The Right Steamroom: the Subtleties of Design And Construction

Bath always held a special place in the life of our ancestors. This is not only a place of hygienic procedures, but also a method of treating many ailments, preventing diseases, the place of birth of children and nursing patients. Bath rules not only the body but also the spirit, bringing peace and complacency.

Probably, and today — genetically — for many owners of country houses the bath — an integral and obligatory condition of country rest. Even on a small plot the owner still strives to put the bathhouse. It remains to figure out how to make a country place of relaxation correctly. We define 4 terms of a good steam room in the country.

Which bath to choose?

But first of all you need to decide what type of bath you closer, and most importantly — what you want to get from the bath procedures. It depends on the correct design, making the perfect bath.

Different types of places for ablutions are distinguished by the microclimate created for procedures, to be exact — the ratio of temperature and humidity. Consider the main options of baths, their differences and features.

Russian steam room and traditional Finnish sauna

There is a widespread opinion that in the Russian bath a lot of wet steam and use brooms, and in the Finnish sauna dry and visitors sit ceremoniously. This is not so: the traditional Finnish sauna is no different from the Russian bath. After all, “sauna” is in Finnish “bath”. Finnish rural baths are no different from Russian, because they are very similar — and the climate, and lifestyle, and traditional construction technologies. In the Russian bath and Finnish sauna the temperature does not exceed +50…+60°C, high humidity — up to 70-80%.

A dry-heat sauna

The Finnish sauna is now usually understood as a dry air bath without steam. In it, the temperature is much higher — about +100°C, and the humidity, on the contrary, is extremely low — no more than 15-20%. The optimal humidity parameter is from 3 to 8%.

East — a delicate matter

Arab hammams are derived from the Roman baths. Another name for a steam bath. In the Hammam, the humidity tends to the maximum (100%), and the temperature is low, only about +40°C. Therefore, in the Eastern countries, a visit to the Hammam can take a whole day: people not only wash and get a variety of medical and cosmetic procedures, but also just relax, communicate.

The heat in the Turkish bath is obtained from a large area of heating — pipes with hot water, laid under the floor, benches. In addition to heat, steam is supplied through pipes to the Hammam room.

Water bath

In Japan, another form of bath procedures — water bath o-furo. It’s basically a hot tub. The water temperature in o-furo is +40…+60°C, humidity, of course, 100%. The tradition of taking hot baths is associated with numerous thermal springs (Onsen), in which natural fonts are filled with hot mineral water.

The traditional o-furo was made of wood and the water in it was heated by an oven placed in the container itself. In modern tubs, a source of hot water can be anything.

4 terms of a good steam room in the country

As mentioned above, the design of the perfect bath begins with the choice of its type. For the Russian or Finnish steam room requirements for the device of the room one, for dry-air bath — others. To find out what bath is better — occupation senseless.

1. Architectural and planning solutions

Usually in the Russian bath several rooms:

• sweating room;
• soap;
• locker;
• heat the vestibule or hall.

Often, to optimize the cost of construction of a soap room combined with a steam room and do without a thermal vestibule, especially if the bath is planned to be used only in the summer. And you can add the necessary minimum rest room, toilet, fireplace, billiard room and other elements that are directly related to the bath procedures are no longer relevant. The size of the bath depends on the number of people who will visit it.

Separate manuals for the design of private baths do not exist. Pre-revolutionary building codes were more luxurious than modern ones. So, in the book “How to build houses. Practical building art” (1912) for the premises of the steam room and soap for each visitor was given 2 cubic fathoms, in modern units — 19.42 m³. Norms used in the construction of public baths, sets for soap 7,92 m³, for steam — 13,2 m³.

In modern numerous councils the volume of air in the premises of the bath per person is even less: 5.52 m3 and 9.2 m3 respectively. In comparison with the norms of 1912, in 1975 decreased the area of premises, and to date — and the ceiling height (from 3.2 m to 2.2 m).

It is proposed to use the following values of the area per person:

• for locker room — 1,8 m²;
• for steam room — 4 m²;
• for soap — 2.4 m2²

To design the bath you need so that in the inner rooms did not have drafts. Avoid the layout of the “pipe” — the doors to different rooms should be perpendicular to each other.

The design and planning solution should ensure the maintenance of certain temperatures in the premises throughout the bath procedures: about +55…+60°C in the steam room; +38…+40°C in the soap compartment; +21…+22°C in the locker room.

2. Ventilation

When drafting a future bath there is a reason to turn to the old rules. After all, the increased volume of space is not only freedom of movement for visitors, but also the best air exchange. Many complain of fatigue and headache after visiting the steam room: when heated, breathing becomes more frequent, the body needs more air in the bath than at normal temperature.

In addition, high humidity causes the heat and heated in the lungs, oxygen binds to hemoglobin worse. Therefore, for sufficient air exchange of the bath, a device of supply and exhaust ventilation is necessary. Opening the steam room door for a short time, a crack under the door or a small vent hole under the ceiling — all this is not enough to create the required (30 m³ per person with 1-2 times the air exchange) ventilation of the steam room.

The hot room in the Russian bath is possible to air volley — before each new run. To do this, in the steam room and adjacent the wash arrange Windows that open. The maximum effect will give the location of the Windows on the opposite walls.

Another good way of ventilation in the bath — the so-called ventilation Bastu. Its device is clear from the scheme. The name comes from the Swedish bath Bastu, where such a ventilation system was made traditionally. Therefore, the Swedish Bastu is also called convection baths.

3. Oven — the heart of the bath

For a real Russian bath is very important bath conditions — the ratio of temperature and humidity, which is almost unchanged should be maintained throughout the process. This can only be ensured by a proper sauna stove: the stones in the heater must be heated to +350 to obtain a “light” steam…+400°C. To get this temperature, they need to be heated in a closed volume, that is, the correct bath stove in the Russian steam room — with a closed heater.

Another requirement of the Russian bath the furnace — it should be non-convection or have an adjustable convection. Convection ovens are suitable for dry air saunas, they quickly warm up the steam room, but are not able to maintain the required for the Russian bath constant temperature. Therefore, if you are interested in speed, choose a model that has the ability to turn off the convection after the initial heating.

Of course, a massive brick oven is best suited: its surfaces emit soft infrared heat and give it off smoothly, ensuring a stable temperature in the steam room. But if its in there first, then you can buy the metal with a veneer of stone or brick veneer make your own.

4. The warmer the bath, the less wood

The warmer the bath, the less firewood is required, the longer the heat remains in the steam room, the easier it is to achieve the correct bath conditions.

The walls of the log bath, as a rule, do not need additional insulation. But if the structure is made of frame technology, brick or concrete blocks, without a good insulation can not do. Need insulation and in the bath-house — for installation on the ceiling, because through it there is a major heat leak.

Heat-insulating materials such as foam should not be used in such a “hot” room — from high temperatures they can emit harmful substances and even begin to melt. Well proved to be in the construction of baths stone wool

It is worth spending time to take into account all the subtleties of the device ideal bath to get the maximum pleasure and benefit from soaring. Otherwise, why even spend money on its construction — you can wash at home in the bath.