TOP 12 best stoves for a sauna with a tank: 2021 rating and which model to choose for a brick sauna

One of the most difficult issues in equipping a bathhouse is selecting a stove for it.
You should not rely only on aesthetic characteristics, because the technical characteristics of the equipment play a much larger role. One of the key parameters is the power of the unit, because the optimal heating area depends on it.

It is also desirable that the stove has a container for heating water.

There are other criteria that you should pay attention to when choosing.

They are listed below. Guided by this checklist, every bathhouse owner will be able to choose the right equipment, and the rating of the best models according to the 2021 version in terms of price/quality ratio will help you finally make your choice.

Rating of the TOP 12 best stoves for saunas with a tank in 2021

Requirements for the placement of the stove depending on the parameters of the bath

Generally speaking, the location of the stove in the steam room (subject to fire safety rules) is determined arbitrarily, depending on the individual characteristics of the building. However, there are several fairly popular ways of placing a stove - it is not difficult, using proven recommendations, to choose the best option, which will directly depend on the layout of the bathhouse and the number of rooms.

The final layout of the bathhouse is seriously influenced by financial capabilities, depending on which two basic schemes can be distinguished:

1. A bathhouse consisting of a steam room and a dressing room. These two rooms are always present in any bathhouse, regardless of its size.
2. A bathhouse with additional extensions and premises. In such a scheme, in addition to the steam room and dressing room, any accompanying rooms may be present.

If the budget is tight, the first option is being built - as a rule, such buildings are created for small families, because the size and number of premises in this case are not critical. In addition, with financial constraints and a lack of free space on the site, even such a small building has to be compressed, combining a steam room and a washing area. It will also be useful to know which firewood is best for a bathhouse and how to prepare it.

This approach cannot be called convenient, but its advantages are obvious, which also affects how the stove will be located in the bathhouse. A small bathhouse, consisting of a steam room and a dressing room, allows you to install a stove only in the center of the steam room (naturally, in compliance with fire safety requirements).

The situation will be completely different if financial capabilities do not have any special restrictions. The most important design difference in this case will be the division of the bath into a separate steam room and a washing compartment. This is quite advisable, since the functions of these rooms have serious differences - in the steam room it is necessary to maintain a high temperature, while washing is more comfortable at a gentle temperature regime.

How to choose a stove for a sauna with a tank?

To make visiting the bathhouse comfortable, you should choose the right stove with a tank.

The main selection criteria are:

• Case material . Most manufacturers make stoves from high-strength steel. It is resistant to mechanical damage and practically does not heat up during operation, which completely eliminates the risk of accidental burns.
• Fuel type . Sauna stoves can be powered by gas or solid fuel. It is advisable to choose models that operate on combined fuel, as this will significantly expand the operational capabilities of the device.
• Power . Each stove model is designed to heat a room of a certain area. There is no point in saving on this criterion, because if the device operates at its maximum capacity, the room will not warm up completely. It is advisable to choose equipment a little more powerful than intended for the steam room.

It is also advisable to pay attention to the shape of the firebox removal, especially if the stove will be fired from an adjacent room. In this case, it is better to choose a device with a straight firebox, because it will be much easier to install.

Fire safety requirements

It is quite natural that when installing a sauna stove, it is necessary to achieve a certain level of fire safety in order to reduce the likelihood of a fire to a minimum and protect sauna visitors from burns. Taking all this into account, a system of requirements was developed that must be met, regardless of the layout of the stove in the bathhouse.

All the rules for placing the stove, due to which the correct location of the stove in the bathhouse is carried out from the point of view of fire safety, are as follows:

1. One of the most important requirements is to create the right foundation. To prevent fire, a separate foundation is built, for which non-combustible building materials are used - brick, concrete or similar material.
2. Considering that flammable materials (wood, for example) are often used in the bathhouse, it is necessary to install additional floor protection. As a rule, for these purposes a steel or asbestos edging is used around the stove, extending 40-50 cm beyond its contours.
3. The sauna stove should be no closer than 26 cm from any objects in the room - walls, beams, railings and others. There is also a small caveat - such a gap can only be left if the oven is equipped with protective screens. If they are absent, the distance to the nearest object increases to 32 cm.
4. The two previous rules only work if the objects surrounding the stove are made of non-combustible materials. Compliance with the rules in such a situation will be completely justified. If the structure of the room contains a lot of flammable materials, then the rules will have to be seriously tightened. An example is a small home bathhouse made of wood or lined with wood. To maximize the safety of the structure from fire, it is necessary to move the stove away from any objects by at least 50 cm.
5. There is also a rule according to which all elements of a sauna stove that have a high degree of heating (stove walls, chimney elements, etc.) must be separated from all objects located in the room, for which various non-combustible layers are used. For example, a chimney is usually enclosed in a special box made of asbestos or a material with similar properties.
6. When ensuring the safety of a sauna stove, special attention should be paid to its combustion chamber. It is for this reason that the firebox has special requirements that must be observed in order to reduce the likelihood of a fire in the room. According to the recommendations, the firebox door should be placed opposite the door to the room, and the distance to the nearest object should exceed 1.5 m.

Other selection criteria

Volume of the tank

In order not to make a mistake with the size of the tank, it is enough to make a simple calculation. On average, one person needs a bucket of water for washing, that is, 8-10 liters. Knowing how many people will visit the bathhouse regularly, you just need to multiply this number by 10 and add another 20-25 liters in reserve.

Installation method

Several factors are important here: the performance of the stove, the area of ​​the steam room, the volume of the container. If the room is spacious and the stove is small, it is not advisable to reduce its performance with a built-in tank of 60 liters or more. In this case, the tank must be made remote or mounted on a pipe. If the steam room is small and the efficiency of the stove is high, the water in the small tank will quickly boil away. That is why it is necessary to carefully analyze all the conditions and select the optimal solution.

Convenience in the bathhouse also means a lot. The tank should be located so that the risk of getting burned on a hot surface is minimal, and water intake is convenient. If the container is located high (remote or samovar type), a tap is needed to supply hot water. Drawing water through the top is very inconvenient and unsafe.

If you carefully study the conditions, think through and weigh everything, choosing a hot water tank will not be difficult. With a well-chosen design, bath procedures will bring you only comfort and pleasure for many years.

Approximate cost of stainless steel and enameled tanks

Rubble concrete foundation

Foundation for the stove.
The formwork must be installed on the base. A layer of large stones is placed in it. The resulting cavities are filled with crushed stone. Then the stone and crushed stone are filled with cement-sand mortar.

Mix the solution as follows: 1 part cement M 400-500 to 3 parts sand. The solution should be thick, like sour cream. They need to pour the first row of stone and take a break for a day, then lay the next row, which is then poured with mortar.

If the volume is small, then you can make a certain amount of concrete and complete the work in one day. After about a week, the foundation is ready for laying.

Wall and ceiling finishing

Ceiling lined with clapboard

Marble/ceramic tiles, wooden lining or natural stone can be used as cladding material for walls and ceilings. To save money, the tiles can be laid 1.5–1.8 m from the floor. The remaining space of the walls and ceiling can be painted with paint that is resistant to water and moisture.

• You can immediately lay finishing material on the wall bordering the steam room without waterproofing. If we are talking about wooden lining, then the slats need to be tightly fixed to each other and to the wall.
• If you decide to use tiles as finishing, then lay them in one plane. The level will help you with this. The seams should be sealed with an antifungal compound.
• A waterproofing layer must be applied to the shower walls before laying the cladding.
• In the classic design, the ceiling, as well as the walls, are covered with wooden paneling. If tiles were used as wall decoration, then the ceiling must be covered with water-repellent paint.

Do-it-yourself iron sauna stove assembly technology

In a small-sized bathhouse, you can use a homemade version of an iron heater, the dimensions of which would fully correspond to the heated area. As an example, the technology for assembling a heater with a diameter of 70 cm and a height of 150 cm is considered. Such a heating device is characterized by ease of manufacture, ease of operation, and requires a small amount of fuel material to quickly warm up the bath.

Furnace materials

For self-assembly of the stove, ferrous metal is suitable, the thickness of which is 0.5 cm. The service life of such material is from 6 to 10 years. To make a firebox and a water tank, you can use a centimeter sheet of iron.

For work you need to prepare the following materials:

• Sheet metal 1 cm thick.
• A metal pipe with a wall thickness of 1 cm and a length of 160 cm.
• A chimney pipe with a wall thickness of 0.5 cm and a diameter of 10 cm.
• Metal rod 1 cm thick.
• Grate for the grate.
• Door hinges.
• Door latches.
• Water tap with shut-off valve.

Tools

To work with a metal structure you will need the appropriate set of tools:

• Equipment for hot welding.
• Hacksaw for metal.
• Bulgarian.
• Roulette.

You will also need personal protective equipment when carrying out welding work:

• Mask.
• Uniforms and shoes.
• Gloves made of dielectric material.
• Glasses.

Step-by-step instructions for assembling a sauna stove

To independently make a compact metal stove for a private bath, you must follow the following sequence of actions:

1. The pipe is cut into two parts - 70 and 90 cm.
2. The blower chamber should be located at the bottom of the pipe for easy cleaning of ash. A hole measuring 22x6 cm is made in the pipe. A metal piece can be used to make a door for the blower chamber. Another hole is made above for adding fuel.
3. Door hinges and latches are welded on the outside of the pipe, and the latches themselves are mounted on the doors. Next, the doors for the blower chamber and the loading compartment are installed.
4. A circle with a diameter of 70 cm and a corresponding hole in the center for the grate are cut out of metal. The workpiece is welded inside the furnace structure above the ash chamber.
5. On the back side of the pipe, a hole is prepared for watering the heater and a protective door is installed.
6. A lattice for laying out stones is made from reinforcement. The dimensions of the grate should be determined taking into account the size of the stones that will be used for the stove.
7. Another round blank with a diameter of 70 cm is cut out of metal, a hole is made in it for the chimney pipe so that it is offset to the rear wall of the stove. Next, the chimney and the circle underneath it are welded on top of the structure.
8. A water tank is made from a smaller piece of pipe, which is welded to the stove. A hole is made in the container to fix the tap by welding.
9. Another round piece of metal is prepared and cut into two parts - large and smaller. A hole is made in the larger element for the chimney pipe. After this, it is placed on top of the chimney and welded around the hole.
10. A smaller semi-circular element is used as a lid for the water tank. Fixation to the pipe using door hinges.

Important! The size of a homemade metal stove for a bath depends on the total volume of the steam room. Such a unit can provide heating for a room with a volume of up to 25 cubic meters. m.

Vaping method: selection according to parameters

Start with the simplest thing - think about who will take a steam bath and how often, or maybe even just wash. For professional use (when providing paid services) you will need one heating equipment, for constant relaxation among amateurs - another, for simple family gatherings on occasion - a third, for undemanding beginners - a fourth.

It’s also worth deciding what type of steam room to make. If it is Russian, then she needs a closed heater, made of brick or metal, but with a stone lining, and so that its vents are closed. Then it will be possible to easily control convection, that is, regulate heated air flows. If it is a Finnish sauna, then, as a rule, it is a steel stove with convection casings for heating the steam room as quickly as possible. Moreover, to soften hard radiation, such furnaces are lined with stone or a mesh casing.

Temperature/humidity ratio

In other words, microclimate. One piece of equipment can create real heat in a matter of minutes, but at the same time dry out the air. Another is to provide a soft and even gentle atmosphere, but not warm the room properly.

A stove for a Russian bath should produce up to 60°C at 55-60% humidity, a Finnish sauna requires 90°C and 15%, and a Turkish hammam requires up to 45°C and up to 100%, respectively.

Based on this, the area of ​​infrared radiation when heating a material becomes especially important: the larger it is, the drier the air, and vice versa.