What is the best type?

I would love a sauna. Most hotels in Australia have them and I absolutely love using them on holidays. I wish I had one at home. I'd use it everyday. Will put one in when I can afford one.

Love our sauna. Wood fired detached from house. Winter getaway!

I never thought I wanted one, but anything that would help my husband sweat when he gets a gout attack would be wonderful, and after reading the replies, I think I'd like it, too!

We love ours! My husband had used a wood-fired one in Montana and was intrigued. We built ours (detached from house) after looking at the tiny ones available for purchase at the hot tub store. We made ours big enough that we can both lay down and be comfortable. We ordered the electric heater online and bought cedar locally to line the inside walls and make benches.
We use it about 6 months out of the year here in Colorado.

Infrared sauna.

Does anyone know if you have to make any structural modifications with an infrared sauna? We could fit one in our master bedroom....

I do have build in my basement Sauna. I like to install an infrared heater and looking for it to buy no more than 3000 watts. Size is 4.5x6.5x7 H

We have had three saunas in basements and have had no moisture problems.
This last one I built has a barn wood door, the "wet wall" is tiled, and the benches made of 5/4 x 4 cedar on edge. We use it 3-4 times a week in the winter and 1-2 times a week in the summer.

Most people do not pronounce sauna properly. They say sawna, instead of souna. Even Google definition gets it wrong. I'm married to a Finn, they pronounce it souna.

I bought my two person, infared sauna from Costco in 2012. Dynamic brand from Canada. I paid $1500. It is all cedar. I love it. I put mine in my basement but it can easily go in any room, bathroom, or even closet. It was super simple to assemble as all the electric components are pre-built into the ceiling panel. There is no messing around with electric. The floor and wall panels slide together in minutes and then you put the top on and plug it into any regular outlet. It has a really good sound system so I plug in my mp3 and get toasty while listening to my tunes. Because it will disassemble as easily as it went together, I can take it with me if I move house, or I can use it in my massage therapy practice. I too have hypothyroidism, and I find that if I take a quick 1 minute shower before the sauna and don't dry myself then enter the sauna, I get sweating much faster than if I go in dry. I have used wet saunas in the past and loved them so I was a little worried that I would not like the dry, infared, but I do and I'm not sorry I purchased mine.

gigi425 No, you can put them anywhere. I recommend 3 person so 1 person can lie on the bench with their legs up. You can't do that with a 2 person. The ones at Costco are great. Check the weekly emails and they go on sale every few months.

My saunas, we build this saunas !

Its always nice to have the things you love most at your disposal. I vote yes!

Would love my own sauna! For now I'll have to visit my parents' homes and cabins to sauna. Finns all the way! Nothing beats the wood burning sauna at camp. The stoves were made by someone that also made incinerators, or so the old Finlanders say.

Ladypup and anyone else thinking of building a sauna - check out www.lamppakuuma.com - this is a family owned business (3rd generation Finnish family) manufacturing sauna stoves, wood and electric, as well as wood burning furnaces - the safest on the market!! Please everyone, respect the culture and pronounce it correctly, it's sow-na not saw-na :)

Personally, I would never use it. A pool....yes!

i am used to enjoy sauna for last 22 yrs in my gym & very fond of it

Love them. Will be buying from Costco when they go on sale.

We have one in our current house - we have never used it. I store our Christmas decorations there (my husband tells everyone!). We will be turning it into a closet when we renovate that part of the house.

I think it is the best if you have your own sauna so that you can lessen your time to go to the sauna store. And i think you can choose best design that fit to your house. We have some great reasons why you should purchase a home sauna! visit Aqualine Saunas websites

we had one in the loft of our vacation home. we stored our telescope in it. major renovation kicked the sauna and the jacuzzi to the curb, now its a wide open loft with comfy reading couches and a table to do jigsaw puzzles or play games.

I was in my infrared sauna last night. Inexpensive, comes in one box and installs in an hour max and currently sits beside my furnace- no moisture; only heat and a great night's sleep.

I also have an infrared sauna from Costco and I love it!!!

I live in S. FL, if I want to sauna, I just walk outside in July. :D

LOL, solraven. I live in New Brunswick, Canada and would love a sauna in my home. Or steam room; I love both and cannot decide which one I prefer :)

I have an infared sauna. I miss having a hot tub/spa though. I love the convenience of the sauna, it is easy to maintain and it is very effective at pulling out toxins and relaxing muscles but I also love the therapeutic effects of the hot tub/spa too.

i would love sauna at my home though i live in india,a hot country.

Yes, I've bought and used groupon sauna packages. I can't wait to get my own and have been looking at the ones at Costco, but thanks for the links which I will be checking out shortly!

Skin is the largest organ in human body,so sweating is not just preferable,but imperative. It's one of the main mechanisms to detox and boost endorphin production.

@Alpha Wellness -- um, actually your liver is your main mechanism to "detox" although it sure feels good to bake yourself! :)

We have a sauna in our house. We never had a problem with it. Works wonderfully. It is part of the master's ensuite bathroom close to the shower so the person using it comes out of the sauna and goes to the shower without dripping (sweat) all over the place. My husband uses it a lot but not me, I don't like the heat......

it seems good when having a sauna, but we think it doesn't work in my region. because we live in the area that has no winter. we only want a simple bathroom, have a complete component, morover if it is added some accesories like so that the bathroom shows the natural nuance.

Only if it was outdoors - never in or attached to house. Dampness = mold = bad

Sauna = dry heat.if anything it will reduce dampness.

I have one at home as part of the master's bathroom. Never had a problem with it after 15 years.

I am extremely sensitive to mold and it makes me very sick.. You dont get mold in a dry sauna. Infrared saunas are the bomb.

Yes! Stress be gone!

We had a wet sauna in our old home and loved it. We have an infrared sauna now. There are pros and cons to both. The infrared one can move with us, the other one was a fixed room.

You can take more heat with the infrared. Some people that feel stifled in a wet sauna can handle the infrared one fine.

I don't like hot and humid climates for long, so in the summer I prefer the infrared one. In winter either is fine.

luvourhome You say there are pros and cons to each, but you didn't mention any pros to the wet sauna. I personally don't know of any so am curous what you think they are.

@qofmiwok---A wet sauna is great for a blast of heat when you add water to the rocks. I find the infrared ones are slower to heat up.

You sweat faster in a wet sauna and it's great if you are coming from a pool directly into the sauna. With a wet sauna, the heat is more evenly dispersed, whereas I find with the infrared ones, you need to be closer to the grates to get full effects.

It's a bit harder to clean a wet sauna because you have the heater.

Also with a wet sauna, it's easier to have 2 benches for different comfort levels. Heat/hot air rises, so it's hotter near the top. The infrared one we have now is only one level.

We have a Health Mate 2 person infrared sauna - although we use it individually. The extra space is nice to stretch out and less claustrophobic. We did have to swap to a different size outlet box. It's great on cold fall nights or during our cold winters. Clears the pores and if we feel a cold or illness coming on it seems to work that out. Also helps with aches and pains. It comes in panels that click-lock or buckle together. Pretty easy to take apart if needed.

I've had two dry saunas already in 2 different houses (during 35 years). My husband loves saunas but I never used it (too hot for me). Ultimately, we moved to a condo so no more sauna....he has to go to the SPA.

I like to sit in the sauna, and especially feeling after the reception, the body is relaxed.

Well, I have a good friend with whom I like to relax in the sauna, and it's really cool. I helped him build it.

of them were ordered from them via the Internet and without any problems.

I'm thinking of building a small sauna in my house. I have some experience.

I think the order from the site spaprof.com. But I have not decided yet. Maybe someone will advise something else.

Steam, steam, steam! There's nothing better for both complexion and muscle tension.

I had one in the old house, dry sauna, they nice to have and once in a while jump in there... the downside they lack the entire experience and effect you get when you go to a bath-house.

A bunch of us we go on regular bases 2-3 times a month to a few local saunas in the area or in NY, especially in the winter time. They have dry saunas, steam saunas, hot tubs, salt water tubs, you name it... Some places after you get out of the sauna you can go in the backyard and play around in snow (if there is snow on the ground), if not you jump into an ice pool, some have ice rooms (Like being in a freezer) for 10-15 min :-), and they all have restaurants inside and you bring beer, liquor, you can also bring food, and you spend the entire day there...finish everything up with a nice massage. After you get out of there, you feel like a newborn LOL

Yes I'd love to, and I'd add an "absolutely"!

I grew up with an outdoor wood heated sauna. There is absolutely nothing better or more relaxing. (Yes, even the chopping and stacking of the wood is therapeutic!) It was such a habitual part of my childhood that I know I would continue the habit now.

Everytime I get a cold, or muscle aches, or dread getting nekkid for my shower I long for a sauna.

Btw I must note that I am pronouncing it sow-na as my Finnish heritage suggests not sah-na like a North American!

Lindsey, the Sow-na :-) we always go too has a variety of different types of sauna's including a Fin one, where the room temperature is usually 185–220 degree F. and they use stones so you can throw water on it to create lots of steam, and you have steam and heat at the same time, followed by a good work over with birch sauna whisk, etc we also add Eucalyptus oil spray which adds a nice aroma while in there. We all going down there this weekend, can't wait.

Soooo jealous.

Have one. Use it to store Christmas decorations.