Home Spa – Wellness at Home With Steam Showers & Saunas

Have you considered adding a touch of comfort and class to your home? One of the best ways to do this is with steam showers and saunas. Did you know there are multiple types of saunas and steam showers depending on their intended use?

Both of these unique home bath features offer a respite from long work days, solitude from a hectic schedule, a feeling of calm when times are rough, and many other health implications. Here is a brief history of steam showers and saunas, with some helpful tips if you are in the market and looking to add these features to your home.

Steam Showers

How do Steam Showers Work?

Steam showers tend to have a fairly simple design. There are usually digital controls built into the wall of the shower or located just outside the shower. To deliver steam to the occupant, an electric valve fills the steam generator (often no bigger than a breadbox) with cold water, usually a gallon or so. The system then acts like a tea kettle, bringing the water to a rapid boil. A pipe channels the hot vapor to the steam head, or disperser, resulting in moisture filling the shower, often at a temperature that exceeds 115 degrees Fahrenheit.

What do Steam Showers do and What are the Benefits?

The most basic benefit of a steam shower is the opening of capillaries, which allows blood to flow more easily. Great for muscle aches and pain, steam showers remove metabolic waste that builds up in your muscles throughout the day. Wind down after exercise, find some alone time after a long day of work, and alleviate soreness while relaxing.

How Much do Steam Showers Cost?

Despite the simple design of the interior parts of steam showers, the building materials, sophistication like mood lighting, a stereo MP3 dock, and a pump for aromatherapy oils, and size of the shower can greatly influence the price. Most basic, low-amenities showers start around $2,000, and range close to $10,000 on the high end. You can purchase the pieces individually, you can purchase package kits with easy setup, or you can commission a carpenter or plumber to install the full system for you.

Are Steam Showers Worth the Money?

Steam showers find their niche with people who truly appreciate the finer amenities of life. Steam showers are an added benefit for those that can spend time in self-reflection, want to detox from their environment or improve their hygiene. Steam showers are not essential, so if you are in the market for one you have likely already decided you need a way to relax from life’s challenges. We can say without a doubt that steam showers are therapeutic, just make sure you have room in your budget for a large purchase.

In-Home Saunas

The Colorful History of Saunas

Believe it or not, The sauna owes its origins to Central Asia. Nomadic tribes began their migration eastward and northward, to populate southwestern Russia, Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Estonia, and finally Suomi, as they call their land.

As recorded time switched from BC to AD these migrators, now inhabiting an area known as Finland, were establishing fur trade with Central Europe and gave up their wandering ways. To stay warm in the freezing climate, pits were dug in slopes in the ground and primarily used as dwellings in winter. The sauna featured a fireplace where stones were heated to a high temperature. Water was thrown on the hot stones to produce steam and to give a sensation of increased heat. This would raise the apparent temperature so high that people could take off their clothes.

Where to Buy Steam Showers
and Home Saunas