Today when you’re looking to purchase a sauna system for your home bathroom or home remodel upgrade, you’ll have a wide variety of options to choose from. The big three I’ve seen are steam showers, steam saunas, and regular saunas.
Steam Showers are basically where you sit in steam vapor that fills up the entire room.
Saunas (also known as dry saunas) are where you sit in really dry high temperature heat.
Steam Saunas (also known as wet saunas) are basically saunas where you pour water onto hot rocks to create a temporary burst of steam in the room.
Difference In Temperature
A steam shower is typically around 100-110 degrees whereas a dry sauna can be anywhere from 160-200 degrees. A steam sauna will usually have the same temperature of a dry sauna. (In reality is a steam sauna is really just a dry sauna with rocks and water.)
Difference in Humidity
A steam shower will be at nearly 100% humidity if it’s not completely humid. A dry sauna can only range from 0 to 10% humidity since the temperature is set so high. If the temperature is too high and air is moist, it could scald your skin. A steam sauna will reach up to 20-30% humidity but only for a temporary period since steam is not constantly being generated.
The Steam Sauna Ritual
In a typical sauna, the water is added to create steam only in the final minutes of the sauna session if at all. Usually in a dry sauna, the rocks are left alone. In some steam saunas, there is a special humidifier that releases steam over a short time-span. The humidifier keeps you from having to pour water non-stop over the rocks and is gentle so that you don’t scald yourself. There are also other variations. In an “herbal” sauna, oils and fragrances are added to the water so that the steam has holistic healing herbs in it.
Misuse of the word “Steam Sauna”
There are many articles and guides out there that incorrectly mistake the steam sauna for a steam shower. Again, steam showers are entirely different. They are enclosed shower stalls or steam rooms that burst out steam at 100% humidity and much lower temperatures than a sauna.
Topic:dry sauna, dry saunas, herbal sauna, hot rocks, sauna session, steam sauna, steam saunas, steam shower, steam showers, steam vapor