Steam Room vs. Sauna: Understanding Differences, Justifying Preferences

The steam room vs. sauna debate has been going on since the rise of the installation of home saunas in the 60s. In the past, when people talk of a sauna experience, it is almost always associated with steam. Even the Finnish method of using hot rocks creates a wet sauna experience if you pour water over the rocks. To understand what the ruckus is all about, let us take a look at what a steamroom and a sauna truly is, and how they are different from each other.

Steam Room

In a steamroom, either gas or electricity is used to power a device that heats water and converts it to steam. It is a rather direct way of heating because the air is saturated with steam that more or less gets in contact with the skin. Most traditional bathhouses, particularly Turkish ones, use this particular method.

The vapor makes the steam room setting ideal for people who have respiratory problems, particularly sinusitis, asthma, and bronchitis. If you have a cold, this can be a good idea as well because the vapor will clear the airways and help you breathe better. Practically anyone with a condition that can be soothed by a high-moisture or a high-humidity setting would feel better in a steam room.

Sauna

A sauna, on the other hand uses heat waves and not just heat from vapor. These can be heat emitted from rocks, or through a far infrared device. Your body, and not the air, is heated by infrared rays. If you want more humidity, you can pour water over hot sauna rocks. This results in a more manageable humidity level, at least compared to that of a steam room. Far infrared heaters won’t work with hot rocks though. You just place them in a particular spot and they will generate infrared rays to heat your body from there.

This modern sauna is recommended for people with low tolerance for high-humidity environments. It is also good for people who might have wounds or an infection that would not react well to moisture.

The fact that the sauna and the steam room uses heat is never an issue in the steam room vs sauna debate. This means that they share its health benefits, such as detoxification through sweating. But it also means that they share the disadvantages of above-normal temperatures as well, such as the strain it would cause the cardiovascular system.

In building a steamroom or a bathhouse, it is important that you do pre-purchase or pre-building planning. Finding out the factors behind the steam room vs. sauna issue is the first step in finding out which will work best for you.