How
you can build one by yourself
BeiYin
updated 16.11.05,
11.9.11, 12.5.12
There are very sophisticated
steam
and infra red sauna boxes available, but when I searched the Internet
for it I saw that these are pretty expensive and also the shipping. For
people who have the money to spend on this then this solves it, but I searched
for another solution.
About twenty years
ago I had visited the Lacota Tribe in Salt Lake City (US) and had participated
in a sweat lodge, done in an Inipi with heated stones. This indeed was
a healing experience that went much further than just the body level...
So when I came back to Ibiza, I had build an Inipi and we have used it
for several years, but as it was made from canvas and clay, after some
years it was falling apart. Now I didn't have the energy to build a new
one.
I felt really bad
and my energy was going down more and more. Then I found a wooden box a
work shop had thrown away. It was used for the transport of heavy machinery
and was solid and pretty heavy, it had exactly the right measurement for
what I wanted to use it. So I didn't need to build one. To make a simple
sauna box isn't a problem, every body can do it, - but how could the steam
be made?
After some searching
with steam producing tools (steam cleaner and wall paper remover) I found
a very simple solution: I used a 5 liter pressure cooker from my kitchen.
Where the safety bulb comes out on the top, that leaves the steam out,
when the water is boiling, - I connected a hose, the other end I put through
a hole into the sauna box. The hose shouldn't be longer than 2m (6 feet)
otherwise it is loosing too much heat, even though you wrap insulation
around the hose. The outlet of the steam hose should be under the seat.
Then through an other hole the hose from the ozone generator goes into
the box. That's it! A simple gas burner will heat the water up in about
10 minutes, then I let it boil for 10 minutes and also I start the ozone
generator. I found an old thermometer from a tractor with a sensor, this
tells me the temperature inside the box. If it tells about 43 - 46°C
then one can go into the box. The temperature goes down 3-5°C when
one opens the door, but goes up again in a few minutes. It is good to have
a clock nearby. I do the sauna for 25 minutes, but not more than 30 minutes.
The seat in the box should have the exact height for the person using it,
otherwise it will be not comfortable, as the head is outside and with a
towel around the neck so that no steam and ozone escapes.
When one takes the
steam sauna, then there should be always a person near. It might be that
one get thirsty or a fly insist to sit on ones nose... Well, more important
is that there is the right temperature and if it gets too hot then there
should be somebody turning down the heater. It might be possible to make
a hole on one side of the box to be able to reach the regulator of the
cooker, but in my case the cooker stands in another room, so then this
is not possible.
box
chair
hole for head
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Penelope enjoying
'heat for health'
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to close the box
producing steam
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I am doing
the steam sauna now every second day, and I feel much better. I have more
energy and after the sauna there is no muscle pain. I was told that I have
to do it for at least 6 weeks. That I will do.
Update
1 1/2 years later: I am healed from Fibromyalgia, but I found out that
I feel better continuing the sauna, so I do it now twice a week.
Update
3 years later: I am doing the ozone sauna now once a week and that feels
good, but when I skip it for some reason, then I miss the sauna and want
to do it.
Update
7 years later: Recently I had an intoxication from black mold and also
from burning plastic I was breathing when my car caught fire and I had
to drive to the next place to get some help. I felt pretty bad and so did
the ozone sauna three times a week, now for about three weeks and it seems
the toxins are cleared out. But I will continue with the sauna. It feels
good and also relaxes me, as there are a lot of difficulties around...
I have done it now for several weeks and
I don't want to miss the steam sauna anymore. I am doing it every second
day and my health is improving a lot. I think that soon I will do the sauna
only every third day.
Update:
I have done this now for more than one year. The first sauna box has fallen
apart, because it was made from press wood and the humidity and the heat
was too much. I build a new one from solid wood and this will probably
last for a few years... I am doing now the sauna every third day and this
feels right to me. Update after
3 years: My old sauna box still holds together and works, but I am thinking
to built a new one that doesn't loose so much heat when one goes in. Update
after 6 years: I'm still using my old box. I have only changed the door.
I do the sauna once a week. For some time I was without ozone generator,
so I did the sauna without it, but it is not the same. With the ozone I
feel much more energized...
Update after
7 years: During the winter months the loss of heat when opening the door
to go in, was pretty high. So I wanted to find a better solution. When
I got a box of the right size, then I build a sauna box, were I could lay
on my back, sliding into the box on a bench with wheels. I did quite some
effort on it, modifying it again and again. But finally I gave up and went
back to my old sauna box, were I'm just sitting with the head outside.
But I'm still looking for a solution so that not so much steam and ozone
escape when I go into the sauna...
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