So how do you solve the problem of cold feet during a sauna? You either build your benches so high your entire body is above the top of the heater or … You fly to Estonia, check out the professed best sauna innovation ever designed to help with equalising sauna temperature, hang out with the inventor and builder of Saunum (said leading tech make), have a sauna, roll in some snow, share a cheeky rum or two and then, fly back to the UK as the first British ambassador of this truly revolutionising sauna equipment.
That’s one way to solve the problem of cold sauna feet!
As many of us know, the benefits of sauna are truly incredible: improving mental wellbeing, slowing down degenerative ageing processes, helping cardiovascular health and helping to prevent cardiovascular disease, reducing high blood pressure … the list is extraordinary!
However, a common complaint for sauna practitioners is the varying degrees of heat which not only cause cold feet but also burnt ears, stinging nostrils and dizziness. The Cedar Sauna Company set out to discover whether the very latest high-tech sauna innovation, designed to equalise heat stratification, truly deserves the praise it’s receiving for eradicating the problems commonly suffered by sauna users.
Read our review of the Saunum devices which are said to be revolutionising contemporary sauna practice.
The ideal sauna experience
For many, sauna is a truly holistic experience. The enjoyment and pleasure is gained from balancing the social aspect of sauna practice — where mobile phones and time do not exist, and people talk and connect — with the warming scents of cedar wood while burning birch logs awaken our olfactory. Stove flames dance and logs crackle as steam drifts and the warmth of the room eases our muscles and mind. If we’re fortunate, a Sauna Meister is gifting us the act of whisking or rhythmically wafting a towel, directing the heat gently to our bodies. These incredible acts of loving servitude not only add to the spiritual charm of sauna, but importantly, efficiently distribute the heat evenly around the sauna; ensuring the temperatures equalise, regardless of where people choose to sit.
Traditionally the varying heat in a sauna has played an important part in past practice. Men tended to use the sauna primarily — taking that first hit of stinging, extreme heat. Once the sauna had slightly cooled, in some customs women would then join, sitting on the lower, cooler benches. And finally, once the men had left, children would be bathed and cleansed in the coolest heat by their mothers.
Inefficient heat circulation
In reality, most sauna users accept the initial intensity of heat and view it as part of the experience. For some, the burning temperature is simply uncomfortable, for others the blast of intense heat can be so significant it deters them from future sauna use. Hats have been traditionally used to help protect the head and ears. However, without sitting on the top benches, there is little one can do to prevent cold feet. Without a Sauna Meister gently circulating the air, we have simply learnt to tolerate the stinging sensation in our noses, the tiredness or dizziness caused from the lack of evenly distributed oxygen and the carbon dioxide rich air.
To be fair, for many of us, the phenomenal benefits of sauna far outweigh these mild discomforts. But for others, these stop them from learning the true beauty of sauna.
Introducing Saunum
To Westerners, Finland may be considered the home of sauna, but Estonia is also an incredibly innovative sauna nation.
Kimmo Ratio aka The Sauna Sherpa — a famed Finnish sauna guide and aficionado — who has been advising me on new sauna innovations, experienced a Saunum device and was so impressed he demanded I too try one of these devices!
Kimmo’s recommendation and Saunum’s self-proclaimed tagline, ‘The world’s most advanced sauna solution’, ensured I would bite. I needed to discover for myself if Saunum products really are as good as they are being advertised.
As with most new inventions, innovation occurs as a direct result of answering a problem. Inventor and founder of Saunum, Andrus Vare, created his devices to find an effective and modern solution to inefficient heat distribution in saunas. As an Estonian, he was expected from childhood to practice sauna, only he thoroughly disliked the stinging intensity of the heat and steam. It wasn’t until sometime later he was fortunate enough to try a smoke sauna.
This gentle method of heat creation transformed Andrus’ previous perception of sauna and he endeavoured to create a device which could replicate this incredible experience at home.
The Saunum products
Kimmo was right – the Saunum devices really do deliver on their statement. The experience is genuinely amazing. There is no stinging burn from the steam and you can sit anywhere you like without fear of getting too hot or too cold. These devices are absolutely turning the world of sauna as we know it, on its head.
Use
As an electrician I was interested by how complicated the devices are to use and maintain. In my experience the more complex a device, the more likely it is to go wrong and the harder it is to fix: meaning it will be more expensive in the long-run. Saunum did not disappoint, simplicity and ease of use is a fundamental product feature to all Saunum devices.
These stunning looking heat distributors can be added to your current sauna with an existing stove; in fact their original designs were built to enhance existing sauna systems with a choice of wall mountable devices. The devices work by narrowing the temperature band — to create a Goldilocks zone of perfectly mixed heat from floor to ceiling.
Those who do not wish to see the device or are building a sauna from scratch have the option to choose an integrated device which sits behind the wall cladding, only showing the vent at the top and the unit base below.
And then there is the controller — a stunning piece of kit! Choose from how you want your sauna at a touch of a button — want a Russian sauna? No problem. Estonian, Finnish, Lithuanian? Whatever floats your boat — you can choose.
Prefer high temperature and low humidity or high temperature and high humidity? Again, whatever your sauna preference, you can achieve it, just by using the controller! You can even turn your sauna into a steam room.
The control unit will also allow the user to automatically control the water sprinklers so the humidity, temperature and the speed at which the air circulates is completely automated with the user having full control of the environment. These can be for both domestic and commercial saunas.
Worried about ventilation? Don’t! These devices will be able to monitor carbon dioxide levels and adjust mechanical ventilation accordingly. They suck in the steam and oxygen-depleted air from the upper levels, mix it with the cooler, oxygen-rich air from the lower levels and blow it out from beneath the benches, circulating and filling the room with comfortable, oxygenated steam from the bottom-up.
Also, the Himalayan salt crystal balls in the bottom of the devices ionise the air to help with eczema, asthma and respiratory problems. The salt ions bond with any impurity in the air making them too heavy to rise, enabling the air to be purified.
New Sauna Design Options
Using a Saunum device means all previous design requirements such as high ceilings and multiple bench levels are worries of the past. In fact, there is no longer a need for more than one level of benches … or even benches at all. Ergonomically designed wooden chairs can be used instead of benches because cold floors are no longer a concern!
Erko Lank, a sauna builder from the Saunum Sauna Team, also showed me their gorgeous Cubic saunas — self-contained units which can be lifted and moved using removable lifting anchors in the roof, put on a flatbed and transported wherever wanted. They’re a very modern looking sauna with a glass front, porch and integrated controls and made to exact requirements. Perfect for people who would like a modern mobile sauna in their home in England.
Comfortable experience
I think the most impressive aspect of these heaters is the improvement to the overall experience. I’ve never known sauna like this — the intense steam, tiredness, cold feet — all the niggles have gone. The effect is by far the most incredible sauna you can have from home or in a commercial setting.
Online Saunum reviews are saying, ‘Finally my wife and children are using the sauna with me.”
and,
“For the first time in a long time the family are all bathing together,” make perfect sense.
The Saunum devices create a truly unifying sauna experience, eliminating the need for separation and therefore increasing the beneficial element of wellbeing that sauna enables through strengthening social interactions.
In a nutshell:
- No more cold feet. Ever!
- Improves breathing and oxygen levels in the sauna
- No more intense steam
- No need for differing bench heights – have wooden loungers instead!
- Sauna heat and humidity exactly how you want
- Environmental control – the Saunum controller does it all for you!
- Improve existing home saunas which may have not been designed properly
- Spend longer in the sauna – more sweating
- Most importantly, the best sauna you will experience
Concerns
Many people will understandably feel worried that these devices are replacing the art of whisking or Aufguss, but this simply is not the case. You are in control of the sauna — if you are lucky enough to have someone perform whisking in your home sauna, simply switch the device off for a moment! But when your Sauna Meister eventually needs to rest, then switch the device back on again so they too can benefit from an incredible experience.
Outcome
I loved these products so much I have now come home as a UK Saunum distributor. I cannot recommend these products enough. Saunas that provide a blissful experience do exist but they are typically built with thick logs and have large masonry stoves and huge masses of rock. I would say the Saunum devices effectively recreate the same hugely enjoyable experience of a smoke sauna.
Once you’ve tried one, you’ll NEVER go back! Just as power steering or washing machines are now no longer considered decadent items, neither should these devices be considered luxury accessories. These are brilliant and innovative sauna solutions and take it from us, once you’ve tried a Saunum device, you will never consider sauna in the same light again.
Now it’s your turn!
If you already have a sauna, I want you to experience Saunum for yourself — I am offering you a 10-day trial. And I promise you, once you have experienced a Saunum device in your sauna, you will never look back!
Call 0333 050 7762 to organise a 10-day trial and experience the very best sauna of your life.
