The Relaxing Benefits of At-Home Saunas

Sauna enthusiasts have several options in heat sources, including wood stoves and electric stoves. Wood stoves are probably best in an outdoor sauna, because they need ventilation. But you also must be willing to cart in wood, feed the fire and clean out ash periodically.

Because of their ease of use, electric stoves are the most popular choice in the United States, and are supplied with most sauna kits. Finlandia Sauna Inc. now sells an Ever Ready AV heater for $1,500, which heats a sauna immediately without the 30-minute lag time. The heater's 250 pounds of rocks are kept at high temperature at all times, making the sauna an instant luxury any time of day.

If you can't handle intense heat, consider the infrared sauna, which uses infrared radiation to heat the skin. Air temperatures in an infrared sauna can be 70 degrees, and you'll still sweat because the light warms your body instead of the air. Dr. Wilson's patients have used saunas with great success, including a cosmetologist whose adult acne cleared up after two days of infrared sauna use. Dr. Wilson does warn against claims that say you can lose weight in infrared saunas: "You lose water weight, but then you jump out and drink water and gain it back."

Whether you chose to go traditional, or explore the options of an infrared lamp, modern saunas come from a long line of predecessors in every major civilization. Choose one that's right for your lifestyle and you'll be enjoying the benefits in no time.

Resources

Finlandia Sauna

Sauna Warehouse

Sauna Therapy by Dr. Lawrence Wilson

The Art of Sauna Building by Bert Jalasjaa

Hot Tubs, Saunas & Steam Baths: A Guide to Planning and Designing your Home Health Spa by Alan Sanderfoot

The Sauna Is: Revised and Expanded by Bernhard Hillila

Spas and Hot Tubs, Saunas and Home Gyms by Thomas Dale Cowan and Tom Cowan