TOP 5 Best stoves for Russian baths according to buyers | Honest rating 2021

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Vladimir 08/09/2021

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Bath procedures not only charge us with energy for the days ahead, but are also responsible for the health function, helping to prevent various diseases. The main aspect that influences the pleasure of this process is the sauna stove. With its help, you can create a suitable microclimate with light steam, taking into account temperature and humidity, allowing you to create the most comfortable conditions for everyone. Each sauna stove model has its own power, dimensions, specific type of fuel and technical characteristics. To understand which stove is best for a Russian bath, you need to take into account many parameters.

Russian bath

Moist warming steam.
Equipped with a heater, a water tank and shelves for sitting and lying, located at different heights. The temperature range of the sauna stove is from 60 to 100 °C.

For inexperienced bathhouse attendants, it is not recommended to steam at temperatures above 40-70 °C.

In the steam room, the pores on the skin open, which helps cleanse the body of accumulated harmful substances. The average time spent in the steam room should be 25 minutes per approach.

If you have cardiovascular diseases or are pregnant, visiting a Russian bathhouse is generally contraindicated.

If you have cardiovascular diseases or are pregnant, visiting a Russian bathhouse is generally contraindicated.

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Vesuvius "Legend Lux"

It has a power of up to 30 kW, which allows you to heat rooms up to 28 m³. The thickness of the firebox walls is 12 mm! The capacity of the heater is 180 kg, you can get excellent steam. There is a convenient ash pan and a glass self-cleaning system. Keeps warm for a very long time.

Characteristics:

• warms the room up to 28 m³;
• chimney duct with a diameter of 115mm;
• weight - 137 kg;
• size (D/W/H) - 760x560x780 mm.

Reviews

Vladislav, 35 years old

“We chose it as a gift for our parents at the dacha. On the advice of the seller, we bought this stove. And they were right, it heats perfectly, firewood is used sparingly. The parents are happy."

Finnish sauna

Minimum humidity and dry hot steam.
The oven temperature can reach up to 110 °C with humidity in the steam room not exceeding 20%. At the same time, in addition to conventional wood-burning stoves, electric stoves (electric heaters) are also used in saunas.

Sitting time in the steam room is no more than 10 minutes. Then rest is needed, usually a swimming pool is chosen for this purpose, and then again enjoy the hot steam. The head is wrapped in a dry towel to avoid heat stroke, and the shelves are also covered so as not to burn the skin.

After visiting the sauna, blood circulation improves, the lungs are ventilated and pathogens are destroyed.

Contraindications for visiting are the same as for a Russian bath.

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Conclusions and useful video on the topic

Pros and cons of gas sauna stoves and operating features:

Sauna stoves with the possibility of switching to the use of blue fuel are convenient and practical to use. They allow you to save on heating and reduce the period of preparation of the bathhouse for your favorite procedures. But you need to choose such a unit, armed with complete and reliable information about the functionality and characteristics.

Would you like to tell us about what kind of sauna stove you purchased to equip your own sauna? Share whether your choice has the ability to switch to gas. Please leave comments in the block form below, ask questions and post photos on the topic of the article.

Turkish hammam

Wet steam and low temperature.
Reflection of eastern traditions and culture. Humidity is 100%, the temperature created by the oven is 50 °C. Suitable even for those who find it difficult to stay in a Finnish sauna.

Anti-cellulite wrap procedures are common, and massages with peach or olive oil are performed. They are performed with woolen mittens; this massage increases blood flow, makes the skin soft and smooth, and most importantly restores flexibility to the joints.

Hammam is contraindicated in case of varicose veins, acute stage of bronchitis or bronchial asthma.

People prefer those baths in which they feel relief and improvement in their condition - where they relieve stress, tension after a working day, and improve their mood . It's worth remembering that the above numbers are not an endurance test. Always focus on your well-being first.

No matter what kind of sauna you prefer, its heart remains unchanged - the sauna stove. A heater is a stove designed to heat a steam room or washing room, bathing water and stones that create steam. As is clear from the context, a sauna stove is nothing more than a heater. For the manufacture of the body and firebox of a sauna stove, cast iron and heat-resistant steel are mainly used. The advantage of cast iron stoves is that their body does not deform under the influence of high temperatures.

Based on the design features, there are open, closed and combined models. Closed stoves retain heat better, but many choose open-type options, as they are better associated with the traditions of the Russian bath. There are also combined units that can be converted from an open structure to a closed one.

When choosing the best stove for a Russian bath, it is necessary to take into account the volume of the steam room, the weight of the equipment, dimensions, chimney diameter and other factors. A competent selection of characteristics when purchasing will ensure full compliance of the model with the specific steam room and your needs.

Answers on questions

How to choose a stove for a sauna?

It is advisable to think about stove options even before starting construction of the bathhouse. This will allow you to choose the most ergonomic design.

Key points to pay attention to when choosing a stove:

• construction, design and dimensions;

• Type of fuel;

• power characteristics corresponding to the heating area;

• operating principle (classic or long-burning);

• the presence of a water tank or the possibility of installing it;

• convection function, which allows you to distribute heat evenly.

It should be noted that open-type heaters generate dry steam, while closed-type heaters generate wet steam.

Which stove is better to put in a bathhouse?

It is best to choose a model that suits the conditions of the bath and is affordable:

• Hangara 2012 Carbon YES ZK - safe to use, effectively heats medium-sized rooms.

• Birch Viking 24 is a light-weight unit, equipped with an elongated combustion chamber, which is loaded from the adjacent room.

• Sayany Vitra - for loading a large number of stones around the perimeter of the stove, produces a lot of high-quality steam.

• Teplodar Rus 18 L is made of durable alloy steel, allowing you to equip a cozy small steam room.

• Varvara Terma-Kamenka is a compact unit with an extended service life.

• Harvia M2 is equipped with a large panoramic glass on the combustion door, which allows you to admire the fire.

• Tunguska XXL 2013 Inox DNS anthracite will provide quick warm-up and save fuel resources.

• Teplyn ParMaster with a cast iron door and sight glass looks solid and presentable.

• Feringer MINI is an expensive model, but very comfortable to maintain and provides an ideal microclimate.

Vesuvius Skif Forging 22 with a cast iron grate has the optimal ratio of price and technical characteristics. This stove has received the most good reviews and there are no complaints about its performance.

Which sauna stove is better: steel or cast iron?

A cast iron stove has many advantages. It can hold the temperature for a very long time, and it has a high efficiency of 82%. This figure is higher than that of steel and brick. Since thick walls give off heat for a long time, a portion of firewood is enough for 6-7 hours. This way you can save on fuel. Cast iron is heat-resistant and can easily withstand extreme temperatures. Such units do not burn out or oxidize and last for more than thirty years.

There are also disadvantages. First of all, it is a fragile structure, especially if the stove is made of low quality cast iron. May break if impacted. If cold water gets on hot cast iron, the wall will burst and cannot be repaired.

Stoves made of alloy steel will warm up the room faster than cast iron ones. They are usually reinforced with brick to retain heat. Steel products also consume firewood and coal sparingly. Their design is simple, and, unlike cast iron, they can be repaired (welded). They are light in weight and do not need a foundation.

Manufacturers of high-quality stoves combine cast iron combustion boxes with a steel body, thereby using the advantages of cast iron and steel and mitigating their disadvantages. These combination ovens are the best.

Characteristics of choosing a furnace

• Steam room volume. This parameter determines how powerful the oven is required to perform rapid heating. The average size of steam rooms is 18 m3. When calculating power, it is taken into account that approximately 1 kW of power is consumed per 1 m3 of room.
• A mass of stones. The more stones go into the oven, the longer the heat will remain in the bathhouse. The optimal value is 100 kg. If there are too few stones, the stove will store little heat and cool down quickly (literally after several pumps of water into the heater).
• Weight. Lightweight models are easier to transport and install. However, the sauna stove is installed permanently and then does not move anywhere, so during operation the weight of the device does not matter much. But keep in mind that powerful models are usually heavier. And if the equipment is compact, it may not have very high power.
• Chimney diameter. Most stoves are made with a chimney with a diameter of 115 mm. However, other sizes are possible. It is necessary that the value coincides with the diameter of the combustion chamber outlet.
• Dimensions. The height of sauna stoves usually does not exceed 1 m, this is enough for comfortable watering of stones. The width is 50-60 cm, the depth is 70-90 cm. The deeper the firebox, the longer the firewood can be loaded into it.

Technical parameters may differ for different models. However, all sauna stoves presented in our rating of wood-burning sauna stoves have high performance, are reliable and easy to use, which is confirmed by reviews from numerous users.

Vesuvius "Legend Retro 24 (DT 4)"

This small stove heats a room up to 26 m². Its design is quite simple, but laconic. Made entirely of cast iron, closed type. Safe to use, maintains room temperature for a long time. The device is installed permanently, lined with bricks, because there is no convector casing.

Characteristics:

• warms up a room of 12-26 m²;
• chimney duct with a diameter of 120mm;
• weight - 117 kg;
• size (D/W/H) - 795x660x660 mm.

Among the advantages, it is worth noting the affordable price, ease of use, durable materials, excellent build quality.

Of the minuses: it weighs a lot, the front door is cast iron, but this is not a minus for everyone.

Reviews

Vladimir, 29 years old

“I have a steam room of 15 sq.m., it warms up quickly, it takes about 25 minutes. You can put in a good amount of firewood at a time and you have to add less wood.”

Model range overview

offers customers several lines of bath stoves with some modification features:

Russian steam - durable units made of cast iron with an open or closed heater. The stoves operate in Russian bath mode, the steam is fine, dry and transparent.

President (Hurricane, Legend) - models with a cast-iron firebox, an enlarged heater grid and a closed heater module.

Rusich - made of especially durable boiler steel grade 09G2S 6-8 mm. The thickness of the top of the combustion chamber and the rear wall of the furnace has been increased to 8 mm, since these areas are the most thermally loaded.

Skiff - made of structural steel up to 8mm thick and has a minimum of welds. High-strength cast iron parts are used in areas exposed to high temperatures.

Classic is a classic stove with an open heater and a remote tunnel of increased length for simultaneous heating of the steam room and adjacent rooms. On the side of the rest room, the model is equipped with a large cast-iron door with glass.

Premium – elite and expensive stoves lined with natural stone.

Elite – models with an external tunnel designed for heating the steam room and adjacent rooms. On the firebox side, the stoves are equipped with a large fireplace door with glass.

Sensation - cast iron firebox with convector casing. This stove has a small heater, but will warm up the bathhouse faster.

Vertical - a type of units with an open heater, equipped with an additional chamber for burning previously generated gases that appear during smoldering fuel, double flame circulation technology has been introduced.

Sanduns are models with a cast iron firebox and a barrel-shaped heater, closed by a stainless steel heater and a funnel for supplying water to the closed heater. Conceptually, it is somewhat similar to the Geyser and Barrel furnaces from TMF, only made of cast iron.

All models have a long service life and are safe, which is confirmed by certificates of conformity and verified by numerous tests by the manufacturer and customers.

In addition to high technological characteristics, all Vesuvius brand furnaces have an aesthetic appearance. The design of the body can be selected to suit any interior and style of bath or sauna.

Rating of the TOP 8 best cast iron stoves for baths in 2021

Design Features

The Vesuvius stove is the real “hot heart” of a Russian bath or Finnish sauna. It can become a powerful heat generator and a producer of useful dry or wet steam.

The oven is an all-welded convection type structure. The firebox is made of high-strength steel sheet 8 mm thick or cast iron and is designed using a special technology that allows the heat emanating from it to be evenly distributed around the perimeter of the room.

At the bottom there is a cast iron grate. The firebox door is made of cast iron, has a comfortable handle and a reliable lock. Between the metal casing and the firebox there is a container for storing stones, designed to hold a heavy mass. During the heating process, stones can heat up to 400 degrees.

The abbreviation added to the name helps to understand the design features of the stoves and the configuration of the model.

The letters mean the following:

• B - the stove has an external fuel channel, allowing it to be heated from an adjacent room;
• T - the furnace design has a heat exchanger;
• Ch - cast iron door;
• C - the stove door is equipped with durable fireproof glass;

• K - the stove is equipped with a heater grid;
• B — the kit includes a liquid tank;
• KV – convection-ventilated design;
• H - the chromium content in stainless steel is at least 18%.

How to choose the right model

When purchasing a stove, you should consider the following parameters:

Housing material

Cast iron is more reliable and durable. Steel has less cost and weight.

Door

When choosing a glass door, it is important to ensure that it has a “clean glass” system.

Heater type

Open heats the room faster, but cools down just as quickly. This is an excellent option for rare use of the steam room. Closed heaters accumulate heat due to slow cooling; each time it takes less and less time to heat them up.

It is important to check the quality of the unit:

• the body does not have uneven seams;
• all parts are insulated;

• the door closes tightly;
• The heater is welded reliably, without chips or cracks.

For your information! The model with an open mesh heater, according to numerous customer reviews, looks good in appearance, but is not so good in operation. If you deviate from the instructions, the steam from the stones will be unpleasant: damp and heavy.