How to Build a Portable Far Infrared Sauna
Taking a sauna is an old Finnish tradition that has become a popular past-time all over the world. Traditional saunas are wood burning, but some modern saunas are heated by infrared heaters. Infrared heaters work by heating the objects in the sauna and not the sauna itself (unlike a wood burning sauna.) Creating a small portable infrared sauna is not difficult and fairly inexpensive. All that is required is an insulated environment and a heater. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Purchase a small camping tent; the tent will serve as the housing for the sauna. Purchasing a ready-made tent is far more cost effective compared to constructing housing for the portable sauna. A small tent costs less than $30 to purchase, whereas the raw materials alone (such as poles for frame and housing material) for building a sauna housing would cost at least $50. The tent is also designed to be portable and is ideal for an infrared heater. In addition, tent saunas are quite common among campers.
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Purchase an infrared sauna heater. This will cost between $200 and $500. The cost should be on the lower side since the heater does not have to warm a large area. Infrared heaters can be purchased from retail or online sauna equipment suppliers. The infrared heater will require power from an electrical outlet.
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Purchase a small wooden bench or stool from a garden, hardware or home supply store. The bench should be low to the ground and not very wide. A bench like this should cost less than $20. This will provide the seating for the portable sauna.
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Assemble the tent according to the instructions provided with it. Place the infrared heater inside the sauna against the wall of the tent farthest from the door. Make sure the heater is not touching the tent wall. The heater should not obstruct the door in any way. Run the power cord out of the tent and plug it into an outlet (an extension cable may be needed.) Place the wooden bench inside the tent near the door. Close all windows and turn the infrared stove on. Close the door to the tent but leave a small portion (a few inches) open for fresh air. Take a seat and enjoy the sauna.
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Take out all the equipment (heater and bench) when done with the sauna and the equipment has cooled off. Disassemble the tent and pack it away.
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References
- Photo Credit sauna image by Andrejs Pidjass from Fotolia.com
