Few luxuries can compare with some time spent in a sauna.
Letting the heat and steam wash over and envelop you, soothing your tense muscles and easing your stress is one of life’s great pleasures.
As enjoyable an experience as a sauna can be, sitting in one that’s too hot for too long can lead to bodily harm and can even prove deadly.
As such, it is important to know the ideal temperature for the type of sauna you use.
There are four types of sauna: the traditional Finnish, Dry Sauna, Infrared Sauna, and Steam Room.
Each has an ideal (and safe) sauna temperature range that should never be exceeded.
When used properly each type of sauna can be relaxing and perhaps even beneficial to your health.
Studies show sauna use can have effects similar to mild exercise.
Following is a comparison of sauna types and their ideal sauna temperature ranges.
TRADITIONAL FINNISH SAUNA
The traditional, wood-lined Finnish variety is what comes to mind when most people think of a sauna.
A traditional sauna heats by convection and may be powered by either electric, gas, or wood.
Humidity in this type of sauna is controlled by pouring water from a ladle onto heated rocks.
Traditional Finnish saunas are characterized by low heat and a variable relative humidity (between ten to sixty percent, or more.)
DRY SAUNA
The dry sauna experience is the same as that of the traditional Finnish variety, except for the fact that there’s no ladling of water onto hot rocks involved.
Because no water is used in this type of sauna experience, humidity levels in a dry sauna are very low, normally below ten percent.
STEAM ROOM/STEAM BATH
This variety of sauna differs greatly from both the traditional Finnish sauna and the dry sauna.
For one thing, the humidity of a steam room is very high, ideally one hundred percent.
Rather than pouring hot water onto rocks, steam generators produce a mist that’s continuously filtered into the room.
Unlike traditional saunas, there is no way to control the humidity level of a steam bath.
Steam rooms are lined with tile, acrylic, or glass, as opposed to being line with wood, and they must be airtight.
INFRARED SAUNA
Quickly becoming a favorite among home sauna owners, the infrared variety provides a sauna experience unlike that of the other three sauna types.
Infrared saunas, also known as “heat therapy rooms,” are entirely electrically powered.
They heat by utilizing infrared panels which are designed to warm the user’s body as opposed to the air in the sauna.
This makes for a less “enveloping” heat, as the majority of heat produced by this type of sauna is absorbed by the user’s skin.
As with the steam room, the infrared sauna does not allow for humidity control.
Infrared saunas are believed to improve blood circulation and to aid in recovery from fatigue.
IDEAL TEMPERATURE RANGE FOR TRADITIONAL SAUNA
Knowing the safe temperature range of the sauna variety you are using is absolutely essential, not only to ensure an optimum bathing experience but to ensure your safety.
A traditional Finnish sauna heats by convection, and may be safely operated at a temperature range of between one-hundred-fifty and one-hundred-ninety-four degrees Fahrenheit (sixty-five to ninety degrees Celsius.)
The temperature of a traditional Finnish sauna will fluctuate based on the level of humidity at any given time.
Higher temperatures will mean less steam. Conversely, the higher the humidity the lower the temperature will be.
While the ideal temperature and desired humidity level will differ from user to user, most people find that a traditional Finnish sauna offers the best experience when heated to about one-hundred-sixty degrees Fahrenheit (about seventy-one degrees Celcius) measured where bathers sit.
The traditional sauna can take up to an hour to preheat. Humidity levels of between twenty and forty percent are typical for this variety of sauna.
IDEAL TEMPERATURE RANGE FOR A DRY SAUNA
Relative humidity levels in a dry sauna are very low, usually below ten percent.
For this reason, many people prefer a higher temperature while using a dry sauna.
The safe operating range is the same as that of the traditional Finnish sauna, one-hundred-fifty to one-hundred-ninety-four degrees Fahrenheit.
As there’s no difference between a traditional sauna and the dry sauna (except of course for the lack of water,) preheat time is also the same and can take up to an hour.
IDEAL TEMPERATURE RANGE FOR A STEAM ROOM
Because of the high humidity level, sweat does not evaporate in a steam room.
As a result, the temperature in a steam room (or Turkish Bath) will feel higher than it actually is.
A thermostat controls the temperature in a steam sauna.
Steam saunas may be safely operated at a temperature range of between one-hundred-ten and one-hundred-twenty degrees Fahrenheit (around forty-three degrees to forty-nine degrees Celsius.)
For an ideal steam sauna experience, most people prefer a temperature below one-hundred-twenty degrees Fahrenheit.
IDEAL TEMPERATURE RANGE FOR AN INFRARED SAUNA
One-hundred-ten to one-hundred-thirty degrees Fahrenheit (approximately forty-three to fifty-four degrees Celsius) is the recommended healthy temperature range for an infrared sauna.
This type of sauna, which uses infrared panels to produces radiant heat, warms your body in a way similar to the rays of the sun.
An infrared sauna takes a mere fifteen to thirty minutes to preheat, the fastest of any variety sauna.
Most people report finding their infrared sauna experience to be optimal at a temperature of around one-hundred-twenty degrees Fahrenheit (approximately forty-nine degrees Celsius.)
A sauna can be both relaxing and beneficial to your health.
When used improperly though it can be ineffective and even dangerous.
Each sauna type has a recommended safe temperature range which a user exceeds at his or her own risk.
To make sure you have the best and safest sauna experience possible be sure to note the recommended safe temperature range of the sauna type you are using.