I am a member of a few forums and groups, and people are always interest if a particular stove (wood or propane) will heat their sauna. I would too if I were purchasing one. This stove is v2 of my propane stove. The first version was simply my normal wood stove modified to have a burner in it. It made heat, but it wasn’t great, The new design takes into account things I have learned since building stoves. Firstly the importance of surface area contacting rocks to transfer the heat. Secondly, the importance of baffles to transfer heat from exhaust gases before it exits the stove.
This stove is double baffled which creates a long path for the heat to transfer from the exhaust gas to the stove and to the rocks. The stove itself is 14″ wide, 16″ long and 24″ high.
In this video, I show how to light the stove, as well as establish base line parameters for the test. The Fish house is 40 Deg F. It is 11ft long and 6ft wide. It has a vaulted ceiling that is 9ft tall in the middle and 7ft at the side. Total inside volume is 528 cu ft. I weighed the propane tank and it started at almost 33lb. The burner itself is a 100k BTU cast iron burner commonly used in outdoor turkey fryers and camping stoves. The burner and thermocouple were both obtained off of Amazon and easily replaceable if needed.
Hello,
I run a fitness and recovery center. We have several saunas that are currently running on 220v power. I like the alternative of propane but I have some questions. How does it affect the air quality in the sauna; how heavy is the smaller unit; what’s the BTU difference between the small and larger unit; could it be used in a hot tent? I’m happy to jump on a call to discuss details. Thank you!
Alvaro
May I ask what thermocouple you are using ?
I use this valve: https://a.co/d/2U3Zovs
looking for a propane fired sauna stove to replace existing. wet sauna w rocks and we spay water to produce heat and steam. room is 720 c.f.
if you say the burner won’t produce the heat needed for a sauna hooked to a BBQ (20lb) bottle or a larger rural propane tank…. what would you have to hook the burner to to produce the heat needed? 250 and 500 propane tanks are the standard sizes.
thanks.
Its not the tank that is the issue, its the regulator. Propane regulators for home or BBQ Grill uses only produce about .5PSI of pressure. A High pressure regulator is needed to supply 2-5PSI of pressure for the burner to produce the heat needed for sauna temps. Thank you!