The best building plan for outdoor saunas
Spending time in a sauna it is considered a good way to relax and purge the body of pollutants, as well as having a host of other health benefits. Building outdoor saunas is an advantage, as it ensures you maintain your home’s […]
Spending time in a sauna it is considered a good way to relax and purge the body of pollutants, as well as having a host of other health benefits. Building outdoor saunas is an advantage, as it ensures you maintain your home’s design and still have a place to relax, outside of your usual residence, but close by. It is also relatively easy and is explained in the following guide on the plan of outdoor saunas.
Consider first the dimensions of the building to be used. Allow the sauna to occupy an area of less than 10 ‘X 10’ to avoid having to acquire a building permit as is the case if one hundred square feet are exceeded. However, you can verify this information with your local building inspection authority to be sure. The best dimensions to use are 8 ‘X 12’, which will allow you to have three rooms in your sauna: the entrance and the storage room for the wood used as fuel for the sauna, a changing room, and the sauna itself. Let the height of the sauna be less than two meters to avoid wasting heat. Having a smaller room ensures more efficient heating and allows the use of a smaller heater and smaller breakers within your panel.
The layout of the room is also very important. For a better distribution of the benches to be used, place the heater and door on a long wall next to each other. Leave six feet in at least one direction of your sauna if you like to lie in it. The bench design is typically 19 “deep and the height is 38” for the upper bench and 19 “for the lower bench. Shorter doors, with a 26” X 78 “opening spanning both the frame and the door, they are also used for the purpose of conserving heat inside the sauna.The doors must also always be to the outside of the sauna, never to the inside.
The interior of the sauna should be made of cedar, which does not discolor unlike many other types of wood, although a sealant is recommended. Cedar is also stable unlike other types of wood that swell and shrink at different temperatures. Using knotted wood could cause burns in a sauna and therefore it is important to obtain light wood for the interior of the sauna.
Outdoor saunas also need to be well insulated and have a good source of thermal energy. Insulation with a minimum R factor of R-11 for the walls and R-19 for the ceiling can be used. The use of fiberglass bats is essential. Do not use Styrofoam plates, as the plates will give off gases such as formaldehyde when exposed to the higher temperatures in the sauna.
Thermal energy in outdoor saunas tends to be provided by a wood-burning sauna heater. Make sure the fireplace is properly installed and passes inspection by the local authority for proper diffusion of wood smoke. Also, it is not recommended to buy an outdoor infrared heater if you plan to use your sauna outdoors all year round as these outdoor infrared heaters do not work in winter.
Adequate air flow is a must in a sauna to ensure that users have a good supply of oxygen and also to prevent the fire from going out. This requires the introduction of fresh air which can be supplied leaving an air gap of approximately 1 “between the floor and the bottom of the sauna door or by installing a non-adjustable vent in the wall below the heater. An adjustable exhaust vent should also be installed on the wall opposite the vent containing the incoming air to ensure a adequate ventilation, circulation and equitable heat distribution. Exhaust ventilation can be installed anywhere from 48 “to 54” from the sauna floor. Exhaust ventilation should have sliding doors to control the amount of air allowed in the room. It is advisable to place this vent within arm’s reach of your upper bench so that you can adjust the airflow from the bathroom. nco while relaxing.
The use of an aluminum foil vapor barrier is also recommended, rather than conventional polyethylene in residential construction. Seal the aluminum foil vapor barrier with aluminum foil tape for good results. Place the foil loosely around the corners as it will shrink with heating and cooling. Don’t stretch it like conventional polyethylene.
A drain in outdoor saunas tends to be unnecessary, as only enough water needs to be poured over the rocks to turn into steam. If water accumulates in the soil, it means that too much water is being used. However, a drain can be installed if you plan to wash the sauna frequently.
Lighting in outdoor saunas, as well as other saunas in general, is specifically made to operate in high-humidity, high-temperature environments. The use of conventional lighting methods should not be carried out. Additional light fixtures can also be mounted to increase illumination in previously dark areas. An additional 3 “light is typically mounted below where the upper bench meets the wall in the sauna. These lights tend to be operated by dimmer switches, so they can be adjusted according to the mood of the guests. users.
With this plan, it will surely be relatively easy to build your own outdoor sauna today.