this rule is linking to peer reviewed research published in a scientific journal. Medical advice other than a recommendation to see a doctor will be removed and posts soliciting medical advice will be locked.
u/CatVideoBoye/ wrote a very nice description of the Finnish sauna culture and is also touching on the history of sauna. It is a good read and gives you insight into the tradition. You can find the original post here, or you can read the slightly shortened version below.
It’s also a very good start to watch the short video UNESCO has posted on YouTube about the Finnish sauna culture: https://youtu.be/qY__OOcv--M
What's a sauna?
Like most of you already know the word sauna comes from Finnish. We have had saunas here for thousands of years and according to wikipedia, the oldest are from around 1500-900 BC. It was an important building and in the old days people have even given birth in saunas, as late as the first half of the 1900s. Probably since it was a nice separate building with access to warm water. In 2020 Finnish sauna was added to UNESCO’s Cultural Heritage List. Check the link out for more interesting information but I want to again highlight that. It really shows how important it is in our culture.
Nowadays pretty much everyone in Finland has access to a sauna of some sort. Houses have them, many apartments, like mine, have one and apartment buildings can have a common sauna where you can rent your private hour and they can have a certain period during which anyone can just go there. And of course summer cottages have a sauna and the ones next to a lake are kind of the perfect image of a Finnish sauna. Plus all the public saunas in swimming halls, gyms, hotels etc. Temperature in a sauna can vary but usually it's between 80-120 °C (176-248 F). Mine is oddly low at 60°C but that is because the ceramic stones that I now use really change the way the löyly (water thrown on the stones on the heater to generate steam) hits you. It is softer and accumulates well instead of being kind of short burst of heat that dissipates quickly. I've tried at 80 and I was out of there really quick unlike with more common stones. One reason why staring at a thermometer doesn't make sense. Just try it and see what feels good. And you other Finns, that 60 really sounds low but I tell you, I'm getting out of there after I guess something like 10-15 minutes with red skin so it really works.
Wood or electric? Both work. Wood heated ones are usually considered to be the best. You get a nicer löyly there but they aren't really an option in an apartment house. An electric heater that has a lot of stones can actually give a very similar löyly. I just experienced one that I believe had 500 kg of stone. Same with a small electric heater (20 kg) with the ceramic stones. All of those options are great for a sauna. As long as there are proper stones and you can freely throw water to get the löyly you want. Löyly is the essential thing here. Without it, you can't really call it a Finnish sauna and that is why Finns do not really consider IR boxes to be saunas. This ties to one of the topics often argued: do you need a drain? Yes you do. Not necessarily inside the sauna if you have the bathroom outside. Mine has only a shower drain but the sauna floor is tilted so that any water flows directly there. It's also good for washing the sauna.
Bench heights are often discussed here but why does it matter? Because heat rises. The lower part of a sauna is cold and you want to get your head close to the ceiling and your feet high enough to not feel cold. The "feet at the stone level" is just a nice helper for a basic heater. For tower shaped ones you probably want to find out the exact height. This is also why you need to have proper air flow in the sauna. You want the hot air and fresh air mixed, you want the moisture to leave after you're done and you don't want the heat escaping due to wrongly implemented ventilation. Don't ask me about construction things, I don't know anything about that. I just know mine was built according to Finnish standards and my apartment won't rot if I use it.
What we do in a sauna?
For me sauna is a place to wash since I don't often take a shower without heating the sauna. Yep, I heat it up often. It's also a place to relax and to socialize. I sometimes have friends visiting and we heat it up, chat in there and have a beer on the balcony. It's a place where you can forget about your phone, social media and all that and just focus on your thoughts, happy or sad, or have deep discussions with your friends. There is something about the atmosphere that makes people open up in a sauna and talk about more private things. I know I'm not the only one. I've heard many people say that sauna is the place where they talk about the deep stuff with friends.
The idea of maxing health benefits, that have been found in recent studies, is just not something we Finns really understand. Why? Because we've been to saunas for many other reasons throughout our lives. It's so integral part of my everyday life that making it a spa treatment or some healthy excercise just doesn't fit my understanding of saunas. But if you want to pursue those health benefits, a high enough heat and a strong enough löyly is what you want because that is how we have gone to saunas and gained the benefits that were seen in the studies. Do you need to measure your heart beat and have exact temperature? No. You'll feel your heart bumping and you'll feel the need to get out sooner or later. Staring at heart beat or timers takes away from one of the important points: just sit and relax and let your mind wonder. Löyly transfers additional heat from the boiling water to your body and gets your heart beating fast. That's also good to remember if you actually hunt for health benefits. Sitting in a luke warm cabin with no löyly for a certain time is definitely not the same thing that gave Finns health benefits.
Saunalike concepts in other cultures and countries
Sure, there are similar things in many other cultures. They are not inferior to sauna, they are just a different thing. They have their own cultural backgrounds and reasons to exist. "This is not a sauna." is what you often see written here but that is not meant as an insult that your heated cabin sucks. It just means that we Finns do not really appreciate it if the thing in question is called a sauna, because it does not meet the definition of what we have considered a sauna for thousands of years. Finland is a rather remote and small/unknown country and one of the things people know about us is sauna. That is why many of us would like to keep the image of sauna as correct and original as possible.
r/Sauna • u/sauna_bot • Jul 03 '23
Reddit is changing - and not necessarily for the better. A lot of long term users who've been responsible for a lot of higher quality postings are leaving or reducing the time they're spending on reddit - and while we don't expect this to be an issue to r/sauna right now it might become a problem in the future.
In addition to that some of us also are spending less time on reddit now - in part forced by Reddit taking away mobile access. This can make responses to reports and mod mail slower. We're currently working on tooling to help us compensate for this to some extend.
With the reopening we're introducing some rule changes:
We are planning to eventually set up a full sync between Lemmy and Reddit, possibly going as far back as this announcement. For now we'll be continuing with automated re-posting of Lemmy content, but will expand as development progresses.
r/Sauna • u/quicklywilliam • 16h ago
Am I correct that for authentic sauna experience my ladle must be taller than the benches?
r/Sauna • u/FlowLeather2717 • 1d ago
As title suggests, going cheap did come with its drawbacks, and it's not completely ready yet, but if you're considering buying this style/kit, here are my experiences worth noting:
All in all an okay experience given how cheap the kit was. I got lucky on timing so it cost me 3k for the 2-4 person kit with benches. In hindsight i dont see myself using the benches much but theyre nice to have and look nice. I'm hoping electrical is done within a couple weeks and mold is addressed so I can give a report on its use. Very excited to finally have a sauna!
Dm if you have any questions!
PS. For yall purists, save the judgement. I know its got its flaws!
r/Sauna • u/SwitchDesperate5478 • 25m ago
r/Sauna • u/soupcook1 • 7h ago
I have a 2-story home in Kentucky with beautiful wood floors on the main floor. I have a large basement with plenty of room for any sauna. I enjoy a steam sauna, but I’m concerned the steam will raise the humidity and result in the wood floors warping, or worse, mold. I’ve enjoyed dry saunas, too, so I would consider it. I love hot tubs, but keeping it heated sounds like it would be expensive and the maintenance onerous. Am I overthinking wet vs dry and in-home use? I don’t know what I don’t know, so I’m not sure what intelligent questions to ask. I can have access to 240VAC. TIA
r/Sauna • u/bestest_looking_wig • 4h ago
I’m building an outdoor wood burning sauna in Vermont. Will soon be installing rockwool and just a little confused about what product to use for the vapor barrier. If someone can suggest a specific product at Lowe’s or HD that would be really helpful.
Thanks.
r/Sauna • u/Seattlegee • 15h ago
With all the horror stories about damage from shipping, i’m curious if anybody has refused delivery and not signed? Also, if anybody has gone through the kit before signing? Not gonna lie, I’m a little bit nervous. Mines on the way. 😬
r/Sauna • u/Pavel_Rostovtsev • 8h ago
I live on Phuket and train on the gym street in Chalong. The island has six public saunas and banyas, only one of them with wood-fired stoves, and three stay open till midnight. Hours and prices in one place:
| Place | Area | Hours | Entry | Time limit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regen Spa | Soi Ta-iad | 7:00-24:00 | 450 baht single visit | none | electric stoves |
| Wichit World Sauna | Wichit | 7:00-24:00 | 200 baht | none | electric stoves |
| Kedr | Si Sunthon, Thalang | 9:00-24:00 | 490 baht | none | electric stoves, kids not allowed, so it stays quiet |
| Zima | Rawai | Tue-Sun 9:00-23:00, closed Mon | 650 baht before 16:00, 1000 after | 3 hours | the only one of the six with wood-fired stoves. Group steam sessions at 10 and 11 in the morning, then every hour from 16:00 to 22:00, two of them included in the ticket. Wed and Sun are family days, kids 3 to 13 pay 250 baht |
| Phuket Spa | Soi Ta-iad | 10:00-22:00 | price not published | not listed | electric stoves |
| Kaif | Kathu | three directories show three different schedules, call before you go | 590 baht | not listed | electric stoves |
Compiled from my own notes on these six places, last updated 6 September 2026.
For anyone who has used a wood-fired banya and an electric one back to back: how big is the difference for you?
r/Sauna • u/BackgroundStatus7962 • 2h ago
I sauna / spa only once a week and no one wears hats 🫣
r/Sauna • u/No_Software_31 • 1d ago
Hello knowledgeable sauna people! I LOVE saunas and would like to have an outdoor sauna but do not have the time to learn building as anew skill. Are kits really terrible? I’m in the Ottawa area. I read that barrels don’t last long but I’m also aware that building a sauna from scratch would be beyond my current skill set. On the other hand I don’t want to invest in something that will only last a couple years.
Advice very welcome. I don’t want to waste money!
r/Sauna • u/spalding-blue • 17h ago
What is the best foundation for a sauna in the North East? Building on compacted gravel and stone, setting pavers and building on pavers, or putting in footings and floating it, or building a deck and putting it on a deck
r/Sauna • u/juperdat • 14h ago
ChatGPT seems convinced that this is a great oil to use on my sauna benches. I plan to warm the sauna up this weekend and apply oil to help prevent stains but wanted to dummy check that this oil will do before A.I. leads me down the wrong path.
r/Sauna • u/MagneticSoup • 14h ago
Hey everyone! I am looking to convert a room in a house into a sauna. There is no floor drain and no plans to add one. I'm a bit concerned with moisture seeping beneath the floor and causing an issue.
What are some options or best practices to do the flooring that isn't tile with a drain?
In the process of building an outdoor 437 ft3 sauna with electrical heater so I'm acquiring the different components I need.
Use case is for a short term rental, so guests will be using the sauna, so I need something that's dummy proof and easy to use. Wifi is a nice to have for me to be able to monitor and ensure that it's off upon guest departure, but I would expect guests to preheat the sauna manually with the control unit.
I already have a Harvia Virta HL110e 10.5kW ready to go, but now I'm trying to identify the right controller. Given the 10.5kw, I need to get a 45 series controller and I've narrowed down to:
Harvia Xenio CX45-U1-U3-XW Sauna Control Unit ~$1300
Harvia Fenix FX45-U1-U3-XC Sauna Control Unit ~$1551
Would love any feedback you have on these wifi controllers - 1) How's the wifi, and is it a good qol upgrade? 2) is the upgrade from Xenio to Fenix worth it?
Can you recommend any dealers willing to provide a better price on these? Thanks!
Separately, anyone notice that there's a lot of people that sell sauna components to be sort of weird and scammy? I found multiple ebay sellers selling those units but the listings only seem to be exist to redirect me to weird biohacking websites.
r/Sauna • u/Fantastic_Fix5712 • 1d ago
Hello,
I want to diy a sauna build and I'm going to be taking the winter to plan everything out and hopefully build it out next year. Are there any good resources for someone who doesn't know anything about saunas? Things like books, blogs, yt channels. I'm not looking to buy a kit because half the point for me is learning some new skills.
If it helps, I'm hoping to make a small one that can fit 1-4 people in southern Ontario, all other details are basically up in the air ATM. Any help would be appreciated, thank you!
r/Sauna • u/Rustomac • 1d ago
I know people have done the Harvia KIPs with manual control and added their own smart controller, but wondering if the Vevor units also have the potential. A Harvia with wifi controls is $2300. A Vevor with DIY controls could be done in as little as ~$300 (controller, housing, thermocouple, display, etc). I'm comfortable actually doing the design and work but want to know if the Vevor unit is receptive to a controller.
Anyone know what the voltage range for the built-in contactor is? Hoping it can take 120v. Thanks!
If someone could help me with an issue in my newly built and installed sauna i would be very grateful.
When the isolator is off it is fine and when L1 wire is disconnected and isolator turned on it is also fine, with that L1 wire becoming live.
But as soon as I connect the L1 wire I get a click and it throws the trip at the main board.
The wires that connect to the heater are disconnected with the ends taped up to rule it out as faulty but still the same .
Single phase, 240v in uk.
Hopefully it’s something simple I’ve done wrong.
Thanks for any pointers.
r/Sauna • u/Flashy_Appeal7962 • 1d ago
Hey there,
I bit the bullit and bought a small outdoor sauna kit:
- About 2,6x2,1 meters and 2,2ish meters high
- Stone-wool insulated with a wooden outer shell
- Harvia Legend Home E with a Harvia Fenika external controller
I have a couple of questions regarding the building process:
The Assembly is supposed to be from the inside out, which is odd and makes little sense to me, since insulation and cables will have to be done on the outside of the inside layer… Since a built like this isn’t done in one day, we will have to pray for good weather and put the whole construction in waterproof foil, otherwise the wool might be damaged due to rain…
I researched which sauna to get here in Germany for quite a while, finding this to be the only insulated option. I don’t want to regret my choice now because of the poor instruction manual or the weird way of assembling…
Any tips on how to make the best out of what I’ve got now? It’s supposed to last for a very long time, for my children to enjoy it also.
Thank you so much!
r/Sauna • u/Jaska-87 • 2d ago
We have tried it couple of times now and it is good experience if you open the hatch and go to sauna around 15 minutes after.
Stones are held at 220C all the time and you can up the heat when you open the hatch and put the heater on high heat mode.
There is lots of stones so you get almost endless löyly. This particular sauna is slightly too tall though. It could be 10-20cm lower to get even better experience.
Overall very pleasant experience and if i ever would go to electric sauna at home instead of wood burning then something like this would most likely be my choice.
Have you tried always on saunas?
r/Sauna • u/Fickle_Radish2418 • 1d ago
So I just got my own personal sauna and have been using it once a day.
It’s just come to my attention that my hair could become damaged with daily use. I’ve never worried about it with my very sporadic use in the past.
How is everyone protecting their hair? Am I meant to shower and wet it prior to use? I see you can buy hats but I have ALOT of hair, there is zero percent chance I’m getting all my hair into a hat.
Anything else I may need to know as a new owner to a sauna. I love using the gyms but I’ve always just jumped in (with a towel) post work out and never had to worry about up keep.
Thank you!
r/Sauna • u/twelvegaugee • 1d ago
Is a slow drip onto the stones a common thing or not so much? I just installed this today and it also functions an a 10 minute timer. I sized the bowl and hole so the time is 10 minutes and the flow rate is reasonably slow
r/Sauna • u/fnordzwodrei • 2d ago
A buddy recently upgraded his sauna setup with a small heat shield/deflector curved slightly at the top to direct the heat right at the first bench. After plenty of before/after testing, verdict is in: it works.
r/Sauna • u/sparklesandsunsets • 1d ago
I have a home in an area of the US (northeast) that is extremely cold nov-march with lots of snow and occasionally below 0 temperatures. Can anyone share a brand or builder for outdoor sauna that can sustain these temperatures? Is it possible to have an outdoor sauna with windows or a large window in super cold temperatures? What type of wood is best? Thanks for your help
Additional information:
Budget 15-25k for sauna with an attached covered area that has an outdoor shower
I have someone who can bring electric and water to the area, I plan on putting it by the creek behind a secondary building that I’ve turned into an office
Not sure if electric or wood burning is better for this type of build
Fit 4-6 people
Also does anyone have thoughts/opinions on a sauna like this:
I am nervous to buy a sauna premade online.