4 ms·

The sauna design rabbit hole is a very deep one. If anyone is interested in more information about sauna design in general, Trumpkin's Notes are by far the mos

by jmacd 3y ago

The sauna design rabbit hole is a very deep one. If anyone is interested in more information about sauna design in general, Trumpkin's Notes are by far the most referred to guide out there. [1] There are also new products [2] which help improve saunas which are not ideally designed or where there are constraints (ceiling height mostly) to deal with. 1: https://localmile.org/trumpkins-notes-on-building-a-sauna/ https://localmile.org/trumpkins-notes-on-building-a-sauna/ 2: https://saunum.com/en/ https://saunum.com/en/

2-718-281-828 3y ago
what is some crazy sauna fact?
- Permik 3y ago
  In Finland sometimes we take advantage of the heat and we cook sausages on our sauna stove by wrapping them in aluminum foil and placing them on the hot rocks. You can still take a sauna normally and afterwards you have a cooked sausage to eat!
  - Moru 3y ago
    Our relatives always had a nice big piece of meat in there when we visited. Ofcourse they had at least three different saunas on the yard. The smoky sauna was mostly used for the cooking.
    - 2-718-281-828 3y ago
      > Our relatives always had a nice big piece of meat in there when we visited seems like you and your relatives had a good time ;)
  - dzhiurgis 3y ago
    In Korea they cook soy-sauce-marinated eggs
    - 2-718-281-828 3y ago
      going to give that a try
  - 2-718-281-828 3y ago
    > can still take a sauna normally and afterwards you have a cooked sausage to eat! that's what she said
swagmoose 3y ago
been browsing r/sauna for years in the lead up to building my own sauna. Those trumpkin notes really are the key. It's unfortunate that the sauna industry has very few (if any) DIY kits that follow best practices for traditional saunas
spiderice 3y ago
Just looking at those Trumpkin notes for the first time. As a North American, I’m very surprised to see that cedar should not be used. I always thought that was the wood to use for Saunas.
dharmaturtle 3y ago
Thanks for the links. I built my own super cheap (under $100) electric sauna, though I would not recommend it for anyone else to copy. It's lasted me about 4 years now though with about every-other-day-usage without burning down the house so... that's nice. I'll see if I can apply any of Trumpkin's Notes to my jank build [0] [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28495062 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28495062
- salad-tycoon 3y ago
  Thanks for the link. Have recently been looking into saunas. So do you still strap your phone onto a block of ice ? I’m looking to spend about 1500, if you were to upgrade your situation while having a slightly large shoe string budget, any leads ?
  - dharmaturtle 3y ago
    re: ice, yes, though I know Trumpkin and other traditionalists would be appalled. I do (occasionally) practice meditation - but I don't ever want to do it in a sauna. I have no plans on upgrading so I haven't put any thought into it. A causal search revealed this in your price range [0] but I don't know anything about it. Don't forget that you'll likely need to pay for an electrician to upgrade your home circuit. For me if I were to upgrade, it would be first be to get a better heater. The thermal foil + sleeping bag is surprisingly effective, though obviously I can't practice Trumpkin's advice on doing hot-cold-hot-cold-hot cycles easily without a door. It currently takes about 10-15m to get up to temp. So if you were on a smaller shoestring budget, I do think my thermal foil + sleeping bag build would save you a _lot_ of money on wood. I built a small (4x4x4) wood cube to sit in (you can see its base in the photo) but it leaked so much air that my DIY heater couldn't keep up. So I went with the thermal foil, which has all kinds of advantages... but it's certainly an eyesore :) A more powerful heater (with the appropriate house circuit) would make a small DIY wood box viable again. I think I _could_ recommend my jank build for others if they used a heater that wasn't DIY. I still wonder when my DIY heater is going to kill me. I've since covered it with ceramic and wood so I'm no longer worried about 3d degree burns from fainting or whatever. And I use a GFCI outlet so any shock won't kill me. And I literally unplug it when not in use so it won't do anything unexpected. My thermal foil is _flammable_ though... which I found out when my heater started sparking. A better heater won't do that - but still... Honestly, depending on your situation, it might just be better to save for a "real" sauna. For me time and money are currently at a premium, so I likely won't upgrade for years. [0] https://se.kristo.shop/products/240064176624-17?variant=40645307662382&currency=USD&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA3JCvBhA8EiwA4kujZs3zCz3CXRRzXYNohQKWDr8zY8T-ziKWL5ip6g_kZOP8Q89dh5mJURoCSNkQAvD_BwE https://se.kristo.shop/products/240064176624-17?variant=4064...
nothercastle 3y ago
I find it so annoying that you can’t just buy a high quality kit in the USA. It makes no sense to have to design a 1of sauna every time someone wants to build one. Plus sourcing your own material is annoying as well.

by jmacd 3y ago

2-718-281-828 3y ago

what is some crazy sauna fact?

Permik 3y ago
In Finland sometimes we take advantage of the heat and we cook sausages on our sauna stove by wrapping them in aluminum foil and placing them on the hot rocks. You can still take a sauna normally and afterwards you have a cooked sausage to eat!
- Moru 3y ago
  Our relatives always had a nice big piece of meat in there when we visited. Ofcourse they had at least three different saunas on the yard. The smoky sauna was mostly used for the cooking.
  - 2-718-281-828 3y ago
    > Our relatives always had a nice big piece of meat in there when we visited seems like you and your relatives had a good time ;)
- dzhiurgis 3y ago
  In Korea they cook soy-sauce-marinated eggs
  - 2-718-281-828 3y ago
    going to give that a try
- 2-718-281-828 3y ago
  > can still take a sauna normally and afterwards you have a cooked sausage to eat! that's what she said

swagmoose 3y ago

been browsing r/sauna for years in the lead up to building my own sauna. Those trumpkin notes really are the key. It's unfortunate that the sauna industry has very few (if any) DIY kits that follow best practices for traditional saunas

spiderice 3y ago

Just looking at those Trumpkin notes for the first time. As a North American, I’m very surprised to see that cedar should not be used. I always thought that was the wood to use for Saunas.

dharmaturtle 3y ago

Thanks for the links. I built my own super cheap (under $100) electric sauna, though I would not recommend it for anyone else to copy. It's lasted me about 4 years now though with about every-other-day-usage without burning down the house so... that's nice. I'll see if I can apply any of Trumpkin's Notes to my jank build [0] [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28495062 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28495062

salad-tycoon 3y ago
Thanks for the link. Have recently been looking into saunas. So do you still strap your phone onto a block of ice ? I’m looking to spend about 1500, if you were to upgrade your situation while having a slightly large shoe string budget, any leads ?
- dharmaturtle 3y ago
  re: ice, yes, though I know Trumpkin and other traditionalists would be appalled. I do (occasionally) practice meditation - but I don't ever want to do it in a sauna. I have no plans on upgrading so I haven't put any thought into it. A causal search revealed this in your price range [0] but I don't know anything about it. Don't forget that you'll likely need to pay for an electrician to upgrade your home circuit. For me if I were to upgrade, it would be first be to get a better heater. The thermal foil + sleeping bag is surprisingly effective, though obviously I can't practice Trumpkin's advice on doing hot-cold-hot-cold-hot cycles easily without a door. It currently takes about 10-15m to get up to temp. So if you were on a smaller shoestring budget, I do think my thermal foil + sleeping bag build would save you a _lot_ of money on wood. I built a small (4x4x4) wood cube to sit in (you can see its base in the photo) but it leaked so much air that my DIY heater couldn't keep up. So I went with the thermal foil, which has all kinds of advantages... but it's certainly an eyesore :) A more powerful heater (with the appropriate house circuit) would make a small DIY wood box viable again. I think I _could_ recommend my jank build for others if they used a heater that wasn't DIY. I still wonder when my DIY heater is going to kill me. I've since covered it with ceramic and wood so I'm no longer worried about 3d degree burns from fainting or whatever. And I use a GFCI outlet so any shock won't kill me. And I literally unplug it when not in use so it won't do anything unexpected. My thermal foil is _flammable_ though... which I found out when my heater started sparking. A better heater won't do that - but still... Honestly, depending on your situation, it might just be better to save for a "real" sauna. For me time and money are currently at a premium, so I likely won't upgrade for years. [0] https://se.kristo.shop/products/240064176624-17?variant=40645307662382&currency=USD&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA3JCvBhA8EiwA4kujZs3zCz3CXRRzXYNohQKWDr8zY8T-ziKWL5ip6g_kZOP8Q89dh5mJURoCSNkQAvD_BwE https://se.kristo.shop/products/240064176624-17?variant=4064...

nothercastle 3y ago

I find it so annoying that you can’t just buy a high quality kit in the USA. It makes no sense to have to design a 1of sauna every time someone wants to build one. Plus sourcing your own material is annoying as well.