Is Outdoor Barrel Sauna any Good?

Posted by Wojtek Karp on October 14th, 2019

The very concept of a barrel sauna is based on minimalism, which is what makes it attractive to people who want something simple and practical. People like Tim Ferris, Wim Hof, who are popularly termed as “superhumans”, are a big fan of barrel sauna. There are several ways in which barrel sauna stands out compared to traditional square saunas, especially when it comes to placing it outdoors. What are the advantages of you owning one? Let’s find out.

Benefits of Outdoor Barrel Sauna

Heats Up Quickly

An outdoor barrel sauna has the ability to heat up the room way quicker than a square sauna. This is mainly because of the design as the square sauna room would have more cubic feet of air space to be heated, much of which would be unused. The circular design of the barrel sauna would eliminate the unused air space, allowing the sauna room to heat faster. 

Maintains An Even Temperature

Since the heat rises up the room, the ceiling gets hotter than the floor, which would create a temperature disparity between the ceiling and floor level in a cubical sauna room. This is where Outdoor barrel sauna stands out - because of its circular design, the heat is pushed back on the ground, thereby helping maintain an even temperature around the entire sauna.

Cooperage Construction

The term “Cooperage” is used here to describe barrel making. Simply put, it is essentially pulling notched staves over the end sections and drawing them tight with bands. The advantage of a properly constructed barrel sauna design is the lack of fasteners, the solid and tight construction, and the ability of the staves to swell and contract with changes in temperature within the sauna room.

Solid Wood Construction

Most of the barrel saunas have solid wood construction, which is a significant construction advantage over a typical laminate wall construction. A solid wood design prevents delamination, offers amazing insulation properties, resists the elements, and provides structural integrity. On top of that, a sauna constructed of solid, thick lumber has the ability to replicate the original Finnish sauna experience.

Quick Construction

Another great advantage of owning a barrel sauna is the amount of time it’s going to take in its construction. Well, it’s more like an assemblage than construction because barrel sauna is usually sold as a DIY kit. If you have basic carpentry skills, you may as well assemble it on your own. Usually, the walls that form the door and the opposite wall are pre-constructed so that the staves are just places around the vertical end pieces. 

Conclusion

There are a plethora of health-based benefits of the sauna itself, ranging from reduction in anxiety and stress to toxin emancipation. The fact that so many famous health enthusiasts use barrel sauna in regular practice, it only adds to its credibility. It is also one of the relatively advanced sauna designs considering that it originated only in the 1970s. If you want to relax and make the most of your sauna experience in all aspects, you should definitely go with the barrel sauna.