Sauna 101.com -- Info Guide to Saunas and Steam Rooms for the Home

The Finnish Sauna

When most people think of a sauna, they visualize a traditional Finnish sauna. Finnish sauna is among the oldest forms of sauna around. It utilizes a floor-standing sauna heater topped with rocks that are heated. Humidity is controlled by ladling water over the hot rocks. Sometimes a separate steam generator is also used.

Finnish saunas tend to be larger overall than infrared saunas, and not just because they need more space due to the heater. Finnish sauna is as much about social gathering as it is about health, so they are commonly sized to fit four or more people at a time, and feature plenty of bench space. As such, they are commonly built to be used outdoors.

Finnish saunas tend to cost more to operate and maintain than infrared sauna, but the ambience factor outweighs these disadvantages.