What sauna do you have?
Heather: We have an Almost Heaven indoor sauna that seats 2-3 people comfortably.
Alix: We have a Redwood Outdoors sauna. It says it seats 6 people, but I’d say 2-3 comfortably. This is our second sauna from this company (we had a different style at our old house we left with the house).
What is the difference between infrared and dry sauna? Why did you choose the one you have? What are the benefits?
This article explains the difference between infrared and dry saunas and the benefits. Infrared saunas are more “comfortable” to sit in but there isn’t extensive research on the health benefits compared to dry saunas.
Heather: My husband did all of the research on the sauna and chose a dry sauna based on what he read and reviews on Almost Heaven saunas. They have been manufacturing saunas in the US for over 40 years and get 5 star reviews. I believe he purchased it through Costco originally, which has the best warranty and return policy in case something ever went wrong. And we purchased the one we did because we wanted it to go in our garage (hence the indoor version) in a very specific space so it needed to fit that area.
Alix: We wanted our sauna outside in the woods to make it more of an experience. We went with a wood fire burning sauna because it wouldn’t need any electrical hook ups. Like Heather said, this was my husbands thing that I was excited about. He did the research, put the whole dang thing together, and gets the fire going whenever I want to go in. This sauna can be wet or dry and gets really hot! I like infrared saunas, but we wanted the traditional sauna experience and something that could be outdoors.
How often do you use the sauna?
Heather: I try to go in at least 4x a week for 20 minutes at a time. This was the recommended amount of time by Andrew Huberman (a neuroscientist at Stanford). I tend to listen to music or a podcast and set my phone right outside of the sauna door (as to not get too hot) and can hear it just fine. 20 minutes honestly goes by really quickly and I find it to be my time to warm up, zen out, and calm my body.
Alix: My goal is 3 x week for 20-25 minutes (5 days would be ideal), but we’ve been slacking lately due to travel and life. It can be hard to find the time to get the fire going and get out there (the only downside of it being wood burning and outdoors). I hope to get back on track here soon 😉
How hot do you make it?
Heather: My husband tends to go in it first in the morning so by the time I get in, it’s scorching hot because he CRANKS it. He upgraded our sauna so that it can reach up to 230 degrees but we never go that high obviously. We are most “comfortable” at 195 or less. I’d say my sweet spot is around 190 and I sweat a ton.
Alix: Ours doesn’t have a thermometer in it (I keep telling my husband to add one so we know how hot it gets) but after about 15-20 minutes of the fire going it gets VERY hot! Close to 200 I’d say.
Do you need electrical hook ups and someone to install it for you?
Heather: My husband was able to assemble the sauna on his own but then had an electrician come out to hook up the heat component. He could have done it himself but would have taken days, weeks, maybe months, and a whole lot of bitching and moaning, and so we hired out 😉
Alix: You can have the sauna delivered assembled, but of course my husband said he could do it himself and he did, but it never goes as quickly as I’d like! This type of sauna didn’t need any hook-ups, but our old one did and we hired an electrician to connect it all (you really don’t want to mess with that on your own- even my husband knows his limitations).
Any questions we miss? Drop them in the comments section.
xx, Alix & Heather
