The Heavenly Pre-Built Sauna
Heavenly Saunas' Pre-Built Sauna is completely freestanding. With cedar
interior and a choice of either cedar or economical luan panelling exterior,
these saunas are also available with an amazing variety of door and window
options. Redwood is available in place of cedar at slightly higher prices,
subject to availability.
Every Pre-Built Sauna is preassembled on the factory floor to test the fit of
each component. Every part is then labeled upon disassembly, to assure the
easiest and quickest installation at your site.
Heavenly Saunas' Pre-Built Saunas are easy to assemble. You simply stand
the premanufactured wall panels together on the provided floor frame, connect
them together, then set the ceiling panels in place. You then install the
premade benches and duckboard floor, have your elecrician connect the power,
and you're ready to sauna! Since the Pre-Built Sauna is just as easy to
disassemble, you can even take it with you when you move.
The Heavenly Pre-Cut Sauna
Heavenly Saunas' Pre-Cut Sauna Kit is designed for someone who already has
an existing space, such as a small room or large closet, that they'd like to
turn into a sauna. It is also ideal for do-it-yourself customers who would
like to do more of the assembly themselves.
We supply everything that you need to line the inside of the room with cedar or
redwood, as well as a pre-hung door, premade benches and duckboard floor.
You are required to provide the structural framing, insulation, vapor barrier
and exterior panelling, which are all easily available at your local building
supplier.
All Pre-Cut Sauna Kits are available with the same wide variety of door and
window options as our Pre-Built models.
Sauna Bathing or Steam Bathing?
Finns who immigrated to
the United States centuries ago brought with them a unique bathing custom
which is now only beginning to become popular here. Often confused with
a steam bath, a true sauna bath is very different, even though both types
of baths offer the same therapeutic benefits.
The temperatures in a traditional sauna can actually approach 200 degrees
Fahrenheit! The extremely low humidity present in the sauna makes these
temperatures tolerable. Properly designed, the sauna's relative humidity
rarely exceeds 5% when operated in the "dry" mode. This permits
the copious amount of perspiration produced by the body to dry quickly thus
having a cooling effect.
All saunas have a radiant air heater which has a container of volcanic stones.
These stones retain and radiate heat more consistently, which is why the Tylo electric
sauna heaters have such a deep stone compartment. The stones can also be sprinkled
with water to produce the "wet" sauna. This creates bursts of
steam (called loyly by the Finns) which disappear quickly into the porous
soft wood of the sauna. Humidity then climbs from a few percent to 20-30%. This
instantly intensifies the sauna's heat as if the temperature had increased
drastically (although it may even have dropped slightly).
By contrast, a steam bath makes use of a steam generator. This device heats
water directly, not air. The steam room enclosure fills completely with
condensed vapor. Clouds of "steam" envelope the bather. The humidity
exceeds 100% and the temperatures are much lower than those of the sauna.
Because of their very different modes of operation, the choice of construction
materials is critical. A totally non-porous material such as tile or acrylic
is the choice for a steamroom which must also be made steamtight.
Previously, a homeowner desiring a steam room needed to frame and tile an
enclosure and then fit it with steamtight doors. While this resulted in
a beautiful installation, both the labor and materials made this method
quite costly. Now, modern plastic technology has made the easy to install enclosure
available. It has drastically reduced the cost of installing a steamroom
in your bathroom or excercise room. The Tylo Steamroom
enclosures are easier to install and more efficient than their framed counterparts
by virtue of their design.
Although the steamroom enclosure must be non-porous and relatively steamtight, the
opposite is true of a sauna room. A sauna must be constructed of porous
materials (meaning some type of wood), and it often actually employs air circulation
through intake and outlet vents. Many varieties of wood are acceptable for
sauna construction, but care must be taken when selecting the type and grade.
Whether it's dry heat or clouds of steam, the choice is yours and it is only
a matter of taste and lifestyle.
The "wet" sauna vs. the "dry"
sauna
People often confuse a "wet sauna" with a steamroom, although
the two are very different. All saunas have a radiant air heater with volcanic
stones. In the "dry" mode, the sauna is operated in the absence
of moisture.
Temperatures in a dry sauna may approach 200 degrees Fahrenheit! But, because
the humidity is only a few percent, and the bather's perspiration evaporates
quickly, these high temperatures are tolerable.
To create a "wet sauna", a small amount of water is poured onto
the heater's volcanic stones, creating burst of vapor which disappear quickly
into the sauna's walls. Although the temperature inside the sauna may even
drop slightly, the humidity climbs to 20 or 30 percent, and the effect of
the heat intensifies drastically.
The traditional Scandinavian practice is to begin with a dry sauna followed
by a period of rest outside the sauna. The bather then reenters the sauna,
this time with a ladle and a wooden bucket filled with water. A "wet
sauna" is then taken followed by another period of rest. Showers are
taken before and after the bath.
What are the therapeutic benefits of sauna
and steam baths?
Both sauna baths and steam baths stimulate circulation and respiration,
reduce muscular tension and cleanse and rejuvinate the skin and body through
perspiration.
We have heard that a heavy cigarette smoker can actually leave a brown stain
on a white towel as they perspire toxins from their body in a sauna.
The benefits of sauna and steam bathing have been known to almost all of
human civilization for eons.
Why only Clear, Grade A Select Western Red Cedar?
The wood inside a sauna must be a soft wood so that it remains
cool during the sauna bath, and it must also be free of knots.
We use only clear wood throughout our saunas because the knots are
harder than the surrounding wood. They can become very hot and can
burn the bather. They can even shrink and fall out.
All clear wood comprises our entire sauna. Many other sauna
manufacturers use this grade only in their benches. Despite this,
our sauna prices are quite competitive even with those made of
much lesser materials.
We have always made, and will only ever make our saunas from wood that is
totally clear of knots. This is the most expensive grade that you can purchase.
Some of our competitors have been supplying knotty Cedar (even though their
literature still says "clear"), but you will never find a knot
anywhere in one of our saunas.
The species of wood that we use is far better than just spruce or
hemlock. It's the best wood that can be used for saunas - Western
Red Cedar. This species offers a beauty not found in most other woods.
More important, even though it is a soft wood, it has natural decay
resistant properties making it more durable than most hardwoods.
There was a time when all of our saunas were made of Redwood, and
Cedar seemed like a second choice. Redwood and Cedar are very similar
species, and in many cases, the visible differences are indistinguishable.
Both Redwood and Cedar have a high natural content of tannins and
phenols, substances which impart to the wood its natural resistance
to decay, and Redwood, on average, has a higher content of these,
so it is perceived as being slightly more resistant to decay.
With respect to saunas, ironically, Redwood's higher content
of these substances will cause it to blacken when exposed to the body
oils and sweat of the bather.
Interestingly enough, if you look at the product range from any of the
Scandinavian sauna companies, you'll see that their very best top-of-the-line
saunas are made from "imported" Western Red Cedar. Even the Finns and Swedes
know it's the best wood for a sauna. We're just lucky enough to have it growsing
right here in North America!
What type of venting does a sauna require?
For generations, one basic tenet of proper sauna design has been
to include some type of ventilation in the sauna. The standard
European sauna spec, which even predates the electric sauna heater,
calls for an inlet vent under the stove and an outlet vent either
in the ceiling or the top of the wall, as far from the inlet vent
as possible.
An added requirement specifies that the inlet vent and outlet vent
open into the same room or space, and this part of the specification
has been particularly important in homes with forced air domestic
heating and cooling. It's definitely also ill advised to draw your
fresh air from or exhaust your sauna air to the outdoors, if the
sauna is inside the house.
This is because venting occurs only from convection, as the air in
the sauna is heated and rises. There is no fan involved, and the
flow of air is very, very small - on the order of only a few cubic
feet per minute. If the air pressure outside the sauna is different
between the inlet and outlet vents, it could interfere with the
proper flow of air.
Although one would think that the reason for ventilation is to provide
fresh air in the sauna, we in the U.S. learned decades ago that the
real reason is to draw air around the heater and move the heat to the
farthest part of the sauna. As a consequence, according to the age old
spec, venting matters much less for very small saunas (less than 5 x 5),
where the heater could hardly have a problem reaching every corner of
the sauna with its heat.
In such cases, the space under the bottom of the door can double as an
inlet vent, providing air for the heater, and the outlet for the air,
if any, is pretty much provided by the unavoidable space around the rest
of the door higher up.
Part of the standard sauna venting specification states that the inlet
vent must remain unobstructed, whereas the outlet vent can be louvered,
allowing for it to be closed completely. Thus, it is not a contradiction
of the standard specification to build a small sauna completely absent
of any outlet vent.
To be sure, in almost two decades of selling saunas, we have plenty of
anecdotal evidence that proper venting can improve heat circulation and
consistency. However, there are those quite well respected in the
industry that would argue that, especially in a small sauna, no venting
whatsoever is required, even an inlet vent.
At least for small saunas, we're inclined to agree with this, despite
the fact that it flies in the face of traditional sauna design. We're
not certain, however, that we'd agree with those that would say that,
regardless of the size of the sauna, the only reason that you ever need
a vent is when you have a large commercial sauna being used by perhaps
hundreds of smelly people each day. We're more inclined to think that
larger saunas can benefit from proper venting even in residential
situations.
Aside from vent placement, the next question most commonly asked by people
building their own saunas is "how big do I make the vent"? The traditional
specification is quite vague about this, and from our experience, it seems
that this is the most forgiving part of the spec.
Tylo, the Swedish maker of the sauna heaters we have sold for almost the
last 20 years, states that a vent area of about 15 in2 is suitable
for a small residential sauna, but that larger commercial saunas should have
about 45 in2. Our standard vent size, which has always been
suitable, regardless of sauna size, is a hole measuring 3.5" by 7",
which equals 24.5 in2.
When it comes to proper sauna design, there is no shortage of opinions, and
this fact could be no truer than with respect to venting. The bottom line
is that there is mostly a consensus in the industry that fresh air be supplied
to the sauna heater, either through a vent near the heater, or with the heater
installed right next to the door, and by placing a louver in the outlet vent,
you can have complete flexibility in adjusting the flow of air through the sauna.
If you purchase one of our Prebuilt saunas, it will have an inlet vent right
under the sauna heater and an outlet vent, either in the ceiling or high up
on a wall, as far from the heater as is feasible. Normally, we place the
vent in the ceiling, but if you would rather have it in the top of a wall,
you only need let us know.
If you purchase a Precut sauna kit, we'll supply you with all the necessary
trim, and you can decide how you'd like to do it. Precut sauna kits include
three vent grilles (one each for the exterior of both vents and one for the
interior of the inlet vent), as well as a sliding adjustable cover for the
inside of the outlet vent.
How easy are they to install?
All Heavenly Pre-Built Saunas are free-standing which can save hundreds of dollars by greatly
simplifying installation. There is no need to do any support framing whatsoever.
Our saunas can easily be set up in the corner of a larger room.
No special tools or skills are required, and our instructions are written
with the do-it-yourself customer in mind. All components are precut, predrilled and
pre-assembled. Complete assembly of a Pre-Built Sauna takes only a few hours.
Click Here to access the assembly manual for our Prebuilt Saunas
(PDF Format - 615 Kb)
More effort is obviously required for the installation of one of our Pre-Cut saunas, but
the benches and floor are still preassembled, the door still prehung, and all of the
pieces are precut to your exact custom specifications.
Click Here to access the assembly manual for our Precut Sauna Kits
(PDF Format - 689 Kb)
How much do they cost to operate?
Unlike a pool, spa or hot tub, a sauna is only heated when it's in use.
This means that you are using electricity only for an hour or two per day
at most.
Even in areas where electric rates are rather high, regular use of a sauna
will add only pennies per day to your utility bill.
Since we offer the best sauna, we have decided to use the best heater available
- Tylo of Sweden. This heater has patented double side vents and a multi-stage
thermostat which improve its performance and efficiency.
Stainless steel and aluminum construction offer improved durability, and
Tylo adds their "Thermosafe" coating to the outside of every heater
which eliminates the need to build a space wasting guard around the heater.
Three styles of electric sauna heaters are offered, and all the incorporate the features
mentioned above. The only difference between the heaters is the location
of the controls.
The Sport model has its controls at the bottom of the heater and the controls
on the SuperSport model are located more conveniently on the front near the top
of the heater. The Deluxe
model sauna heaters have a completely separate control panel intended for
mounting on the outside wall of the sauna. The Deluxe model heaters are
most common for large or commercially installed saunas, and a locking cover
is also available for the control panel.
The fourth sauna heater style is the wood fired heater. It is excellent
for outdoor installations where electric power is not readily available. Two
sizes are available, the largest with a built-in water tank.
Click Here to read more about our Tylo sauna heaters.
How much do the saunas cost?
Because only the very best material goes into making one of our saunas
as compared to one of our competitor's, and because Redwood and Cedar are
generally more expensive than Pine, Spruce or Hemlock, you would expect to pay a
high premium to purchase a Heavenly Sauna.
In fact, our prices are quite competitive when compared to saunas offered by
other manufacturers. For essentially a much better sauna, you still pay about
the same price. Because of the premium paid for clear, all-heart
Redwood (subject to availability) and Cedar, and thanks to our purchasing power
as a manufacturer, you pay about the same as it would cost you to purchase
equivalent materials uncut.
Click here for Sauna Prices and to
Design Your Own Sauna
What Accessories are available?
Every Sauna should have at least a thermometer for measuring the temperature
in the sauna and a wooden bucket with ladle for carrying water into the
sauna. These two accessories, as well as a headrest, are included for no
additional charge with every Heavenly Pre-Built and Pre-Cut Sauna
The Bucket and Ladle are used to sprinkle small amounts of water
on the volcanic stones in the top of the heater in order to create a "wet
sauna".
Dozens of other accessories are available, although we haven't had the chance to add
pictures of these, or their pricing, to our web site yet. These include a Sauna
Hygrometer and an Hourglass Sand Timer.
The Hygrometer is installed next to the Thermometer and measures the amount of
humidity in the sauna. In medium and larger sized saunas with longer benches,
sauna bathing is often done in the prone position. The Sauna Headrest, made from
the same Redwood or Western Red Cedar as the sauna is used for this purpose.
The Hourglass Sand Timer is a traditional way of timing your stay in the
sauna. It is both aesthetic and convenient. If you're interested in any type
of sauna accessory, please don't assume that we don't have, just because you don't see
it here.
Five Year Warranty
Heavenly Saunas are sold with a limited residential five year warranty, a copy
of which is available upon request.
|
