sauna bath: history and evolution

1. Sauna:
HARVARD ART MUSEUMS
A small room used as a hot-air or steam bath for cleaning and refreshing the body
- oxforddictionaries.com

2. a little hemispherical
building shaped rather
like an igloo with a low
doorway.
[L] ENGRAVING PRINT OF AZTEC
STEAM BATHS OR SAUNAS BY J.
FUMAGALLI
Against it was constructed a fire-
place, and the blaze warmed the
adjacent wall of the bath-house until
it glowed red-hot. At this stage, the
bather crept into the house and threw
water onto the hot wall until the
interior was filled with steam.
(Image [R] from the Codex
Magliabecchiano, info from
"Everyday Life of the Aztecs"
by Warwick Bray)

3. 1955 Finnish women bringing logs and Wood sauna stove - wikimedia
clean towels to a bath house in
preparation for a sauna – getty images
 The metal stove with stones on top is heated with birch wood
fire, and this heats the sauna room to the required temperature

4.  the electric sauna stove, was introduced on 11 May 1951
by Johannes Säubel in Helsinki

5. Types of Saunas
Pre-Built/Pre-cut Saunas (electrical)
Portable and pre-built saunas are the easiest to install. Both are modular units that
come in 5 major pieces (two side walls, back wall, front wall with pre-cut door, and
ceiling). Even a 2 or 4-person sauna can be installed by one individual in an hour or
two, and the installation requires only a few simple tools.
Because prefabs are easy to install, they are also portable: they can be installed
anywhere there is access to electrical service.

6.  Infrared Saunas
 Instead of heating the air around like a
normal sauna, infrared rays directly
heat the body tissue below the skins
surface, allowing to sweat out toxins
(among other benefits) instead of
indirectly heating the body like a
normal sauna…

7. Wet & Dry Saunas
 A sauna that uses a wood burning stove, or a
more modern electric stove can be used as a
wet or dry sauna. The difference will depend on
the temperature and humidity inside. Wet
home saunas are often called steam saunas.
Most saunas today use a heater and some type
of volcanic rocks. In both cases, the rocks are
heated to a high temperature. The main
difference between a wet and dry sauna is the
water that is splashed over the rocks in a sauna
that is wet. Because the rocks are heated to
such an extreme temperature, the water
vaporizes very quickly causing steam to form.
In a dry sauna, there is no water, just heated
rocks.

8. portable
sauna bath
portable Finnish sauna bath

10.  Portable Bag Saunas
 Only neck and parts of the
body under the neck are
being heated.

11.  “Inipi”, a sweat lodge in
which hot stones were
used to generate the
necessary heat.
Inspired by this ancient
form of sauna, the
EOOS design team
developed an
innovative sauna
concept for Duravit

12. Sauna important Features
 Heater
 Vents & Air Circulation
 Sauna Foil Vapor Barrier

13. Sauna Heater
 Most important element in the sauna room and
it is responsible for vaporizing water into steam.
 Sauna Heater varies in shape and size to fit
different sauna uses, rooms, uses …. etc

14. How it works?
The stove heats the
rocks above it then
water is poured on the
rocks to be turned into
steam inside the sauna
room

15. Types
 Wood burning Sauna stoves
 Electricity-powered sauna
stoves, perfect for small spaces as
it takes little sauna room space
 Propane/Natural Gas-powered
stoves, Have larger rock tray for
higher steam output Wood burning heater

16. Electricity-powered stoves
need sturdy heater guard
installed according to heater
manufacturer specifications.

17. Woodburning sauna heaters have
much hotter surface temps, so they
don’t typically use a heater guard
and usually require a brick or stone
wall inlay near heater to act as a
heat shield.

18. Rocks
Used to store much heat to be used in
vaporizing water when poured, Rocks must be
replaced every year OR 500 hours of use.

20. The heater must be placed
on a concrete-like base. In
case of wood finishing, It
must be placed on a brick
base with 30cm offset
around the heater base
covered with a 2mm steel
sheet.

21. In case of brick walls, The heater must be placed
around 2”/5cm apart from the wall and in case of
wooden walls the distance is no less then 50cm.

22. The heater is also connected to chimney from
brick or metal to emit the smoke (produced
from burning) outside. Chimney pipe
diameter is no less than 4”>
Chimney-roof
connection

24. Vents & Air Circulation
 Ventilation in a sauna room is extremely
important to achieve the utmost in satisfaction
and pleasure. It will also speed up the preheating
of the sauna room.
 Lack of fresh air results in the difficulty in
breathing or burning of the skin.
 The expended hot air in the sauna contains less
oxygen than the denser atmosphere outside.
Bathers sometimes experience faintness unless
the air is changed regularly.
 Normally two ventilators are built into the walls
 Very large rooms may have to use mechanical air
exchange - a suction fun removes air from room
causing a low-pressure sucking fresh air in
through the intake vent.

25.  Traditional air ventilation  mechanical ventilation
natural air circulation is achieved when lead the incoming air 500 mm above
fresh air is led in at floor level near the the stove where it will blend with
the air rising from the stove. As a
stove and led out as far from the stove result, sufficient circulation of air is
as possible, near the ceiling created in the sauna room. Exhaust
air is led out mechanically at floor
level, for instance under the
benches

26. Sauna Foil Vapor Barrier
 the Aluminum foil
vapor barrier and the
insulation to keep the
heat inside the sauna.
A layer of special high
temperature
aluminum foil vapor
barrier must be used
to prevent moisture
from collecting in the
sauna walls and also
to reflect heat back
into the sauna.

27.  Presented by:
 Asmaa Abdelbadee’ Abdallah Sarhan
 Amal Elsayed Elsayed Ibrahem
 Hadeer Khalel Meslh
 Husein Azab
 Khaled Lotfy Ibrahem
 Mahmoud Mohamed Magdy Mahmoud Hegazy
 Mohamed Adel Hassan
 Mohamed Abdelhameed ElKady
 Mustafa Ahmed Sultan