3 Gas Sauna Heater Safety Tips

A gas sauna heater is used in creating heat on a sauna room. There are two types of saunas you may build with a gas heater: a dry sauna or a wet sauna. In a dry sauna granite and other kinds of rocks of similar consistency are heated by the gas stove. The heat that is created then radiates throughout the sauna.

If the wet system is used, rocks are heated by the gas stove just like in a dry sauna. Instead of using the heat directly however, water is poured over the rocks, thus creating a steam which is used by the sauna for heat. Although they have their similarities, the two different sauna types have their differences as well. With a wet sauna, the gas stove has to be protected from the water that is used for creating steam.

1. The Right Heater for the Sauna Size

British Thermal Units or BTU's are the measurement of heat needed in a sauna. A sauna stove heater has to be able to produce a thousand of them for every 15 cubic feet area of the sauna. To illustrate it, a sauna room that is six feet wide and 10 feet long with a seven foot ceiling would have a total area of 420 cubic feet. If you have the same sauna dimensions, your sauna heater must be able to produce 28000 British Thermal Units to be able to have sufficient heat.

2. Dry Sauna Safety

There are several ways in which you can use a stove sauna heater in a dry sauna. The simplest among these is to fill a metal basket with rocks and set it on the top of the gas stove. If the sauna you have is going to be heated by this process, make sure granite rocks or other materials that are igneous are used. This will prevent a rock explosion when heat is applied.

Other types of rocks have air pockets inside of them. If you are going to heat such a rock in a gas stove, it may cause the air trapped inside the rock to expand. Since the rock areas surrounding the air pocket do not have the same thickness, thinner portions are liable to give way, causing an explosion. This has the potential of harming anybody who is inside the sauna at the time an explosion occurs.

If you want more rocks to be piled up on top of the gas stove, make a rack that can safely contain them along the side portions of the stove heater. This will allow you to have more heated and exposed rocks.

3. Wet Sauna Safety

The same kinds of rock should be used in a wet sauna. But as always, some particular considerations have to be kept in mind if you are going to make a containment system for them. The first among these is the fact that water poured on top of the rocks will eventually trickle down to the stove. Thus, your gas sauna heater could incur damages. To prevent it from happening, use solid based pans with high enough sides. This will prevent water from flowing off and getting into the gas heater. Solid metal should also be used for side racks. Water that flows down from the top will be directed to the rocks on the side of the heater by using solid metals.