Great Home Sauna Sale!

If you're considering a home sauna, now is a very good time because top manufacturers are offering incredible discounts on their 2008 models.

One of the leading residential sauna manufacturers, East Coast Saunas, is offering special discount prices, so you can get a sauna for your home, test it out and decide if it's right for you!

There is also free shipping as well, so you can really get a tremendous deal. For those visitors who have been with us for years, you know about all of the extraordinary health benefits that saunas offer, from weight loss to stress reduction to pain relief. Well now you can bring that therapeutic experience once found only at spas and resorts right into your home, at affordable rates.

So what are you waiting for...check out the huge discounts on home saunas at East Coast Saunas today!

Prefabricated & Precut Saunas

Precut saunas now make it easy to install one in your home. If you have yet to discover the wonderful world of saunas you don’t know what you’re missing. Perhaps you’re reluctant to use public saunas at the spa or gym, but didn’t know you had an alternative. Here’s the good news. You do.

Prefabricated saunas make every home handyperson an expert, with all the ordering, measuring and cutting done for you before you start. And before you know it, you and your family will be enjoying the healthful benefits of a sauna right in your own home.

Sauna technology has improved over the years and infrared saunas are one of the newer innovations. They are becoming more popular and may offer the most benefits to your health. They make you sweat more and increase the benefits to the body. Whether you’re looking at precut saunas for the relaxation and body cleansing effects, or you have other issues, such as arthritis, a skin condition, chronic fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia, you will be happy with your investment either way.

Infrared light is a safe heat source for precut saunas because it’s something we experience every day naturally from the sun. You can safely be exposed to infrared heat for long periods of time and never have to worry about getting sunburn. Hospitals use infrared heat to keep newborn babies warm.

Prefabricated saunas are available for whatever size space you have. If you have an odd-sized space you want to use for the sauna, manufacturers can custom fit it for you. Standard packages come in sizes as small as 4 x 4 feet and move up to 4 x 6, 5 by 5’5”, 5 x 7, 6 x 6, 6 x 6’5”, 6 x 8, and 7 x 7’5”.

Prices for precut saunas, including heater, range from $3,600 at small end to $6,800 for the seven-foot size. Packages typically come with all the pre-cut wood you need, either western red cedar or spruce, for your walls and ceiling. If you’ve experienced a sauna before you will recognize the wonderful smell of western red cedar.

Packages for prefabricated saunas include the trim on the corners, ceiling and door; already assembled benches; a pre-hung door; a guardrail for the heater; a heater; vapor barrier and all other required items, including a bucket and ladle, thermometer and wall light.

If you don’t feel you have the carpentry skills for the job invite one of your more-skilled buddies over for the weekend and you’ll be enjoying the healthful benefits of a sauna for years to come.

Healthmate Saunas

When you’re shopping for a sauna for your home no doubt you will come across Healthmate saunas because the company is one the largest infrared sauna manufacturer in the field and offers a superb product with a lifetime warranty.

Health Mate saunas use top-grade western red cedar in all their kits and have models available to seat between one and five people.

Health Mate infrared saunas come with the company’s patented Far Infrared Heater. Infrared heat penetrates an inch-and-a-half into the body, providing a deep heating effect without putting undue stress on the heart. This causes the body to perspire and release the bad stuff it has collected, such as toxins, sodium, alcohol, nicotine and cholesterol. The skin rids itself of old cells and you emerge from the sauna feeling as clean as you have ever been, with glowing skin and better tone.

Researchers in Japan and China have led the way in studying the effects of infrared heat, provided in Healthmate saunas, and have concluded that it provides the benefits of a cardiovascular exercise program without the exercise. This is because it causes the heart to beat faster and pump more blood. Weight control benefits compare an infrared sauna to running six to nine miles. While weight loss is regained through drinking water, the calories lost remain lost.

Health Mate saunas with the safe, natural infrared heating system, offer a number of advantages when compared to a traditional home sauna. Warm-up time is only 15 to 20 minutes, compared to more than an hour for conventional models. Inside temperature is a steam-less 110 to 150, compared to the high humidity 200 to 220 degrees Fahrenheit for conventional models.

Health Mate infrared saunas can be put together in half-an-hour, compared to a one to two-day construction period for conventional models. They come with a built-in audio system, which competitors can’t match due to the high temperatures their systems produce. Electrical costs are very low, while conventional models are quite expensive. It fits in a very small space and is portable, while conventional kits need a larger space and once installed they are there to stay.

When you’re dealing with Healthmate saunas you’re talking to a company that has been an industry leader since 1979, with facilities around the world. Their kits carry major national and international certifications and product liability insurance. Their knowledgeable staff has been in business for years and can answer any question you can throw at them.

The Portable Steam Sauna

For those on the run or on a tight budget, the portable steam sauna is just the thing. It is a great investment for two reasons- first, it offers numerous healing properties that it offers and second, the fact that it is portable means it is easy to take with you if you travel often or own more than one home for different seasons. These units are generally very small and can be taken with you by air, rail or sea.

You can imagine that they are not made of wood like traditional saunas. If they were, they would not be very easily fit into a suitcase. Instead, a portable home steam sauna is a small heater that is usually no bigger than your average electric rice steamer that is connected to a waterproof material of some sort that surrounds the body.

The waterproof material that makes up the portable steam sauna can be many shapes, sizes and colors. From a very basic box shape to a barrel or rectangle, it has all kinds of possibilities. There is usually a zipper along the front or back that allows you to easily slide into the body of the fabric and zip it back up. A tube from the small heater that locks into the box or barrel will begin to release heat as soon as you flip it (which is done before you get into the sauna).

A portable steam sauna takes very little time to heat up because of the small amount of space it needs to reach. This is a very big advantage versus traditional wood units that can take hours in some cases to reach the proper temperature. Another great advantage of a portable home steam sauna is that there is an automatic shut-off feature for the heater that prevents overheating or dehydration, two risks associated with traditional units.

Clean up is easy as well. A simple spray and wipe with a sanitizer and you are ready to use it once more. The heater takes little to no maintenance and can be plugged into any standard outlet and uses very little electricity in comparison to traditional sauna heaters, which not only take more voltage but also must heat an area that can be 10x or more the size of a portable kit.

You get all the benefits of a traditional unit with a portable steam sauna - relaxation, sweating, toxin reduction, tissue penetration and more. At this time, there is unfortunately not an infrared personal sauna, though that may be a possibility in the future. But with all of the health and wellness benefits of a regular sauna at a fraction of the cost (as low at $200), you may want to invest in a portable steam sauna anyway.

Look into a Modular Sauna

If you are seriously looking into the possibility of having your own private sauna in your home, you may want to look into a modular sauna. There are many advantages to this type of setup, not the least of which is the ease of construction.

Basically, at its core it is simply a series of pre-assembled panels that you can buy to put together modular sauna rooms in a quick and easy manner. You will still need to do some light construction, and you will need an electrician and/or an electrical permit to install the lighting and other electrical components of a sauna. However, using a modular sauna instead of a regular pre-fabricated kit can save you a whole lot of time.

Another advantage of modular saunas versus traditional kits is that they are portable. Now, you won’t be able to pick up and move entire modular sauna rooms on a whim. But you can take the panels apart in under an hour and move the panels as a group. Once you have moved them, they can be constructed once more to form the sauna, usually in under an hour. Once again, you will need an electrician or electrical permit for that part of the construction. These kits also come with foam insulation already built in, ensuring quick heating time so you can enjoy your sauna quicker.

Modular sauna kits can be ordered online or through the mail and delivered right to your front door. As you can imagine, these kits are quite bulky and therefore must be shipped freight. This is one of the disadvantages of modular sauna rooms - the cost of the freight can be astronomically high. Since the panels are partially constructed to save you time and energy, the price of the kit is going to be high in comparison to unassembled ones.

Because of the higher cost and freight shipping costs, a modular sauna purchase can be expensive. However, most people see it as a trade off of sorts because of the small amount of time it takes to construct the sauna with a modular kit as compared to any other kit.

A modular sauna room is perhaps the most expensive way to build your own unit. The cheapest would be to buy raw materials, a book and go at it. Of course, unless you know about insulation, paneling and electricity, this may not be a good idea. Several people start but never finish or end up having to hire professionals to finish the job. For this reason alone, modular sauna rooms may be worth the extra investment. Saving time in the building process now means more time to enjoy your quickly-constructed sauna later.

Saunas In Finland

When someone who is not European hears the words sauna Finlandese, they usually don’t know exactly what that means. Yet it simply refers to saunas in Finland, the birthplace of the steam bath as we know it today.

Sauna Finlandese is not pronounced the way you may think. It is correctly pronounced like sow-nah in its native land. It is the only Finnish word that is the same in nearly every language in which it is spoken, including English. The practice began over 2,000 years ago and the units were originally built underground or in ditches. Once they came to the surface, they quickly took on a look very similar to modern-day units.

The biggest difference is in the way they were heated. Modern-day saunas generally use rock heaters or infrared heat. But two thousand years ago, saunas in Finland took half a day to heat. They would use a log heater and place stones on it until they were scorching hot. Then they would pour water over the heated stones to produce steam. There was generally one tiny vent, whereas today you would get anywhere from 2-4 bigger vents to ensure proper breathing.

So as you see, the term sauna Finlandese has been used in the past for many variations of saunas throughout history, although the only really significant change has been the source of heat, and occasionally how hot. Saunas in Finland today generally average between 180 degrees and 190 degrees Fahrenheit. At this temperature with 20% humidity, one can get all the benefits of sauna including toxin elimination, skin rejuvenation, muscle and tissue relaxation and more. Today, the Finns have nearly two million saunas in a country of only five million - meaning that saunas outnumber cars.

One thing that many Finns can’t agree on is if the new infrared saunas can be considered a part of the all-encompassing sauna Findlandese term. Though the general layout and premise of an infrared sauna is the same as a traditional sauna in Finland, it is still not the same. An infrared sauna does not use steam or humidity. This makes for easier breathing while inside the sauna and more direct contact with skin to promote the healing properties that a traditional sauna Finlandese would. But since water and therefore humidity is not used, many don’t consider it the same. It really is a matter of opinion and comfort as to which you prefer though.

Sauna Findlandese has been around since the early 1100s and though it is age-old is very beneficial for health. Whether you prefer a traditional sauna like the saunas in Finland or the newer, hi-tech infrared cabins you can always count on a sauna to give you bright glowing skin, help you lose weight and promote general health and well-being.

How to Use Sauna Suits

At spas and health clubs across the nation, sauna suits are becoming all the rage. The increase in popularity has a lot to due with their ruggedness and their ability to help you shed a few pounds. But beware - if you choose to use a sauna sweat suit, you must know exactly what they do and how long you should use them for. There could be negative consequences if you misuse them.

First, let’s talk about the benefits of sauna suits. As mentioned, they can help you lose some excess weight, and in a relatively short amount of time. There are also the benefits of sweating. Much like a steam room, a sauna exercise suit will make you sweat out toxins and free radicals that can attack things like your immune system. Of course, anything that can boost your immune system and get bad toxins out of your body is a good thing. The problem is that you should do this in moderation, and most people who use a sauna suit do not practice moderation.

When using a sauna suit is important to avoid dehydration. While sweating toxins is good, it also makes for a lot of water loss. You must also remember that this changes your body temperature. This is especially true if you are using a sauna exercise suit. When your body temperature goes up during exercise, the suit will not only prevent your body from cooling off, but it also increases the overall temperature. This can lead to heat stroke or other serious problems.

If you wish to use sauna suits for weight loss, you can lose a few pounds easily. However, be aware that most of the weight loss while using a sauna sweat suit is water. Water can easily be regained. It is safe to say that most of the weight lost will return to you unless you use them in addition to a healthy diet and exercise program.

To recap, sauna suits are a great way to increase body temperature, sweat off some water weight gain and to rid your body of toxins. All of these are highly beneficial and great ways to utilize the increasingly popular sauna exercise suits that are on the market. However, misuses or overuse can also lead to dehydration, heat stroke or other serious conditions that could require medical attention. But when used in moderation with a healthy lifestyle, they can be a wonderful addition to anyone’s lifestyle- or maybe just your gym routine.

The Benefits of Infrared Sauna

More and more people are learning that the benefits of infrared sauna far outweigh those of traditional units. Research shows that they not only offer therapeutic advantages, but also conserve energy and save you money, which is why they are quickly becoming the saunas of choice for gyms and residences alike.

The reason that saved money is one of the benefits of infrared sauna is because of the amount of energy it takes to heat one of these units. The heater is simply a small ceramic tube with a tiny wire inside of it. The amount of electricity needed to heat the ceramic tube is very little. And since ceramic conducts heat so well, it stays warm for quite awhile, further reducing its electricity needs. But it doesn’t stop there- an infrared sauna only has to be kept at 110-130 degrees Fahrenheit to be effective, and takes a short amount of time to heat up, conserving energy and reducing costs.

Beyond this, the health benefits of infrared saunas are quite impressive, extending beyond those of a traditional unit as the user is able to bathe for a longer period of time. The infrared sauna gives off something called radiant heat- which simply means that the heat source is penetrating your skin directly, instead of warming the air around you. This direct penetration delivers the sauna benefits more effectively, and can lead to increased circulation, metabolism and toxin removal through sweating.

The radiant energy from an infrared heater can go from ½ an inch to 4 inches deep into your muscles and tissue. This leads to health benefits of infrared sauna such as tissue and muscle repair from minor injuries like sprains or strains. Many have reported coming out of a sauna feeling like they have had a deep tissue massage or better.

But the benefits of infrared sauna can be seen even after you leave. Some evidence suggests that regular use can increase how often you urinate (and eliminate toxins), how healthy your skin is (even causing acne to go away) and how healthy or shiny your hair is (even helping to reduce the thinning of hair in some cases).

Of course, the health benefits of infrared saunas will vary depending on how often you use it and what ailments or issues you already have. But even perfectly healthy people find over time that the benefits of infrared sauna can’t be beat, even when compared to traditional steam saunas. When you consider that, plus the amount of money you save over time on electricity, it is easy to see why infrared saunas are all the rage right now.

A Guide to Sauna Accessories

When a first-time buyer thinks of sauna accessories, the usual bucket and ladle come to mind, and probably not much else. But in order to truly indulge and enjoy your new bathing experience, you should think outside the box and explore the wealth of sauna equipment that is available in today’s market.

But when talking about accessories, you should still start with the basics. Many people may think that any bucket and ladle will do in a sauna, but this is simply not the case. They need to be made with a material that resists moisture so that they do not warp or change color in the heat and steam. Think about it - if you use a plastic bucket, it could melt and stain your benches, produce an unpleasant aroma, and even scald someone who tries to touch it. This is not something that you want to happen, especially if you have guests. If you have an infrared sauna that uses no steam or humidity, then you may have more choices, and can even splurge on a fancy set with the money you save in electricity (since infrared saunas take less energy to heat).

Sauna equipment also includes vapor proof lights. You don’t want to step into a dark sauna, do you? Most saunas or sauna equipment kits come with a single light. If you want more lights or a fancier one that you can dim, you may have to buy it separately, though they are relatively inexpensive and worth the extra money.

Timers are sauna accessories that usually come with a kit. But that doesn’t mean you have to limit yourself to just that one. A digital timer is great, but a fancier or more stylish one like a sand timer is also available for sale. It is simply a matter of taste.

Aromatherapy has become wildly popular and supplies for it can now be found amongst sauna accessories. From essential oils to fragrant cedar or birch bars, there are lots of scents that you can now include with your sauna equipment list. Once you try a little lavender for relaxation or ginger for revitalization, you may be hooked and never use a sauna without fragrance again.

Clocks are the final set of sauna accessories that need to be covered. Though not every unit comes with them, they can still be a great addition to your cabin. They can work as both a clock and a timer, so that you know how long you have been in and how long before you have to get out so you can time things accordingly. This is essential to prevent overheating and/or dehydration.

Luckily, most of these sauna accessories are inexpensive and easy to obtain. Of course, if you want specialized ones the price will indeed go up. But no matter how much you spend on your sauna equipment, these extras will enhance the enjoyment and so are worth every penny.

How To Build Your Own Sauna

Have you ever wanted to build your own sauna, but the thought of it was too daunting? Well believe it or not, the instructions are relatively easy to follow - and you can save yourself up to half of what a ready-build sauna would cost you. But saving money is not the only reason to learn how to build a sauna- there is also the reward of accomplishment that comes with taking on such a task, not to mention how impressive it is to do so.

If you do choose to build, the first thing you have to decide on before you shop for supplies is size. Believe it or not, some companies offer a kit where you can build your own sauna right in your apartment or condo bathroom! Of course, your landlord may not approve an apartment-build sauna, so it is more likely you would buy supplies or a kit for a separate area from your home.

If you own your home and build your own sauna, you will likely construct what is called a sauna cottage. If you buy a kit with all the materials, the only other things besides tools that you will need is a reputable book. Believe it or not, most kits don’t come with one!

If you choose not to buy a kit, you will have to buy all the wood and other materials yourself to build sauna rooms successfully. You will need enough wood for the cabin itself and for the benches, as many as you desire to have. You will also have to buy either a heater or collect rocks that are smooth and big enough to conduct their own heat and use those. Either way, the most important purchase is the wood- because you can’t use just any wood.

The wood you use to build your own sauna will determine your overall success. You must use a wood that won’t warp with moisture, such as knotty cedar or spruce, or moisture-resistant pine. Your benches should be made with a wood such as spruce or abachi. But of course the most important thing on your list it to make sure you get a book that explains how to build your own sauna so that you can put it all together.

Once you have the raw materials, then you need to get all the little things out of the way in order to build sauna baths effectively. For instance, you can’t just have a dark room- you need light. Deciding on cosmetic things such as light fixtures, doorway decorations and the like don’t seem all that important, but they are. You must make a blueprint of some sort and decide these things in advance- refer to your sauna-building book for details. Once you have decided all the little things and have your materials in hand, you will find out just how enjoyable and rewarding building your own sauna from scratch can be - not to mention the joy of bathing in it once it's completed.