Manufacturing and installation of a metal sauna stove in-house

It is difficult to imagine a bathhouse without a stove, because in addition to heating the room, it is also the key to comfort and pleasure from the bathing procedure.

It is easy to make a stove for a bathhouse with your own hands; it will function well and will not require a lot of money and time investment. The simplest model is a sauna stove made from a pipe with a large diameter. Its production does not require special experience and knowledge in this area.

Description of a metal sauna stove and its main characteristics

You can, of course, buy a metal stove for the bathhouse. However, the best option would be to make it yourself. A simple option is a potbelly stove, which is a metal structure equipped with a door and a pipe. Low heat transfer and significant financial costs for purchasing fuel do not allow the heating installation to be used effectively, so it can be seen in rare cases.

Another thing is modern iron stoves. Their attractiveness, high efficiency and highest fire safety rating are impressive. They are made from sheet iron, more than 0.4 centimeters thick. The structural components are:

• It is customary to use a thermal chamber for filling and storing stones;
• There is a tank designed to store water with a volume of 30-70 liters.

An iron sauna stove requires lining with refractory bricks. This makes it possible to evenly heat the air in the room and makes the structure completely safe for use.

Manufacturing examples

Having decided to make a sauna stove on your own, you need to approach the matter thoroughly. Firstly, choose a project that is best suited for the bathhouse, and secondly, make drawings to make it easier to build. There are many options for sauna stoves, so anyone can create their own version, taking into account some basics.

Here are some examples of homemade projects.

Metal with a tightly closing heater

This option is possible for a steam room measuring 2 by 3 and 2.3 meters high. The material, namely metal, is taken as a sheet, three millimeters thick. The air supply goes to the top of the firebox. A metal plate is welded to the back wall of such a firebox, and air is supplied into the hole between the wall of the firebox and this plate using tubes. This helps cool the back wall and push hot air up where the flue gases are concentrated. When mixed, the substances ignite. Thanks to this, the stones are heated to high temperatures, although much less firewood is used.

For a compact steam room

It is not difficult to build such a stove. To build it you will need a metal sheet up to five millimeters thick. If you take a thinner sheet, the stove will quickly burn out. Its dimensions are 90 cm in length, 80 cm in height and 60 cm in width. To create a chimney, a piece of pipe with a diameter of 11.5 cm is suitable. At the bottom there should be an ash pit with a door; between this part of the stove and the firebox, cast iron grates and heaters are placed to remove waste remaining after combustion. To do this, one third of the back wall of the heater is welded with a strong sheet of metal, where a chimney pipe is welded in the center, lowered down 10-12 centimeters.

The top of the oven is covered with a metal lid up to one millimeter thick. It is this that prevents the stones from cooling down and also prevents waste and ash from entering the steam room. The lid opens only when needed, namely before going to the bathhouse.

Simple heater

This is the best homemade stove, which is suitable for both a sauna and a simple bathhouse. The high temperature is reached in about an hour and a half. During this time, the 50 liters of water needed for swimming can boil. Such a stove has not one chimney, but two. The first is suitable for heating the room. The second is for the release of carbon monoxide and acrid smoke. The structure consists of sheets of iron 3-4 millimeters thick, but the firebox itself is made later. It is made of metal up to 6 millimeters thick. The kit also includes a small and large valve and two metal grilles.

The heater is made of steel up to three millimeters, which is attached to the “neck” of the firebox itself. Two pipes are placed on top, to which flanges with the necessary holes are welded for fixing the outlet pipe and for attaching the elbow.

With brickwork

In this option, double technology is used, that is, brickwork plus a metal body. Steel up to two millimeters is suitable here, and the brick must be heat-resistant.

First, a base is made to which the legs necessary for the stability of the structure are welded. Then they lay out a row of bricks. The remaining rows are built near the half-brick firebox. Install a grate and a grate for stones. It is also necessary to install a window for the valve, where the heat will be retained after the end of the fire. The last two rows are made solid, leaving only a place with a window for the chimney.

Having finished laying the brick and waiting for it to harden, you can begin welding the metal body, which plays the role of a case. It is necessary to cut out the metal for the ash pan and windows for loading. A door is installed, always with a seal. The metal base is complemented by a cold handle.

The last thing to weld is the lid with the hole for the chimney. When the stove is installed in the place allocated for it, you can lay the stones. Their bookmark plays an important role. After all, work efficiency also depends on this. It is better to take stones that are round in shape and of different sizes, from approximately 50 to 100 kilograms.

Having examined the types and designs of homemade sauna stoves, we can say with confidence that making one yourself is a completely doable job if you take into account all safety requirements when installing it. This will save money for the family, and the stove itself will become the property and pride of the owner.

In the next video you will see how to make a sauna stove from a pipe with your own hands.

Design features of a sauna stove

Iron stoves differ in design, the type of which is determined by the drawing.

The following varieties are distinguished:

An iron stove for a bathhouse may include a combustion body located horizontally or vertically in relation to the floor, two chambers with vertical loading and a heater located inside the structure. An iron sauna stove can be three-chamber, with horizontal wood loading, a water tank, and a heater.

A vertical firebox makes it possible to save more space in the steam room, however, the wood burns for a short time and will have to be constantly added in order to maintain the required ambient temperature. The horizontal firebox has significant dimensions and takes up significant free space, but the wood burns more slowly. Devices of this type are installed outside the steam room (in the dressing room), so there is a real opportunity to heat both rooms at the same time.

Helpful information

Traditionally, homemade sauna stoves are built from brick.
This material is able to heat up evenly and release heat slowly, which is important for the formation of healing steam. If the steam room has a small area, they try to place the entire structure in the washing room, and only the side of the stove is brought into the steam room

Simpler stove designs are made of metal. A universal option is ovens that use both brick and metal.

There must be a gap between the stove and the wall (as well as any other wooden bath structure). For a brick stove this distance is 30-40 cm, for a metal stove (lined with brick) - 60-70 cm, for a metal stove or metal pipe -100 cm.

The above distances can only be reduced if the walls or other wooden structures that are in close proximity to the stove are protected from accidental fire by foil with asbestos cardboard.

Homemade stove made from a metal pipe: layout of structural elements.

A homemade stove is made of ordinary bricks. Hole, slot and sand-lime bricks should not be used, since they do not provide uniform heating and quickly collapse under the influence of high temperatures. Poorly fired bricks are also not used. You can take used bricks if they are strong enough and there are no chips or cracks on them. Usually these are bricks from old dismantled walls and stoves. Before use, it is cleaned of solution and soot.

The size of the brick that can be used must correspond to 250x120x65 mm

It is very important that all its corners and edges are straight, the shape is correct, and various defects are absent. Most often, a homemade stove in a bathhouse is lined with bricks of grade 75-150 with a density of 1700-1850 kg/m³ and a weight of 3.6-3.8 kg

High-quality fired brick produces a ringing sound when tapped.

Types of stoves by shape

Do-it-yourself metal sauna stoves can be in the following shape:

• curly;
• rectangular;
• horizontal;
• cylindrical.

Rectangular installations are considered the most popular because their corner zones do not heat up to very high temperatures. The shape of the device is directly related to the uniform heating of both the installation itself and the room. Cylindrical and round shaped units have the lowest degree of heat transfer, so fairly thick iron is used for their production. Rectangular structures are distinguished by enviable stability, but have cold corners.

Advantages and disadvantages of metal structures

We can highlight the main positive characteristics that a metal sauna stove is endowed with:

• Rapid heating of the body - you can begin basic procedures within 2-3 hours after the oven starts heating up.
• Ergonomic body – compact dimensions allow the stove to be installed even in small rooms.
• Lack of foundation - the equipment does not require the construction of a solid foundation; it is enough to limit yourself to a lightweight foundation.
• Maintaining a constant combustion process - the design allows you to maintain optimal temperature conditions throughout the entire duration of health procedures.
• Generation of soft and clean steam and heat accumulation indoors.
• Affordable cost of materials for self-production of the structure.
• Long service life of the finished device, which can range from 6 to 26 years.
• Reliable operation if the basic fire safety requirements were met during the assembly and installation of the structure.

Along with the positive aspects, a metal sauna stove has significant disadvantages:

• Rapid cooling of the metal after completion of the combustion process.
• Not suitable for heating large areas.
• It is necessary to ensure fire protection of the structure and adjacent surfaces.

Recommendations from specialists for installing an iron sauna stove

The main point is the presence of a high-quality foundation. Afterwards, it is necessary to take a number of measures aimed at fire safety, which are as follows:

1. A metal stove should be installed at a distance of at least 100 cm from the wall.
2. To avoid fire in the room, it is necessary to cover the walls located in the immediate vicinity of the structure with foil and heat-insulating material, which will enable wooden walls to avoid ignition.
3. An iron stove requires chimney insulation. You can resort to sandwich pipes.
4. It is imperative to build a brick sarcophagus on top of an iron stove. Its appearance will improve, and safety from possible burns when touching the hot metal walls of the oven will increase.

Manufacturing stages

1. To obtain a boot-shaped stove with a heater, we will need four metal boxes. The first and second boxes will be joined together using a detachable connection and form the oven itself. In the first of them there will be a firebox, in the second (“top” of the boot) there will be a hole for the chimney. The third box with stones will be inside the furnace. The fourth removable stainless steel water box is installed separately.

2. To avoid errors during assembly, the sheets of metal are first grabbed together, starting from the bottom of the sheets. Final welding is carried out only after the product has been completely assembled and inspected. To prevent smoke from penetrating into the room, the connection of the elements must be of very high quality.

We invite you to familiarize yourself with Do-it-yourself bathhouse chimney insulation

3. We assemble a box for stones measuring 50x50 cm. To prevent the top sheet from moving out during welding, it is better to install it on a tripod with a magnet attached to it.

4. In order to grip the lid and bottom, you can place a thin metal square under them to ensure their stability.

5. The bottom of the box for stones, which will bear the entire impact load of the fire, is made of a sheet with a thickness of at least 10 mm.

6. Using a grinder, a door for the heater is cut out in the upper part of the box. Its size should be sufficient for steam to escape.

7. In the lower part of the third box, in which the stones will be located, 2-4 holes are cut for pipes (the number of pipes can be arbitrary) at a distance of at least 5 cm from the bottom of the cube to improve traction. A cube with heavy stones will be installed on them.

8. Cut a hole for the firebox measuring 28x28 cm.

9. In the upper part of the first box we make a hole for inserting the second cube. We cut and weld two 4 cm plates around the perimeter of this hole on three sides to strengthen the cut site and a corner in the left, fourth part. The first three strips are attached to the inner surface, the second - to the outer part of the cut with slight mixing. A small gap is left between the plates for inserting a second box.

10. One plate is welded to the doors of the firebox and heater to strengthen them. The firebox is separated from the ash pan by a grate made of 10-12 cm steel rods. To ensure complete combustion of the fuel, it is necessary to ensure better air flow, so the grate bars are welded along the ash duct.

11. A third cube is inserted into the second box onto the pipes welded in its lower part. in which the stones will be located.

12. To strengthen the inner cube for stones, small gussets are welded to it.

13. To clear the soot, a small hole is made above the door, next to which bolts are welded on 4 sides to install the door. Before its installation, for tightness, it is wrapped with asbestos thread and screwed with brass nuts. protecting metal from acidification.

14. A lid with a hole for a chimney pipe 12x12 cm (the size of half a brick) is welded to the top of the heater. To install it, a metal “skirt” is welded to the hole. The cube with the stone box installed is inserted into the first one.

A metal heater not only heats up quickly, but also cools down almost instantly. Therefore, to take bath procedures, it is necessary to heat the device well. Heating a steam room for a group of people will be quite difficult.

There are several ways to assemble the device yourself. It can be made from a metal container, sheets or pipes. If you do not have the skills to work with a welding machine, it is recommended to assemble the unit from a pipe. The diameter of the structure will be 80 centimeters. and the height is approximately 170 centimeters. A heater and a container of water are made on top. To increase the temperature in the steam room, you need to pour water on the stones.

Tools and materials

• To make equipment with your own hands, first of all, you need to prepare a drawing, the so-called sketch with exact dimensions.
• Metal pipe with a height of 180 cm and a diameter of 60 cm. The walls of the pipe should have a thickness of about 10 millimeters.
• 8mm metal sheet.
• Steel rod with 10mm diameter.
• Metal doors.
• Grate.
• Tap.
• Chimney.

These materials are sold in construction stores. It is also necessary to prepare a welding machine and a grinder.

A homemade long-burning stove is made with your own hands in several stages. In order to assemble the structure efficiently, it is necessary to carry out all the work consistently.

Using a grinder you need to cut a metal pipe in half. The first part will be needed to make the firebox, and the other part will be needed to heat the water tank. At the bottom of the first pipe you need to make a small hole (blower), the dimensions of which are 20X5 centimeters. It is also necessary to weld special brackets for the grate from the inside. Make another hole for the firebox a little higher: 20X25 centimeters. Then the doors are installed on the fixed hinges.

The heater should be located above the firebox, into which a grate or metal grate is installed, the cells of which should be smaller than the size of the stones.

It is necessary to make a window in the heater for pouring liquid. It is recommended to place it opposite the firebox, and then install the door. A chimney is installed above the grate, after which stones are laid. You need to weld a metal circle on top and make a hole in it for the second pipe. Welding seams should be checked for water tightness, since there will be a tank of liquid on top.

Based on the drawing, you need to weld a tap at the bottom of the second pipe. Then secure the pipe section to the heater using a welding machine. The seam must be checked for water tightness. Two halves of the lid are welded to the tank. One should be welded, and the second should be installed on the hinges.

The surface of the near wall must also be insulated. To do this, you can use metal sheets. Also, a homemade long-burning structure can be lined with red brick to prevent ignition. This nuance should also be included in the drawing.

There are quite a lot of drawings of a sauna stove and each of them has its own functionality. Let's start with the furnace firebox.

• The firebox is the first thing to do. You determine the size of the firebox yourself, based on the size of your steam room. The main thing to remember is that the width and height of the firebox must be the same.
• On some drawings of metal stoves you can see ready-made solutions that you can buy in a store rather than cut and cook yourself. For example, doors, grilles, handles, and so on. You will save a lot of time if you buy them at the store.
• In almost all drawings, the firebox consists of 2 parts. In one part, firewood is burned, and the other is designed to collect ash and also serves as an ash pit.
• If stones will be placed on the top of the firebox, then it should be made of a grate. You can make a decorative lattice for beauty.

We invite you to familiarize yourself with the DIY sauna stove: 4 types with drawings, photos and order

Detailed drawing of a metal sauna stove

To create certain conditions in the steam room, different stoves are used, and different approaches to their installation are also used. If you are setting up a sauna, you will need to maintain the maximum area of ​​contact between the stove body and the air and ensure rapid circulation of air flows along the walls.

It all comes down to heating the air in the steam room as quickly as possible. A small open heater, located above the firebox, can heat the stones to 200-250 ºС. It makes it possible to get a little steam - as a rule, this is enough for a sauna, because you only need to achieve 15% humidity.

In a Russian bath, a different microclimate is created - low temperatures are reached and a lot of steam is produced. Moreover, it should consist of very small droplets heated to 130-150 ºС - such steam is called “dry”. Such a microclimate gives the body lightness and strength. “Dry” steam can only be obtained by heating stones to values ​​​​of more than 500 ºС. To achieve such indicators, stones are placed in a firebox, that is, in a closed heater.

To make a stove for a bathhouse with your own hands as high quality and practical as possible, its body is made of thick metal and the casing is made of thin metal, because it is not subject to overheating.

When placing the heater above the firebox, holes can be made in the body for ventilation. In this case, a portion of the air rising along the walls will be directed into the heater, blowing the stones and increasing their temperature. This ventilated heater is perfect for saunas.

Required Tools

When planning the installation of a sauna stove, you need to take care not only of efficiency, safety and functionality, but also of the right tools.

To improve the quality of installation, you should first prepare:

• steel sheets (8 mm thick);
• a pipe with a circumference of about 50 cm;
• metal rods, cross section 100 mm;

• grate, combustion chamber, ash door;
• chimney;
• hot water taps;
• water tank up to 1 cubic meter.

For installation of the structure, a welding machine and an angle grinder will definitely be useful.

It is important to select all component materials in accordance with existing SNiPs and PPBs. For example, galvanized asbestos pipes are not recommended for use.

Possible difficulties

Matching seams is a difficult task for a beginner. Solution: make guides from metal rods. Diameter - 3 or 5 mm. Before laying the stove row, place them on the edges of the brick and press the next block down. Get the rods. The remaining notches will disappear on their own after completing the row.

If the laying mortar does not “grab” the bricks, wet them with water. This way the coupling will become reliable.

During construction, the errors are invisible, but in the end you can see them all. Solution: check each row of the stove horizontally and vertically with a building level.

If you do not follow safety precautions when laying a stove, you can injure your hands. Wear rubber-lined gloves and wrap duct tape around your knuckles.

Horizontal model

The body is positioned horizontally. In such models, the open heater is welded on the sides to the body. The outlet for combustion products is located on the side.

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The advantage of the horizontal model is that the door to the firebox can be moved into the rest room, so you don’t have to carry firewood into a humid room with steam.

In addition, such models heat the dressing room better - this is important if the bathhouse is spacious enough. The tank is usually hung from the end of the stove.

Arrangement of the foundation

Laying brick stoves begins with laying out the foundation, which is the basis for any heating structure, ensuring its strength, reliability and durability.

According to the finished bathhouse design, markings are made at the construction site and a foundation pit up to 65 cm deep is dug. Its width should exceed the dimensions of the stove by 10 cm.

A layer of sand 18 cm thick is laid on the bottom of the pit and moistened with water, then covered with crushed stone, stones and broken bricks. All layers are thoroughly wetted and compacted. The pillow is kept for some time to shrink.

After complete shrinkage of the sand layer, removable formwork is installed, reinforced with an armored belt made of thin reinforcement.

Important! A technological gap of 12 cm must be left between the walls of the formwork and the earthen edges of the pit.

The formwork is filled with concrete mixture to the boundary level, which is 17 cm below the soil surface. The mixture is prepared in proportions - 1: 3 (three parts sand to one part cement) with the addition of the required amount of water.

After the concrete has completely hardened, the formwork is removed, and the existing voids are filled with fine gravel.

Folded roofing felt is used as a waterproofing layer for the foundation. The material is laid on a concrete base layer strictly according to the size of the site.

How to heat a stove with wood

Before heating the stove, it is necessary to close the heater channel and open the direct flue damper. This will significantly increase traction. Then firewood is placed in the firebox and afterburning is done using paper or rags soaked in kerosene or barbecue liquid.

It is best to burn the stove with hardwood wood

After the firewood has ignited, it is necessary to open the valve of the channel that connects the firebox to the heater and close the direct gas duct. At this time, the stones should be covered with a lid.

The stove is heated until the temperature in the steam room rises above 60°C. After the firewood has completely burned out with a poker, be sure to check whether there is any unburnt wood in the corners of the firebox. If such pieces of logs are found, then you need to throw them away, otherwise they will smoke. The heat must be checked for the presence of blue flames. If they are, then you still can’t take a steam bath, because you might get burned.

Burning coals are thrown away in the same way as unburnt wood. After this, water is poured onto the heater, which will remove soot from its surface, and the walls and shelves of the bathhouse are washed from soot.

Criteria for choosing a full or partial furnace lining

Many bathhouse owners, having decided to line the stove with brick, doubt what type of cladding to choose. If you surround the device with brick walls on all four sides, you will get a complete one, otherwise it will be partial.

Whichever option is chosen, the difference will be in the control of convection. In simpler terms, problems may arise for lovers of Russian baths. If a controlled convention is organized, then it is possible to close it, in this case the hot air heats not the steam room room, but the brick casing, transferring the heat into the steam room softer.

To control the flow of warm air from bottom to top, special openings should be provided. If necessary, they are closed or opened using special doors or pieces of brick.

But open cladding, when the stove is not closed on one or more sides, is most likely an aesthetic aspect and a safety issue, since it is less likely to get burned from a brick than from hot metal.

Foundation structure

The location for a stove made by hand from metal is determined during the design process - a foundation must be poured under the stove. Under a light wooden bathhouse there may not be a strip foundation - only a columnar one.

Therefore, the foundation for the stove is often poured separately from the foundation of the house. The best option is to pour a concrete foundation with reinforcement. The minimum dimensions are 1x1m or 1x1.5 for a horizontal oven.

The top of the concrete is covered with two layers of fire-resistant solid red brick in a mortar of clay and sand (the cement mortar will crack from the heat). The foundation should be raised 300 mm above the floor. The top is covered with steel sheet.

Installation of a chimney pipe

How to fold a stove with a chimney after completing the construction of brick walls? The furnace construction manual provides for the preliminary selection of a pipe, which in type and functional features must correspond to the design of the future furnace. For a lightweight design, it is recommended to choose a small pipe made of lightweight and heat-resistant material.

When choosing, you should take into account the appropriate wall thickness of the chimney pipe, which cannot be less than ½ the thickness of the brick. The diameter of the passages for the chimney pipe should be of a similar size.

The length of the upper part of the pipe, located above the roof, should not be less than 55 cm. To equip the smoke exhaust duct, a connecting mortar based on cement or lime is used. The clay-sand mixture is not suitable for such work, since under the influence of precipitation it will quickly wash out and form condensation on the inner walls of the pipe.

The chimney pipe with a minimum number of bends must have a total length of at least 5 meters. The finished design can be equipped with a special gate valve.