Are you going to build a bathhouse on your site? Which oven did you choose for it? After all, the design of the building, the purchase of necessary materials and the pouring of the foundation depend on it. On the other hand, the choice of stove depends on the type of bath.
So which sauna stove is better? There are three main varieties:
- Wood-burning;
- Electrical;
- Gas.
Each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages. But let's look at everything in order. The stove for the bath is chosen depending on the volume of the steam room, its location and one’s own preferences. For a small room up to 4.5 m3, for example a sauna in an apartment, an electric one will be sufficient, but for a commercial bathhouse with a steam room volume of about 30 m3, an impressive structure will be required - a metal stove, lined with brick, with wood or gas heating.
Advantages of wood stoves
Sauna stoves differ primarily in the type of heating. They are electric, gas, liquid fuel, wood-burning. Gas and liquid fuel ones are rarely installed in bathhouses, giving preference to electric and wood-burning ones.
Electric stoves have one huge advantage: they do not need a chimney, which greatly simplifies and reduces the cost of installation and reduces the fire hazard. But, if you compare the cost of electric “fuel” with the price of firewood, it will be significantly higher. And such a heater will not work from a regular network; it needs to be connected to a three-phase network, which is not possible everywhere.
Electric furnaces differ from each other only in power, installation method (floor-mounted or wall-mounted) and design; they are always installed in a steam room, which limits their use if the bathhouse does not have its own heating and water supply. They are selected according to these three criteria.
Electric heaters attract with their safety and original design Source r-sauna.ru
A much more difficult task is how to choose a stove for a wood-burning sauna, especially if it requires expanded functionality, and not just heating the steam room.
The main advantage of such equipment is its autonomy and lack of dependence on connection to electrical or gas networks. But there are others:
- Multifunctionality - a wood-burning stove can heat all rooms, heat water, and serve as a steam generator.
- It increases the temperature faster and heats up the stones more strongly, the heat of which determines the degree of steam formation and the “softness” of the steam.
- When wood burns, a special aroma is created - the sauna “spirit”.
- Firewood is cheaper than electricity.
Additional advantages include the traditional nature of bath procedures in a classic setting. True, this applies to a greater extent to brick stoves, but nothing prevents modern metal hearths from being covered with brick.
Construction of a brick screen around a metal furnace Source ytimg.com
Finishing
- A wood-burning stove cannot be mounted to a wooden surface. Therefore, the podium on which it is installed and the wall behind it are protected by laying stones. This is an additional expense item.
- By default, finishing behind the electric furnace is not required.
| For certain models of electric furnaces, protection is necessary (powerful furnaces or open-casing furnaces). The exception is wall-mounted electric furnaces. There is no need to lay the wall behind them with stone, and this allows you to save on finishing. |
What criteria should you use to choose a stove?
Before choosing a stove for a bathhouse, you need to evaluate the building itself - its area, layout, floor and roof design, the possibility of supplying water and heating auxiliary premises with alternative sources. Ideally, heating equipment is selected in advance in order to plan during the construction process the location of its installation, the passage of the chimney through the floors and roof, determine the location of the firebox in the steam room or adjacent room, etc.
The main selection parameters are the material of manufacture, power, the need for a hot water tank, the location of the firebox, and the volume of the heater. And, of course, the price of the equipment and the reputation of the manufacturer.
Material of manufacture
It is difficult to say which stove is better for a bathhouse - brick or metal. Each option has its own advantages. But metal units are more popular today for the following reasons:
- there is no need to pour a foundation for them, as for heavy brick structures;
- they are very compact and take up little space;
A brick oven needs a lot of space and a reliable foundation Source stoydiz.ru
- their installation is simple, and little time is required for installation and connection;
- in case of breakdown they are easier to repair or replace;
- even very expensive models are often cheaper than brick stoves, the laying of which is considered a real art and is therefore highly valued and generously paid.
Many are also captivated by the modern design of metal units, because not everyone wants to have a bathhouse in the classic Russian style.
Wood-burning sauna stove in a modern design Source yandex.net
Having chosen the brick option, you will have to rely on the experience and skill of the stove maker, who needs to voice your wishes in advance. If you prefer a metal model, you should pay attention to the thickness of the walls, the quality of the welds and painting. Especially when purchasing handicrafts or little-known manufacturers.
Advice! The best are units made of heat-resistant chromium steel, which does not oxidize due to high temperatures and absorbs oxygen from the air of the combustion room. The air in it remains clean.
See also: Catalog of companies that specialize in the installation of fireplaces and stoves
Hot water tank
If there is no water supply to the building or there is only summer water supply, you need to think about how to choose a stove for a wood-burning sauna with a water tank. Or rather, to heat it, since bringing cold water is not a problem, but to make it hot, you need a container, the contents of which will be heated by the fire of burning wood.
On a note ! For a family of 3-5 people, a tank with a volume of 80-100 liters is sufficient, since the water in it is heated to a high temperature and is diluted with cold water.
Stoves with tanks come in different types - the so-called “samovar”, hinged and with a heat exchanger.
- Tank-samovar.
Wood-burning samovar-type heater Source superpechi.ru
Tanks of this type are mounted on a chimney above the heater and are heated by them. Can only be located in the steam room.
Advice! It is advisable to cover the samovar with a lid so that the water does not evaporate uncontrollably and does not increase the air humidity.
- Mounted tank.
A mounted or attached tank is installed on the firebox, on the side of it, or connected to the combustion chamber with a pipe - it is heated directly from the firebox Source bashpechi.ru
- Tank with heat exchanger.
Tank installation options Source indclimat.ru
In this design, a heat exchanger in the form of a small sealed container is placed in the firebox and connected to the main water tank by tubes.
When heated, the water circulates through them back and forth. When deciding which stove to put in a bathhouse with a separate steam room, it is better to choose this option, in which the tank can be located both in the steam room and in any adjacent room - a shower or washing room.
Pros and cons of gas sauna stoves
Gas models are equipped with a burner with non-volatile automatic control and safety. During installation, a chimney system is provided to remove combustion products.
Product advantages
- Economical. Gas is considered one of the cheapest types of fuel, and given the small area of the bathhouse, the costs will be low.
- Useful functionality. A gas furnace can heat a room and heat water at the same time. For this purpose, the designs include a tank that is heated by fuel combustion products discharged through the chimney.
- Fast heating. Using natural gas, you can quickly increase the temperature in the bath to a comfortable level. The heat is soft, enveloping, and easily transferred to stones and the surrounding atmosphere.
- Versatility. There are combined gas-wood stoves with a separate firebox for wood.
Flaws
- Low level of security. Natural gas is highly flammable and explosive.
- Requirements for installing the furnace. Before installing a gas boiler, it will be necessary to obtain approval from the appropriate authority.
- Dependence on a central gas supply.
An alternative to a gas boiler is a gas stove-stove. It is compact, quickly installed, and runs on a liquefied gas cylinder.
Briefly about the main thing
It is difficult to say which stove is better for a bath - wood-burning or electric, brick or cast-iron. Everyone has their own preferences, and one bathhouse is not like another.
If we talk about solid fuel units, which are the most in demand, then their choice is based on several criteria. This is the power required for high-quality heating, the material of manufacture, the presence of a tank necessary for preparing hot water for washing.
The most important design feature is the location of the combustion chamber, which can be built-in or remote, allowing you to heat the bath not from the steam room, but from the dressing room.
True lovers of bathing procedures should pay attention to the type and volume of the heater, on which the quality of the steam depends.
A huge range of sauna stoves produced in our country and abroad allows you to find equipment that meets any requirements.
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Device
Most often, the object to be combined is a solid fuel boiler and an electric heater; this is justified in practical and economic terms. This device, powered by wood and electricity, is convenient to operate by setting the required temperature. Availability of fuel ensures uninterrupted operation of the entire system.
If we are talking about full-fledged heating, which should provide heat to the entire house, then you will have to use water as a coolant. Consequently, the furnace is already a boiler equipped with a water circuit system.
This circuit can be common for heating from a flame or from the operation of heating elements. The heat exchanger is designed in such a way that one part of it is located in the immediate area of the firebox, and the other goes down under the grate, where the heating elements are embedded. As a result, an open flame does not pose a danger to the elements of the electrical network.
Multifunctional home heating system
Separate circuits are characterized by the presence of a water jacket, which is formed in the cavity between the firebox and the metal body of the boiler. The part of the boiler designed to operate on wood is a conventional wood stove, which is equipped with a grate and an ash pan. Adjustment of the combustion intensity is carried out only by changing the position of the ash door, since the pipe that acts as a chimney often does not have a gate valve.
Good to know: What is an electric mini oven, how does it work
The electricity used will be quite expensive for the owner of the house, so heating elements act as an auxiliary element of the heating system. They have feedback from the temperature sensor through an automatic controller. This system allows you to turn on and off the electrical circuit exactly at the right moment.
Buy electric sauna stoves
In our online store you can choose an electric stove for a bath or sauna from leading manufacturers in Europe and Russia. The price for an electric sauna heater is indicated under each product. Our specialists can provide full consultation on all issues and select the appropriate model. The client can always compare the performance characteristics independently or ask for help from a consultant. Delivery is carried out in the shortest possible time in a way convenient for the customer. Buying an electric heater in Yekaterinburg from us means inexpensively getting a high-quality product that will ideally fit into the interior of your sauna and help create optimal conditions for relaxation in it.
