Has anyone tried one of these 1000-2000$ Sauna's one can buy on Amazon and similar? Are they good enough for average people? I'm living in a rented flat and think I could fit one on part of my balcony.
https://i.imgur.com/Lml7Vms.jpg
2 years in and I haven't burned down the house... yet. I've since added more ceramic around the pot so burning myself would be very difficult.
(Reference to my post from the last time this article was posted on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28495062 )
If you can endure the mockery of your room mates, you will indeed get a good sweat going.
I sit in it at least once a day followed by a 10-15 minute cold shower where I drink a 32oz of water and another 32oz of water mixed with popular powdered green vitamin.
For these familiar with Whoop, I consistently have 5-10% better recoveries and sleep performance on the days I use the sauna. I also feel better which is what really matters.
Worth noting, the first one lasted 13 months before the frame became fairly rusty/moldy from sweat. I would put most the blame here on me though as I was only one using it so I didn't always wipe up the pool of sweat after use. I would also say I'm on the extreme end of customers using it once or twice daily.
The second one, which I bought last month, now has a plastic frame instead of metal so should be non-issue. It also now has a washable foam floor panel I take out after each use to dry and can be machine washed.
Nerdy addition, I got paranoid about some Amazon reviews/comments mentioning EMF exposure so I bought an EMF meter to test the sauna. I don't remember exact reading but it rated lower than sitting in my car while idling. While it may still have been high for some, I justified it by the fact I'm driving far less since I WFH so in the end about the same.
This would fit for me, and reviews seem good, but hard to really know - https://a.co/d/2wU3ycJ
Reddit seems to like this one https://www.cedarbrooksauna.com/36x42-near-infrared-cedar-sa...
Thought that come to my mind are: How much power does it draw? How long does it take to warm up? How hot do they go? How easy are they to install? - and to take down when moving out? And to clean/maintain?
Says an electric heater (not infrared) sauna is about 4.5kW (about half my shower), takes about 40 minutes to heat up, then 20 minutes in it, so say 5kWh if you time it right, maybe 8kWh if you have a longer time in it or aren't perfectly tires. Even at current uncapped UK prices of 60p/kWh that's about the cost of a takeaway coffee.
I'd use a sauna a lot more if the UK were like Germany (I was in Munich recently for work and used it every day), however there are rarely saunas in UK hotels, and those that are require you to wear clothes! Sadly haven't got enough space at home for one.
> For a small sauna, basic wiring may cost around £100 to £200
4.5kW @ 230V is 19.6 amp, while it seems the British outlet maxes out at 13 amp, like the following quote from https://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/British1.html :
> BS 1363 plugs are required to carry a BS 1362 cartridge fuse. Existing BS 1362 fuse ratings are: 13, 10, 7, 5, 3, 2 and 1A ampere.
The same site says British ring circuits can typically handle 32 amp (see https://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/RadialRingCircuit.html ), or 7 kW, so I assume the "basic wiring" cost is to wire into one of those existing circuits.
Which isn't something a renter can likely get away with.
In the US, 4.5kW @ 110 V is 40 amp, which is more than even a 20A circuit found in modern kitchens.
It'll require something like a dedicated 220V/30A line used for a water heater (again, in the US), which will handle 6kW. Again, not something I think feasible for most people renting an apartment.