Has anyone tried one of these 1000-2000$ Sauna's one can buy on Amazon and similar? Are they good enough for average people? I'm living in a rented flat and think I could fit one on part of my balcony.
I built a super cheap "traditional" dry sauna. It's basically an electric burner, a pot to increase surface area and humidity, a 25 foot roll of thermal foil, and a sleeping bag as the ceiling. I disassembled the burner, removed all the plastic pieces, and short circuited the safety cutoff. It's jank AF, but in the end less than 100$. AFAIK there aren't any dry saunas under $1000 - the heater alone is ~$200. Mine is also portable, so it's in the garage in summer and in the laundry room in winter. There are portable infrared saunas for ~$100, but most studies are on the "dry" type. I rubber band a block of ice to my phone and do my reading/social media in there, so the time cost is reduced. It's pitch black in there, so I have a very bright night light. No problems with air circulation - it doesn't get stuffy, even when I throw a dash of water in the pot.
On that very, very short wooden rectangle in the center of the platform in the photo. It's less a thing I sit on and more something I "asian squat" on. So I end up facing the burner (though it's now shielded with ceramic).
I bought one of these sauna tents and it was pretty underwhelming. I can barely stand 30 minutes in a real sauna - in this home sauna tent, I watched an entire movie (two hours) and had to get out more from boredom than the heat.
Clearly I'm trading low quality/cheaper for more time in sauna, since it does take more time to heat you up. I put a towel around the neck hole to accumulate heat, but I'm dripping with sweat in 25 minutes. I may not be Finnish, but the model I'm using really does get me going.
I bought one of the ~$400 tent saunas on Amazon and it was the best health related purchase in recent years. It only gets to 135 degrees, whereas the one at gym reached nearly 200, but it feels hotter and I can only last about half the time.
I sit in it at least once a day followed by a 10-15 minute cold shower where I drink a 32oz of water and another 32oz of water mixed with popular powdered green vitamin.
For these familiar with Whoop, I consistently have 5-10% better recoveries and sleep performance on the days I use the sauna. I also feel better which is what really matters.
Worth noting, the first one lasted 13 months before the frame became fairly rusty/moldy from sweat. I would put most the blame here on me though as I was only one using it so I didn't always wipe up the pool of sweat after use. I would also say I'm on the extreme end of customers using it once or twice daily.
The second one, which I bought last month, now has a plastic frame instead of metal so should be non-issue. It also now has a washable foam floor panel I take out after each use to dry and can be machine washed.
Nerdy addition, I got paranoid about some Amazon reviews/comments mentioning EMF exposure so I bought an EMF meter to test the sauna. I don't remember exact reading but it rated lower than sitting in my car while idling. While it may still have been high for some, I justified it by the fact I'm driving far less since I WFH so in the end about the same.
Surely you can "try before you buy" by visiting a local gym or sauna? And thus avoid buying, storing and setting up, all of which would be lost time and effort were it to prove unsuitable for you.
I read faebi's comment as wanting to have a sauna (perhaps from experience at a gym, etc. and liking it) and wondering if it those saunas were actually practical.
Thought that come to my mind are: How much power does it draw? How long does it take to warm up? How hot do they go? How easy are they to install? - and to take down when moving out? And to clean/maintain?
Says an electric heater (not infrared) sauna is about 4.5kW (about half my shower), takes about 40 minutes to heat up, then 20 minutes in it, so say 5kWh if you time it right, maybe 8kWh if you have a longer time in it or aren't perfectly tires. Even at current uncapped UK prices of 60p/kWh that's about the cost of a takeaway coffee.
I'd use a sauna a lot more if the UK were like Germany (I was in Munich recently for work and used it every day), however there are rarely saunas in UK hotels, and those that are require you to wear clothes! Sadly haven't got enough space at home for one.
> BS 1363 plugs are required to carry a BS 1362 cartridge fuse. Existing BS 1362 fuse ratings are: 13, 10, 7, 5, 3, 2 and 1A ampere.
The same site says British ring circuits can typically handle 32 amp (see https://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/RadialRingCircuit.html ), or 7 kW, so I assume the "basic wiring" cost is to wire into one of those existing circuits.
Which isn't something a renter can likely get away with.
In the US, 4.5kW @ 110 V is 40 amp, which is more than even a 20A circuit found in modern kitchens.
It'll require something like a dedicated 220V/30A line used for a water heater (again, in the US), which will handle 6kW. Again, not something I think feasible for most people renting an apartment.
Yes you couldn't plug in a 13A fuse. Wiring a single circuit back to your MCU and putting a 30A breaker on it isn't expensive though, assuming you have spare space on the unit. You didn't mention renting
I didn't, but my response was in the context of faebi's earlier comment in this thread, which clarified "I'm living in a rented flat and think I could fit one on part of my balcony."
