Heating in a bathhouse in winter: heating options from a stove, gas boiler, heated floor or heater

The quality of bath procedures depends on the comfortable temperature in the bathhouse. When building a bathhouse, many do not think about heating the dressing room, but in vain. The need to change clothes in an icy room has nothing to do with a contrast shower, swimming in an ice hole or wiping off with snow. In summer, the problem is not so noticeable, but in winter, the issue of a cold dressing room becomes relevant, especially if there are small children in the family.

Rules for organizing heating in a bathhouse

Wood heating of a bathhouse
The simplest option is a bathhouse with heating from home. This scheme involves connecting the steam room, dressing room and other premises to the autonomous heat supply of the cottage. But this can only be realized if the bathhouse structure is closely adjacent to the house or is located at a distance of no more than 3-4 m from it.

The most common option for the location of a building on a site is remote from a residential building. How to make water heating in a bathhouse and at the same time optimize the costs of its organization? Options for using standard schemes are possible, but at the same time the specifics of using the bathhouse should be taken into account:

The source of thermal energy (boiler) must ensure heating of the air in the steam room to a level of +90°C +100°C. For this purpose, special sauna stoves with a container for stones are used;
For rooms larger than 60 m², it is recommended to install pipe heating. Together with it, you can make a hot water system to increase comfort. If there is a second floor, heating of the attic of the bathhouse must be provided;
Ensuring the removal of carbon monoxide along with a well-thought-out ventilation system;
Fire safety. Since wood is used in the vast majority of cases for finishing rooms, its contact with heating elements - pipes, radiators - should be prevented.

Gas heating baths

Another important point is the choice of energy carrier. Gas heating in a bathhouse is advisable only when installing a specialized boiler. Installing homemade structures can lead to emergency and dangerous situations.

In addition to gas, you can use other, no less effective sources of thermal energy:

Firewood. A traditional type of fuel with which heating a bathhouse in winter turns into a kind of ritual. A significant drawback is the constant monitoring of the fuel level in the firebox, as well as the impossibility of quickly adjusting the water heating level;
Diesel fuel or used oil. The most unacceptable energy source for a bathhouse. The problem is the unpleasant smell and the difficulty in organizing fuel storage.

How to make gas heating for a bathhouse yourself? To do this, you need to choose the right equipment and components for heat supply - pipes, radiators, as well as containers for indirect heating of hot water.

When heating a bathhouse from the heating system of the house, part of the pipeline located on the street must be insulated. To solve this problem, you can use special heat insulators or an electric heating wire.

Methods of organization and ready-made schemes

Let's consider several ready-made schemes for performing forced ventilation.

Scheme #1. Exhaust ventilation

Behind the stove, 0.3 m from the floor, a supply ventilation hole is installed. The exhaust fan is installed on the opposite wall, a little higher - 0.4-0.5 m from the floor. Fresh air, entering the steam room through the inlet, passes through the stove, warms up and rises to the ceiling. Gradually cooling, it goes down and is drawn in by the exhaust fan. This forced ventilation scheme is quite popular due to the simplicity of the device and the rapid change of air flows.

Scheme #2. Forced ventilation

In a large steam room, it is advisable to equip fresh air ventilation for a quick change of air. For better circulation, air flows are directed not from bottom to top, as with natural ventilation, but from top to bottom. An inlet with a fan is installed behind the stove, 0.5 m above its level. The exhaust hole is placed at the bottom of the opposite wall, at a distance of 0.2-0.3 cm from the floor.

Supply ventilation according to this scheme works as follows. Using a fan, cold air is forced into the steam room through the inlet. Once within the range of the stove, it quickly warms up and rises to the ceiling. Cooler currents are forced downwards and exit through the exhaust vent.

Scheme #3. Supply and exhaust ventilation

This diagram is intended for ventilation equipment in a steam room and shower. A supply vent with a fan is placed above the stove. The minimum distance from the heater is 50 cm. The exhaust vent (without a fan) is located on the adjacent wall next to the floor, away from the stove. In this case, the diameter of the exhaust air duct should be 2 times larger than the diameter of the supply air duct.

Another exhaust vent with a fan is located in the shower room adjacent to the steam room, under the ceiling. Air enters the shower room from the steam room through the gap under the door.

Heating a bathhouse in winter with warm floors

Today, when heating the floor in a bathhouse, expanded clay, felt and other materials are often used. The insulation layer is placed between the joists or layers of building concrete. The width of the insulator should be within 15 centimeters. It is worth noting that thanks to the use of expanded clay insulation, you can additionally make a hood in the steam room.

To install electric heated floors in a bathhouse, a layer of heat-insulating material must be attached to a smooth and completely clean floor.

This is followed by the installation of a special steel mesh separating the liner from the coating. After this, the guide rails are installed, along which the electrical wire passes, and then the connection to the thermostat follows.

Here we talk in more detail about sauna stoves and indoor thermal insulation

SNiP requirements for construction

A concrete base or metal sheet is laid under the stove and firebox

Installation requirements and standards are set out in SNiP 41.01 - 2003, section 6.6. By following the instructions, you can protect the building from fire.

Some requirements for installing a sauna stove:

the foundation is finished on top with a heat-resistant coating, a metal sheet (at least 4 mm) is placed on top;
use asbestos-cement sheets, mineral wool, foam glass, and structural heat-resistant mica for protection;
an iron sheet measuring at least 40 x 80 cm is placed on the floor in front of the door;
the opening in the wall for the passage of the channel is lined with brick;
in premises of the temporary stay category, which include bathhouse buildings, it is allowed to install stoves with a heating temperature of 120°C;
It is not recommended to use forced exhaust if there is no provision of fresh air into the dressing room;
Do not vent smoke from the fireplace into the ventilation duct.

The brick tub is made using a special mortar for heat-resistant structures; the rows are kept horizontal.

Gas heating

The implementation of such a heating system has several options.

Firstly, as I wrote above, it is possible to install a “classic” heater, in which a gas burner will be used instead of firewood.
Secondly, you can use a standard gas boiler (the same as in residential buildings). But in this case, you will have to take care of the equipment of heating systems (installation of heating radiators, laying pipes, connecting a gas-carrying pipe to the bathhouse or a cylinder connection system).
Thirdly, there is the possibility of installing heating from the house. In essence, this is the same option as the previous one, but with its own characteristics and disadvantages. A separate heating main is laid from the boiler used to heat the house to the bathhouse. This option is very convenient if your steam room is adjacent to the house or is very close to it.

If the distance to the bathhouse is relatively large, then in order to use this system in winter it is necessary to bury the heating main below the freezing level of the soil and insulate it well. This will prevent the possibility of defrosting and help reduce heat loss.

True, the undoubted advantage of this option is the complete elimination of the problem of maintaining a constant positive temperature in the bathhouse. In addition, you can do all the necessary work (if you have a certain skill) with your own hands.

Requirements for the manufacture of the structure

It is important to make gaps where the pipe passes through the holes.

When preparing to build a chimney, you need to familiarize yourself with the standards that the chimney must comply with:

If the pipe comes out of the roof at a distance of one and a half meters from the ridge, then it makes more sense to mount the structure at a height of 50 cm above the very top part of the roof;
When the distance between the ridge and the chimney is at least one and a half and no more than three meters, it is more advisable to install the chimney at the same level as the roof deck;
If the ridge and pipe are more than 3 meters apart from each other, the chimney should be mounted above the dotted line, which is conventionally drawn horizontally from the highest point of the roof at an angle of 10 degrees;
Only 1 meter of chimney should go out from the flat roof;
The chimney, located one and a half meters above the roof, is certainly secured with guy wires.

Heating a bathhouse in winter

Many people believe that the bathhouse is one of the best places to lift your spirits and heal illnesses. When people come here, they want not only to have a good wash, but also to have a pleasant evening. That is why, when building a bathhouse, you should pay attention to all the details, because even the slightest flaw can negate the entire effect and cause a feeling of discomfort.

More attention should be paid to issues related to high-quality heating, because a cold bathhouse, in which icy air blows from all corners, is far from the most pleasant place

Cozy bath interior

The bathhouse mainly includes two rooms: a dressing room and a steam room. The first is for resting and changing clothes, and the second is for washing. To build a bathhouse, you should use only high-quality materials; the reliability and durability of the future building depends on them.

Materials and their quantity

You need to know that the main material is brick, and the design of a stove for a bathhouse with a firebox from a dressing room consists mostly of it. Therefore, choosing a brick should be given the lion’s share of time. In no case should you skimp on this material; the stove needs a high-quality base.

Experts recommend using fire-resistant bricks. It comes in these sizes:

standard - 23 by 12.5 by 6.5 cm;
narrowed - 23 by 11.4 by 6.5 cm;
reduced narrowed - 23 by 11.4 by 4 cm.

Straw-colored fireclay bricks are best suited.

In addition to the brick, you will need to have:

clay for mortar;
grate bars of classic sizes – 5-7 pcs;
a door for a hole with a blower;
door for the firebox opening – 25 by 28 cm;
a door for another compartment with stones;
fireclay products – 7-8 pcs.;
corners of standard size made of steel – 5-7 pcs.;
classic size corners for roofing;
a sufficient amount of sand - both river and quartz.

These materials are enough to get started with confidence.

Heating with water and liquid fuel

Water heating is becoming more and more popular today. This is facilitated by the large selection of equipment that can be used. It should be remembered that this type of heating in a bathhouse should be arranged in such a way that during the warm season it can be turned off, leaving the heat exchanger to work only to heat the water. That is, you need to purchase a boiler with two circuits.

It is carried out using three types of fuel:

Gaza. To organize heating with gas, you must be connected to a common gas supply system. You will also need special equipment through which the fuel will flow. On the territory of our country there are a large number of settlements that are still not provided with gas. An alternative type of fuel – liquefied or bottled gas – has a higher fire hazard. Electricity

In order for electric heating to provide a comfortable room temperature, it is important to accurately select the power of the equipment. Due to the complexity of these calculations, it is not recommended to purchase and install an electric boiler yourself

Unlike gas heating, using electricity does not require the installation of a chimney. The disadvantage is the high cost of electric boilers, as well as the complexity of the technical process. Firewood. The wood-burning system allows you to warm up the room relatively quickly. In general, heating a steam room in a private house using wood-burning equipment is traditional. But many people do not like the complexity of the process of procuring fuel and lighting the stove.

Putting the stove into operation

During the first kindling, the stove is heated for 1.5 hours, then proceed to a full fire

The brickwork is dried at a temperature of +5 - +30°C. At this time, doors and valves are opened around the clock. The first kindling takes place without the use of flammable liquids and flammable materials. Use dry newspapers and small wood chips. After obtaining a stable fire, you can add logs in small portions.

The ashpit is kept open, the intensity of combustion is controlled by closing or opening the door. Check the draft and heating rate. The heating process lasts 1 - 1.5 hours, then you can proceed to normal heating of the stove.

Choice

What are the characteristics of gas stoves intended for baths?

Stones

The traditional stove for a Russian bath - a heater - is distinguished by a large number of round stones placed in a tray. The tray is located above the firebox and, after lighting the stove, heats up quite quickly; the stones heat up to temperatures of 200 degrees or more.

They perform a dual function:

By accumulating heat, the stones maintain a high temperature in the steam room after the wood burns out.
The very name “steam room” implies the presence of steam. The traditional mode for a Russian bath is 60 degrees with very high humidity. To add steam, just splash water from a ladle onto the stones.

Gas heater Ermak.

If you are a fan of the Russian bathhouse, a heater is your obvious choice. If you want to use a sauna with high temperatures and minimal humidity, you don't need stones. Heat accumulation in the case of gas, you understand, is of no value.

Water tank location

It may be located in the stove body or around the chimney. In the first case, the heat source for heating water is the burner flame, in the second - combustion products. In the author’s humble opinion, the second option is preferable: the tank additionally cools the combustion products, increasing the efficiency of the device.

Gas stoves

If you use bottled gas, a stove that combines two types of fuel would be an excellent solution for you. When the cylinder runs out, you can light the stove with wood.

Burner

Often it is purchased separately.

What should you pay attention to when purchasing?

With a steam room volume of 18 m3, the reasonable maximum gas consumption by the burner is 1.5 m3 per hour. It is easy to recalculate the required productivity for your volume.
The registration certificate and markings must be present. Automatic shutdown when the flame goes out is mandatory (in fact, now it is available almost everywhere).
Any damage, even seemingly uncritical, puts an end to the device. Big and fat. We are talking about people's lives and health.

Domestic burner Teplofor.

Useful tips

When heating the stove, the smoke must go freely into the chimney, since if carbon monoxide is not removed through the hood, it can cause serious harm to the human body. If a problem exists, you must immediately find the cause of the weak draft and eliminate it.

Several ways to determine the absence or interruption of furnace draft:

The easiest way is a regular sheet of paper or a lit match, brought to the open door while the stove is firing. If the sheet or flame of a match deviates inward, then there is a draft. If there is no deviation or it occurs outward, then there may be a so-called backdraft, which can be very dangerous.

One of the reasons for weakening draft may be a depressurized chimney, crack, break, pipe shift, or other defects.
Another danger is an accidental spark falling into a crack in the chimney onto flammable material, which leads to a fire.
The small size of the blower through which the exhaust is made can lead not only to the occurrence of reverse draft, but also to an insufficient supply of oxygen to the fuel combustion process.
Blockages in the chimney can also interfere with the process of normal draft. In this case, regular chimney cleaning will help restore normal air movement. It should be noted that the presence of even one elbow in the pipe, where the bulk of soot accumulates as a result of aerodynamic processes, will greatly complicate the work of the “chimney sweep”.

If for some reason the stove cannot be heated for a long period of time, an air plug consisting of dense air layers may form in the chimney. As a rule, it resolves immediately after regular heating begins on its own.
Insufficient firebox volume.
A wide and long chimney does not work with a small firebox.

Bath heating system brief description, main advantages and disadvantages

Constant heating of the bath can be organized in several ways:

Connecting to centralized heating is not the cheapest, but the easiest option. Liquid or solid fuel boiler

The disadvantages are the same as those of a sauna stove: constant addition of fuel is required.

Using electricity is quite simple if it is possible to provide a separate, and what is important - guaranteed, 220/380V input (depending on the power of the heating boiler). But, firstly, you will need a whole package of documentation, which means money and time, and secondly, in rural areas there are often blackouts, and if your bathhouse is located in a summer cottage, then blackouts there may be the rule, not the exception

A power outage for several days in winter can cause the system to freeze. Heating using electricity also includes electric heated floors. The pleasure is not cheap, but comfortable. And you don’t have to cook batteries or registers; power outages do not have such fatal consequences: there is no water and nothing can go bad.

Gas boiler or convector. If your site has such a luxury as natural gas, then why not use it to heat your bathhouse? Of course, you need permits and a design, and gas boilers are not cheap, but the result is worth it. Use a pellet boiler. These systems are becoming increasingly popular. Firstly, due to the automated heating process. Pellets (from one bucket to several tons) are loaded into the bunker, and from there they are automatically fed into the boiler. You can check such a heating system once a month, or even less often: the fuel has a low ash content, and the bunker for storing it can be very large. Secondly, the installation of such a boiler does not require approvals, although the presence of electricity for ignition is required. But not everything is so rosy - pellet boilers have a high price.

If there is a heated house on the site, an option is to extend the heating main from the house to the bathhouse and heat it that way.

Room layout

Having outlined the goals of building a bathhouse, the number of guests who will be inside the building at the same time, we begin to calculate the internal space. Initially, you need to determine the area of the necessary premises, without which it is impossible to imagine a bathhouse. These include:

steam room;
sink or shower;
dressing room;
bathroom (at recreation centers).

Steam room

People usually gather at the bathhouse to visit the steam room. For some, it is enough to warm up for a few minutes to steam the skin before soap procedures. The more experienced ones will prefer to linger inside: make a few passes, whip themselves and their comrades with a broom. It is necessary to provide both sitting and lying areas; usually they are combined to save space.

The steam room is made in the room farthest from the entrance, this is due to the fact that the main (more often the only) heat source is installed in it. The entire building is heated by hot air when entering/exiting the steam room. During pre-firing of the furnace, the doors in adjacent rooms (washroom, dressing room) are left open so that warm air warms them up to a comfortable temperature.

When drawing up a steam room design, the following parameters are taken into account:

The minimum area per person in the steam room is 1 square. m, preferably more, but you shouldn’t go below this level;
Everyone’s perception of temperature is different, so you need to provide shelves at different levels;
the upper shelf (lying down) is made wide (60-120 cm): further from the floor - the temperature is higher, in the lying position the heat seems less;
the width of other shelves is usually no more than 40 cm: enough to accommodate while sitting, and the steamer can freely reach the person on the top shelf with a broom;
the distance from the top shelf to the ceiling is at least 100-120 cm, in order to sit without resting your head, and for a normal swing of the broom in a lying position;
height between shelves of adjacent levels: 40-50 cm, this allows you to rest your legs on your feet in a sitting position to relieve stress from the joints;
shelves are placed along one or several walls (L-shaped, U-shaped) depending on the shape of the steam room, its size, location of the front door, stove.

Sink or shower

The washroom occupies a place between the steam room and the dressing room. It is equipped with tanks with hot and cold water, benches, basins, or it may have a shower, which is more practical, but not everything is so simple. Both options have the right not only to life, but also to peaceful coexistence.

Many people are looking for an opportunity to escape from the bustle of the city for a while and get a little closer to nature; for some, this opportunity is a bathhouse. Scoop up water from the tanks with a ladle, mix it in a basin to the desired temperature, slowly sit on a bench with soap and a washcloth... There is a special charm in this, understandable to anyone who has been to a village bathhouse. In addition, not everywhere there is running water. Many people carry water in buckets from the river or use imported water. In this case, building a shower does not make sense.

However, the shower came to the bathhouse from city apartments for a reason. It allows you to speed up the washing process and free the room from water tanks, basins, and benches. Using shower cabins simplifies the organization of drainage, but shower heads installed on the wall or ceiling allow you to use space more efficiently.

If you have a connection to the water supply, there is no reason to refuse a shower, but you should not forget the old “old-fashioned” method. Soaking hands, feet and other parts of the body in a basin filled with healing infusions cannot be done in a shower stall. And it’s easier to wash a child while sitting on a bench. If there is enough space, it would be a good idea to install benches with water tanks and shower heads on the opposite wall in one room.

Waiting room

The room in front of the entrance to the sink is used for changing clothes and storing things, as well as for relaxing between trips to the steam room. For some, it’s a respite of a few minutes before a new wave of impressions in the steam room; for others, the steam room is just an addition to meeting friends. The layout of the dressing room and its equipment with furniture and other interior elements depends on this. In one case, benches with a table will be enough; in another, a refrigerator, a bar counter and a sound system will not be superfluous.

Pool

A separate room for a swimming pool with a total area of 24 sq. m. m (excluding walls and partitions) there is no need to allocate. This will negatively affect the rest of the premises. If there are no natural bodies of water nearby, but you want to take a dip in the water, you can borrow part of the washing basin to install. It must be remembered that each cube. m of water in it will weigh 1 ton, and this is a significant load. If the foundation is slab, the font can be placed anywhere, otherwise a separate foundation may be required for it.

Heating system

In most cases, continuous burning stoves are installed in bathhouses. which do an excellent job as the main source of heat in the room. At the same time, it is worth immediately making a reservation that for arranging the stove it is advisable to use only cleaned stones, the diameter of which reaches 10 centimeters. To achieve the optimal temperature in the room, it takes at least two hours to heat such a stove, during which you will have to periodically add firewood.

The bathhouse is a wooden building with a high level of humidity in the premises. As you know, wood that is regularly exposed to water can become unusable in a very short time. Because of this, unpleasant odors may appear in the bathhouse, and the building itself will require repairs in the future.

To avoid this, issues related to its quality heating should be resolved in advance. At the same time, it is advisable not to limit yourself to just one stove, but to supplement it with various heating systems, which, moreover, will significantly reduce the time it takes to warm up the premises before taking water procedures.

For safety reasons, in a wet room such as a bathhouse, it is allowed to use one or two heating radiators, which must be connected to the heating system of a residential building. In addition, there are several other options for heating a bath, the choice of which depends only on your requirements and wishes.

Heating radiators in the bathhouse

Test firing of the furnace

Test firing of the sauna stove from the dressing room is very important. It is at this stage that the results of your work and all the miscalculations that could come out are immediately visible.

For a test fire, you need to light the stove at full load for 2 hours. Then it is worth checking individual elements of the structure for heat resistance.

The following standards should be adhered to:

all elements should not overheat, much less glow;
the traction must be strong;
the stove should not smoke much;
The oven should heat up evenly.

If everything went well and you did not notice any failures, you can safely use the oven for its intended purpose.

Electric heating

There are several options: you can install an electric boiler, since electricity is available almost everywhere. If we talk from a safety point of view, an electric boiler for heating a bathhouse is the safest option (subject to compliance with the rules and regulations). But the downside is that electricity costs a lot today, so you will have to pay large electricity bills. Another difficulty is that you will have to provide a separate input to connect the boiler, and often not 220V, but 380V is required, and these are completely different requirements and tariffs.

Electric boilers for water heating baths

If you use modern models of electric water heating units, then the bills may not be very large: they are controlled automatically, which maintains the set temperature in the room. You can set the temperature to +50C while you are not visiting the bathhouse. And the system will not freeze, and the bill will be small (provided that your building is well insulated). Moreover, to heat the bath, you can use stepped heating element boilers, induction and electrode (ion). They are not ideal, but according to experience, they are economical: bills come in 20-30% less.

Bath heating with convectors

If possible, it is most convenient to use electric convectors. Such a heating system in a bathhouse, of course, will be expensive. The equipment is not cheap, and electricity bills will also be hefty. But what is good about modern convectors: it is possible to set a certain thermal regime, which is maintained automatically. Many bathhouse owners do the following: while using the bathhouse, they heat the heater, and then set the anti-defrosting mode of the convector, which maintains the room temperature within +1 - +30C. Thus, the bathhouse premises do not freeze or become damp, and heating the bathhouse in winter will not cost a lot of money.

Heating in the bathhouse using convectors. Simple, but expensive and not always reliable

Electric heated floors

A very comfortable, but expensive type of heating. This applies to both the arrangement and the bills that will arrive. But if the bathhouse is insulated correctly and carefully, then maintaining the minimum temperature may not be so burdensome.

One more point: the system is installed at the stage of construction or major renovation, which is also not very convenient. Modern electric heated floors are no longer just cords that were laid out on the surface, and if damaged, part of the floor turned out to be unheated. There are roll materials with parallel thermal tracks. If one or more fail, the performance of the others remains unchanged, and the floor is still as warm.

Warm floors in the bathhouse can be made electric or water

Pellet boilers

This type of heating is used in almost 50% of European homes, and they can count. This popularity is based on the possibility of automatic fuel supply. Fuel is loaded into the bunker (it can be of any size from an ordinary box to a large room), which is supplied to the burner using a screw controlled by the boiler. In this mode, the system operates as long as there is fuel and the ash pan is not full. If the fuel is of high quality, the ash needs to be removed once every month and a half, and the pellet bunker, as mentioned, can be of any volume. The only thing: to ignite and maintain the operation of the equipment, guaranteed power is required (the consumption is very small). But modern heating systems, it seems, cannot work without electricity. Here, too, if you wish, you can find a solution - diesel engines, batteries, etc. Pellets are not that expensive; the only significant drawback is the cost of the boiler itself. Not everyone will decide to invest this amount in heating a bathhouse.

Pellet boilers are reliable and promising, but the equipment is expensive

As you can see, there are many ways to heat a bathhouse, but all of them are imperfect. You will have to weigh the pros and cons more than once and calculate the options.

Gas heating

The implementation of such a heating system has several options.

Firstly, as I wrote above, it is possible to install a “classic” heater, in which a gas burner will be used instead of firewood.
Secondly, you can use a standard gas boiler (the same as in residential buildings). But in this case, you will have to take care of the equipment of heating systems (installation of heating radiators, laying pipes, connecting a gas-carrying pipe to the bathhouse or a cylinder connection system).
Thirdly, there is the possibility of installing heating from the house. In essence, this is the same option as the previous one, but with its own characteristics and disadvantages. A separate heating main is laid from the boiler used to heat the house to the bathhouse. This option is very convenient if your steam room is adjacent to the house or is very close to it.

Gas heating baths

Water heating is rightfully considered one of the most convenient and effective methods of heating. In such a situation, there are also several options for manufacturing a system, which in any case will be powered from a furnace with a water circuit.

Fortunately, today in specialized stores you can easily select stoves that are ready for installation, equipped with a heat exchanger. This greatly simplifies the task of any builder of his own bathhouse. And now directly about the options.

Water heated floors

External heating. It is done very simply and, in fact, is arranged in the same way as a brownie. Pipes located along the walls are connected to the furnace. Depending on the area of your bathhouse, a certain number of heating radiators are connected to the pipes. Hot water passing through them heats the structure and, when cooled, returns back to the boiler.
Water heated floor. The principle of its operation is the same as in the first option. The only difference is that the pipes are hidden in the floor, which was previously insulated (I wrote about insulating floors in a bathhouse in more detail in other articles). This design is considered non-separable (although, of course, there would be a desire to break everything), and therefore requires a very careful approach to the procedure for its manufacture. In this case, I would recommend seeking help from specialists.

Scheme of heating a room from a stove

A water sauna boiler is quite expensive, but the built-in heating circuit does not particularly affect the operation of the steam room, and is used in the sauna mainly in the cold season. From this point of view, the purchase and installation of a heating system for a bathhouse looks economically unjustified, especially in a situation where the bathhouse has only a steam room and a dressing room.

In addition to the boiler method of heating water, the steam room most often has a second source of boiling water - a mounted or hanging tank in which the liquid is heated to spray the heater backfill. Typically, 50 to 100 liters of water are boiled in such a tank. Is it possible to heat a bathhouse from a tank?

We suggest you familiarize yourself with: Hydrogen sulfide baths in Tbilisi

A simple calculation shows that in a tank with a capacity of 100 liters, filled to the top with boiling water, the heat stored is the equivalent of 8-10 MJ or 2.5-3 kW/h. If you use at least 80% of the energy, then this will be enough to organize heating of the dressing room from a sauna stove.

The sauna heating system can be improved almost twice if, instead of a built-in heating tank, you use a system with a heat exchanger built into the stove. You can extract heat from the stove in a variety of ways:

Install a system of tubular registers made of steel pipes in a brick stove;
Install a coil made of copper or alloy steel into the firebox;
Use a structure made of double tanks as the walls of the combustion chamber.

To ensure efficient heating of the bath, the size of the furnace combustion chamber will need to be selected based on increased productivity. Typically, a firebox for a stove with a water circuit is selected for a single load of at least 2.5 kg of firewood.

Furnaces with heat exchangers

Furnaces equipped with heat exchange devices allow you to successfully solve all the problems of heating a room, heating water, and creating steam. Heating a bathhouse from the heat exchanger of a bathhouse stove can include not only the main rooms of the bathhouse, but also auxiliary ones, for example, a shower room, a relaxation room, a swimming pool, a billiard room, etc.

dimensions of the bathhouse and area of heated premises;
dimensions and weight of the furnace;
specific gravity of the heating device;
the number of heat exchange devices included in the furnace kit;
the total volume and composition of the circulating coolant;
diameter and length of the chimney.

Sauna stoves with a heat exchanger can be connected using heat-insulated pipes:

To a remote tank for heating water used in the washing section of the bathhouse.
To heating radiators located in the service areas of the bathhouse - recreation room, billiard room, etc.
To a hot water supply and water heating system, which includes not only the main and service areas of the bathhouse, but also the living areas of the house.

Stoves for heating baths with wood come with an internal or external heat exchanger. The internal heat exchanger is located in the combustion chamber between the body and the casing. It uses heat obtained directly from the combustion of fuel and heating of the furnace.

An external heat exchanger is installed around the chimney pipe. It uses the heat given off by heated gases when they are removed outside. Due to the increased volume of the external heat exchanger, its operating efficiency increases. Using the heat of the gases escaping through the chimney allows you to save fuel and increase the efficiency of the furnace by reducing the temperature of the exhaust gases.

In a cast iron stove, water is heated in a heat exchanger by exhaust flue gases and thermal radiation. The heat exchanger body is located in the upper part of the firebox in the area of the chimney.

A brick stove for a bath involves the location of a heat exchanger inside the brickwork in close proximity to the firebox. This somewhat increases the thermal inertia of the heat exchanger, and also reduces the likelihood of its overheating or oxidation of its surface under the influence of open fire.

The best location for the firebox door

The rooms where you can remove the firebox door are a washing room, a dressing room, a rest room. If space is available, all of the above options are suitable. But, if you choose the first of them, it becomes necessary to decide on a place where the firewood will be dry, and there is also a possibility that gas will penetrate into the room.

As for the rest room and dressing room, through the glass door you can sit in the warmth and watch the firewood burn. A neat firebox can decorate the interior. A dressing room is a separate room that serves as a vestibule. No one rests here or undergoes procedures, which means that stacked firewood will not disturb anyone. When a sauna stove with a remote firebox has a door in another room, then the room where the sauna visitors are located will not smell of smoke.

Warm floor system

This option for heating a bathhouse is one of the modern methods, which has been used frequently in recent years. It is quite difficult to install special equipment without the appropriate experience.

It is much easier to install an electric floor system and you can do this work yourself:

First of all, a waterproofing material is laid, on which a layer of mortar is placed.
Next comes the installation of thermal insulation.
An electrical cable is mounted on top of the thermal protection layer and the screed is refilled.

The technology for creating a floor with water heating is similar, but in this case they do not use a cable, but rather lay pipes to circulate the hot coolant.

Heating system from the heating main

A private bathhouse can be directly connected to the central heating main. To organize a similar heating option for a bath, you will need to install an additional circuit.

The connection of the circuit to the heating main is carried out in accordance with the design documentation and permits obtained from the relevant authorities.

Choosing this option involves some difficulties:

the likelihood of accumulation of groundwater in places where pipes are laid;
the need for additional insulation of the heating main;
the need to attract professional installers.

If the bathhouse is multi-story

The appearance of private households has changed significantly over the past few centuries. The same applies to the bathhouse. Today it is not uncommon for baths to have, for example, two floors.

The presence of more than one floor requires the organization of heating of both the first and second floors. Existing systems are conventionally divided into a number of categories:

integral or single heating;
separate heating.

In the first case, it is assumed that the stove is installed directly in the steam room or behind its wall. The pipe through which the smoke will be exhausted is fixed to a special outlet on the equipment. It passes the perimeter of the first and second floors and only then leads out onto the roof.

It is important to remember that single heating requires that the stove be heated constantly, even if the steam room is not in use. In addition, the complex path of hot air circulation results in a long heating period for the room.

In this case, in the area where people steam, a standard set is installed - a stone, a vertical pipe and the stove itself. The remaining rooms are heated by gas, electricity and other sources.

In order for the heating of the steam room to give maximum effect, you must adhere to certain rules.

First of all, this concerns firewood. They must be dry; the presence of even a small amount of moisture in them will slow down heating.
The firewood must have the correct size: the diameter does not exceed 9 cm, but not less than 6 cm. Average values will allow the fuel to burn for a long time, give the required heat and, accordingly, temperature.

Experienced users claim that high-quality heating is also determined by the use of a certain type of raw material. If the question is how to make heating in a bathhouse with several floors, it is better to give preference to birch. This wood does not have a large diameter. However, the high tar content ensures long-term smoldering, due to which a high combustion temperature is achieved in comparison with other materials.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Kj2xVG2VRbs

Additionally, to increase the time of maintaining high temperature, coal is used. Oak and linden also performed well when solving the problem of heating a bathhouse with several floors. Poplar and aspen emit less heat, so much more of them will be needed.

If the bathhouse is equipped with an attic, it is better to use a fireplace to heat it. When installing it, be sure to take into account the weight of the device, which requires mandatory strengthening of the area. The weight of the fireplace depends on how often you plan to use it. It is known that intensive heating requires a large firebox. To make installation and operation easier, it is better to give preference to an electric fireplace. This will also reduce the cost of estimated repair work.

Advantages of wood stoves

Sauna stoves differ primarily in the type of heating. They are electric, gas, liquid fuel, wood-burning. Gas and liquid fuel ones are rarely installed in bathhouses, giving preference to electric and wood-burning ones.

Electric stoves have one huge advantage: they do not need a chimney, which greatly simplifies and reduces the cost of installation and reduces the fire hazard. But, if you compare the cost of electric “fuel” with the price of firewood, it will be significantly higher. And such a heater will not work from a regular network; it needs to be connected to a three-phase network, which is not possible everywhere.

Electric furnaces differ from each other only in power, installation method (floor-mounted or wall-mounted) and design; they are always installed in a steam room, which limits their use if the bathhouse does not have its own heating and water supply. They are selected according to these three criteria.

Electric heaters attract with their safety and original designSource r-sauna.ru

A much more difficult task is how to choose a stove for a wood-burning sauna, especially if it requires expanded functionality, and not just heating the steam room.

The main advantage of such equipment is its autonomy and lack of dependence on connection to electrical or gas networks. But there are others:

Multifunctionality - a wood-burning stove can heat all rooms, heat water, and serve as a steam generator.
It increases the temperature faster and heats up the stones more strongly, the heat of which determines the degree of steam formation and the “softness” of the steam.
When wood burns, a special aroma is created - the sauna “spirit”.
Firewood is cheaper than electricity.

Additional advantages include the traditional nature of bath procedures in a classic setting. True, this applies to a greater extent to brick stoves, but nothing prevents modern metal hearths from being covered with brick.

Construction of a brick screen around a metal stoveSource ytimg.com

Features of installing a brick kiln

Installing a brick kiln requires compliance with its characteristic features:

Construction of a reinforced concrete foundation.

Construction of a foundation for a stone oven. Click to enlarge.

A thick layer of mortar should not be placed between the bricks to prevent it from being destroyed when heated and losing the seal of the oven. You should not unnecessarily save the solution.

During the laying of bricks, the mortar must be squeezed out. Vertical seams must be covered with top bricks.

The overlap should ideally correspond to half the length of the brick. Bricks should not be laid with the cut side facing the stove.

This precaution prevents the brick from breaking. Cast iron elements should be installed with a small gap

The upper part of the combustion door must be secured with a metal clamp.

Features of gas heating

A bathhouse with modern gas heating installed has its own characteristics associated with the possibility of gas leakage and explosion hazard:

Equipped with an automatic safety system that stops the gas supply when the flame goes out.
The use of a common line for supplying natural gas, an individual line for propane and butane.
The need to comply with general fire safety requirements.

Gas heating of a large bath complex or a classic bath is characterized by simplicity and a high level of comfort.

Chimney organization

Scheme of organizing a chimney in a bathhouse. Click to enlarge.

Black baths have not been heated for a long time, and combustion products are removed through a chimney.

The chimney can be installed independently if you have the following materials and elements:

Ceiling-passage unit.
Passage through the roof (flush).
Umbrella.
Sandwich pipe.

We should not forget that the structural feature of the sandwich pipe is the presence of a heat-insulating layer designed to prevent fire in the ceiling.

However, this layer may not be enough.

Therefore, when organizing gas heating, you should not neglect the installation of additional protection for the places where the chimney exits to the street.

In this article we have revealed some features of the installation and operation of furnace equipment intended for installing a heating system in a bathhouse.

It is important to remember that when installing and operating any type of heating equipment, it is necessary to ensure that comprehensive safety measures are taken.

Finishing the passage and installation site

The time has come to move from general concepts to practice. When the opening is prepared, the stove is installed and the chimney is installed, the passage area is sealed. First, a lining for the furnace tunnel is assembled from bricks: by orienting the stones in different positions and adjusting the thickness of the seam, you need to achieve a tight backfill.

Next, lay out the side sections. Typically, the bricks are butted together at the edge of the opening, forming a small overhang that provides additional protection for the finish and gives the masonry a more finished look. The areas between the ledge and the fire door are laid out with bricks in a “spoon”. In this case, the masonry can be done in two layers. The alignment of the masonry plane is carried out along the frame of the combustion door.

The top row is laid out in the same way as the outermost bricks, thus forming the frame of the firebox. If, after laying the final butt row, a gap of more than 20 mm remains in the opening, this is a good opportunity to install a narrow shelf above the firebox - just insert a board of suitable thickness into the gap. After the mortar has set, the brickwork is lightly sprinkled with water and embroidered with a semicircular knife.

Electrical

And finally, let’s look at several ways to use electricity to heat a bathhouse. I’ll say right away: take care of the electrics in this case. Since the load on thermal electrical appliances is large, the quality of the electrical wiring should not be in doubt. Consider the total load, wire cross-section, wiring diagram and quality of electrical work.

Firstly, your room can be heated using an electric heater. True, in this case you will have to take care of heating the water in the shower in advance (for example, by installing a direct or indirect heating boiler). This type of heater does not require additional arrangement of the chimney and is considered environmentally friendly.

Secondly, the bathhouse (in particular the relaxation room) can be heated using electric convectors placed on the walls.

Well, thirdly, infrared film can come to your aid - the newest type of heater, which allows you to easily and quickly create warm floors both in the house and in the bathhouse. Detailed technology for installing heated floors is discussed in other articles.

Please note that the installation of heated floors is possible without the use of infrared film, but by laying electric heating cables. They are used both in underfloor heating systems and for heating water pipes.

It is quite possible to use infrared heaters as an additional source of heat. I hung it on the ceiling and forgot about it.

Using electricity to heat a bath undoubtedly has its advantages. You can safely use all the structural elements (heater, heated floor, boiler) at any time all year round. At the same time, you don’t have to worry about fuel or worry about pipes freezing. The only serious drawback can be considered the high energy consumption.

In the case when you do not often use the bathhouse (especially in winter, rarely coming to the dacha), then the most optimal option would be a mixed heating device. For example, a stove is installed and electric heating is installed. If you decide to take a shower, rest or “stretch”, use electricity. If you decide to take a steam bath “like an adult”, turn on the stove thoroughly.

Remember. Whatever the heating in the bathhouse, if you do not use it constantly in winter, then be sure to drain the water from boilers, water heaters, pipes, toilet tank (if there is one), etc. This is guaranteed to protect them from damage, and you from unnecessary headaches.

Heated floor control unit

Which oven should you choose?

To heat the bathhouse, choose a brick stove, steel and cast iron structures, or fireplace stoves. If a brick stove was chosen as a heating source, then its installation must be considered during the construction of the foundation. Install the stove in the rest room. It will decorate the room, heat both the dressing room and the shower compartment.

A heat exchanger is installed in the furnace, from which steam exits into the heating system. An expansion tank is installed in the washing room, from which 2 circuits are output. One circuit is intended for the steam room. The other is for heating water.

For a stove with a metal or cast iron body, it is not necessary to build a foundation, but it is necessary to prepare the site. It is better to equip a separate basement room for the unit. The fireplace stove is installed in the recreation room.

2 circuits are output from the furnaces. The rest room is often equipped with a “warm floor” system. Steam passes through the pipes of the system, giving off heat. Instead of "warm floors" you can install radiators. The coolant passes through pipes into the steam room and shower room. Heating devices are installed in the dressing room.

For lovers of wet steam, a steam generator is additionally equipped. In this case, the steam will be finely dispersed. It has a gentle effect on the body, enveloping it in heat. Its temperature is 80-95 0C. This equipment is installed for both liquid and steam heating: the unit is connected to a heat exchanger in the furnace.

Another option for generating steam would be heated stones. An area is allocated in the steam room. Pipes with steam are supplied to it. This can be a brick pedestal or a metal box. Stones are laid on the structure. It does not take much time to warm up the room, but the stones take longer to warm up to reach a certain temperature.

To obtain steam, you can make a small exit from the steam line. To do this, use a 21.3 mm or 1/2” pipe. A tap is installed on it, which controls the supply of coolant. Experts warn that this method of removing coolant is undesirable, because the temperature of the steam in the main reaches 130 0C.

If you handle the faucet carelessly, you can get severe burns. It is necessary to consider a system for regulating the supply and speed of steam. In the system, the coolant moves under a pressure of 170 kg/m2, at a speed of 30 m/s.

Self-installation of heating in the bathhouse

Installation of bathhouse heating is carried out before the interior decoration of the premises. Otherwise, there may be problems with the installation of pipes and radiators. The specificity of heating a summer cottage bath is that there is no direct contact between the lines and the internal decorative panels.

It is also important to correctly install the boiler for sauna and heating. If a brick oven will be used as the main component of the heat supply, you need to make an independent foundation for it in advance

Otherwise, its mass will push through the floor, and the entire structure will slowly sink.

The installation of an electric boiler for heating a bath is done after installing the electrical wiring. Its cross-section must be designed for the maximum operating power of all electrical appliances. An RCD must also be installed.

To fully heat a sauna attic, you need to know the following conditions:

Ensuring fire safety. The walls and floor around the boiler must be lined with non-combustible materials. For laying pipes and chimney, special heat-resistant sleeves are used;
The walls, floor and attic must be insulated. This is necessary to minimize heat losses;
Due to high humidity, a ventilation system is installed. It is a mandatory element for the safe operation of gas equipment.

As an alternative way to heat the bathhouse premises, you can consider installing a warm water floor system. This will allow for uniform temperature distribution and increase the level of comfort in the bathhouse.

In the video you can see an example of organizing water heating for a bathhouse.

Safety rules when designing a bathhouse.

When developing a plan for building a bathhouse and placing a metal unit with your own hands, it is necessary to take into account fire safety conditions and be sure to maintain the required distances during installation:

Brick is a fireproof material; it does not heat up to high temperatures; however, fireplaces made from it, as well as the chimney pipe, are located no closer than 25 cm from flammable surfaces.
Wooden floors are covered with metal sheets 50x70 cm. This is necessary in order to prevent fire from coals and sparks falling on the floor from the firebox.
The ash pan should be located at a height of 14 cm, and the distance from the floor to the internal flue should be 21 cm.

If the installation takes place in an already built room, then when moving the combustion chamber into the dressing room, part of the existing foundation for the stove must be removed, since it requires its own foundation. It is not recommended to cut the foundation with your own hands, because it is impossible to predict the behavior of the walls in the future. In such cases, professional builders recommend not installing brick stoves, but purchasing ready-made metal structures.

Independently laying the foundation for a brick stove close to the base of the bathhouse can lead to distortion, and in the future, to the appearance of cracks on the walls of the heater.

When installing a factory metal stove with an external firebox, you must strictly adhere to the manufacturer’s recommendations; they comply with all safety requirements. If the stove is made by yourself, then during installation it is necessary to take into account SNiP standards and follow them.

Fast-heating metal stoves must be installed at least half a meter from the adjacent wall.
Thermal insulation material or brickwork will additionally protect wooden walls and ceilings. Otherwise, the distance from the stove to the wall should be increased to 1.2 m.
The door for loading firewood into the firebox should open towards the entrance to the bathhouse and be located at least 1.25 m from the door.

Features of a sauna stove with a heat exchanger

A sauna stove equipped with a heat exchanger has certain design features.

tube supply system for coolant circulation;
thickened body walls;
increased volume of the heater;
the presence of an air distributor is mandatory;
firebox door made of heat-resistant glass.

The heat exchanger operates due to the constant circulation of water through all devices that make up the heating system in the bathhouse. To effectively use the heat exchanger, the length of each connecting pipe should be a maximum of 3 m. Especially if there is no external thermal insulation of the pipe.

Subject to fire safety rules, as well as the presence of forced ventilation and thermoregulation systems, a universal stove for baths and home heating can be equipped with a heat exchanger. The stove itself can be located in the bathhouse and connected to the living quarters of the house using a thermally insulated heating pipeline and supplying the home with hot water.

The simplest design of a universal stove is an electric stove with separate electric heaters for the stove sections with a heat exchanger and the heater.

Such a furnace can operate in several modes, namely:

In the mode of heating the residential premises of the house and its hot water supply (DHW) while maintaining the minimum required temperature in the bathhouse premises during the cold season.
In heating mode for baths and the entire house with hot water supply during the cold season.
Organization of heating of the bathhouse and heater in the summer.

A similar stove for bathing and heating at the same time can be created in the form of a continuous device using natural gas or fuel pellets. Using charcoal or wood as fuel in this case is difficult and has certain technical difficulties. After all, wood or coal stoves do not provide the ability to automatically adjust the temperature. This can lead to sudden temperature changes in the heating line.

Design Features

Remote firebox

The main feature of the remote firebox is its complete autonomy and self-sufficiency. Manufacturers have equipped it with all the necessary devices for connecting to a brick fireplace and chimney. It is worth noting that there are models on the market that can be installed directly on the cement coating in the bathhouse. Such designs are characterized by a small firebox and small dimensions.

Remote models also have several disadvantages. Namely, they require constant adding of firewood because they do not retain heat well. With the gradual fading of fuel, the air in the steam room quickly cools down.

Independent arrangement of heated floors

The base of the floor is first prepared, then the screed is poured using cement mortar. Next, they waterproof the rough base using a special mastic. Then a thin layer of mortar is laid and carefully leveled.

When the mixture is completely dry, install the heat-insulating material. Take a heating cable or mat and spread it over the floor surface, connect it to power and test the functioning of the system.

If the structure works, a thin layer of solution is placed on top of the cable. After it has dried, they begin to finish the floor surface.

Basic installation methods

The heat exchanger can operate in two different modes. They have distinctive features consisting in the uniqueness of the process of transferring thermal energy from the emitted smoke to the internal pipe of the register.

In the first case, the heat exchanger for a sauna stove on a chimney has a modification in the form of an external container with water. When boiling, water condenses on the heat exchanger tube and thus heats the structure itself. The temperature on the surface of the tube will not exceed 100 degrees Celsius, which corresponds to the boiling point of water. The water container itself will take a long time to warm up.

In the second case, the condensed steam does not affect the heat exchanger structure. The heat flow moves through the pipe unhindered, and the water heats up much faster. To understand the technology of the process by which heating occurs in a bathhouse from a heat exchanger, you can see how the process of heating water occurs in an ordinary pan on the burner of a home stove.

It is not difficult to notice that right up to the moment of boiling, moisture condenses on the walls of the pan and flows onto the surface of the stove. Accordingly, when arranging a heat exchanger using the second method, it is necessary to ensure that the pipe has a large wall thickness, which will significantly reduce the degree of condensate formation.

We make heating in the bathhouse. Commonly used options and methods

I am glad to welcome you again, curious readers, to the pages of this modest blog!
Today, succumbing to some inner call, and also taking into account questions from my subscribers, I decided to consider such a thing as heating a bathhouse.

At first glance, this formulation of the question may seem very strange. Well, really, why heat a bathhouse, which, in fact, already maintains a high temperature and creates a unique climate that is clearly different in its characteristics from the conditions outside its walls? But, oddly enough, there are reasons for this.

Baths are also different. They can be quite large in area, have many additional rooms (the heating of which, by the way, has not been canceled), and differ in interior decoration (wood, tile, etc.).

Finally, you may simply have, for example, three children who, when leaving the steam room into an unheated room, risk catching a cold. This article will discuss how to make heating in a bathhouse with your own hands. So, let's choose options...

Construction of a brick stove

The main problem that arises when installing a brick heater is the massiveness of the structure. This requires the construction of a reinforced concrete foundation. For those who do not have experience in building sauna stoves with their own hands, the following tips may be useful.

If you put a thick layer of mortar between the brick joints, then under the influence of high temperatures it will begin to collapse and the heater will become leaky. On the contrary, a thin layer of mortar between the brick joints will negatively affect the life of the structure.

Each vertical layer of masonry must be covered with a top brick. It is advisable to make the ceilings in half a brick.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=cJLIxnSHc68

There are other nuances. So, if cut bricks are used, then the whole side should be turned inside the furnace. To ensure uniform linear expansion, cast iron elements are installed with a gap. To secure the upper part of the stove door, it is better to use a metal clamp.

Several alternative options

Despite the fact that the options described above are the most popular and considered optimal, I decided to briefly mention some alternatives. In fact, they are varieties of stove heating, but have their own characteristics.

For example, if you have such capabilities, then you can install a diesel fuel boiler in your bathhouse. But this option requires a separate room (diesel fuel does not smell much), and you need to think about fuel storage.

There are also pyrolysis heating boilers. The undoubted advantage of such a boiler can be considered a very long, almost complete combustion of fuel. The disadvantage is the high cost and difficulty of operation (for example, raw wood does not burn in it).

It is also possible to use long-term combustion boilers, capable of burning a separate batch of fuel for up to 5 days, maintaining the desired temperature. There are even options for high-quality graded coal. But this is rather an “industrial” option, which is not suitable for a good traditional bath.

This is where I will finish the review of methods for heating a bath. Which heating is better is up to you to decide, focusing on your needs and capabilities. The main thing is that the rooms are warm and comfortable. Thank you for reading to the end. Until next time, see you on the pages of other articles. Bye!

Wisdom Quote: There are no dark times, only dark people (Roland Romain).

Heater location

Usually the bathhouse is heated using one heat source. For a house next to which a unique bath complex is built (with a dressing room, steam room, swimming pool, relaxation room, room for playing billiards), a generally accepted heating system is required.

If heating is designed for a classic bath, then the stove is positioned so that it can be used to warm up each room. A tank of water is allocated a place near the washing room.

The ideal is a “through” arrangement of the furnace. The firebox door can be opened while in the dressing room. The stove itself will be located in the steam room, and the water tank will be located in the wash room.

It is important that each of the combustible elements of the furnace structure is protected from fire-resistant material. To comply with this, you can build a heater out of brick, but it will have large dimensions and take up a lot of space

A practical option is to build a stove, the design of which includes a tank and an open heater. The firebox for heating water is equipped with a register, which will prevent premature boiling of water, during which the unheated bath is filled with damp steam

Heating a bathhouse in this way requires observing an important nuance - the bottom edge of the tank should be 50 cm above the register
Date: September 25, 2022

Fifth stage - external appearance

After all preparatory and construction work has been completed, the final final stage is the exterior finishing of the structure. A beautiful stove pleases the eye, and the abundance of facing materials on the construction market will help you.

You can also base it on your budget. If there is a shortage of it, the outer part of the stove can be plastered and whitewashed. It won’t turn out luxurious, but you are guaranteed the original Russian look of a sauna stove. Or resort to cladding the external structure with porcelain stoneware, marble or tiles. This appearance of the stove will delight you every time you visit the bathhouse.

After completing all the steps to build your stove, do not rush to fire it right away. It is necessary to completely dry the stove, masonry, and mortar. After several days of drying, you can begin to heat it little by little. After proper drying, you can use the bathhouse for its intended purpose.

It is worth recalling that the quality of construction of a sauna stove depends entirely on the selected materials and the skill of the builder. You should not save on cheaper materials and rush to build a stove, neglecting the standards and advice given in the article. So it will serve you for a short period of time and will not bring the desired result.

When is protection needed at all?

The need to install protective casings and screens does not always arise. If a fire-safe distance is maintained between the stove and the nearest flammable surface, additional protection is not needed. At this distance, the IR rays are scattered, weakened, and the amount of them that the wooden wall receives can no longer lead to damage.

It is believed that the safe distance from the wall to the brick stove (quarter-brick laying) is at least 0.32 m, from the wall to the metal stove (not lined) - at least 1 m. For a metal stove lined from the inside with brick or fireclay, the distance decreases to 0.7 m.

Thus, maintaining fire safety distances is more possible in large baths, where the issue of saving space is not relevant. In family steam rooms, where every centimeter of space counts, installing a stove 0.3-1 m from the nearest walls is impractical. In this case, the safety distances established by the standards must be reduced using screens and casings.

Water and infrared floor installation

Gas boiler diagram.

A water heated floor is a pipe system located between the base of the floor and its subfloor. The pipes are laid in loops over the entire floor area, a separate circuit is made for each room, the flow of coolant is regulated by taps that are installed on each circuit. Coolant circulation is carried out by pumps. Boilers (wood, gas, electric) are used to heat the coolant. When installing a water floor with your own hands, you must take into account the possibility of heat leakage through the base of the floor; to prevent this from happening, the pipes are laid on a heat insulator with aluminum foil.

An infrared heated floor is a film with radiating elements or a heating mat made of carbon rods. In rooms with high humidity, which is what a bathhouse is, it is better to use heating mats. Infrared radiation from the floor heats surrounding objects, which transfer their energy to the air in the room.

This heating method is more efficient than convection heating, and therefore the energy consumption for heating is significantly lower than that of an electric convector. Installing an infrared floor with your own hands is easier than installing a water floor. Waterproofing is laid on a dry and clean base, then a substrate on which a system of heating mats is mounted. During installation, it is necessary to take into account all the nuances specified in the manufacturer’s instructions.

Convectors, heating a bathhouse from a residential building The easiest way to heat a bathhouse is to use electric convectors. To feel at home in the bathhouse, just connect the convector to the network. However, this heating method requires significant energy consumption. Gas convectors are more complex devices; for their operation, it is necessary to install a gas and air supply system into a special chamber where the gas is burned, and to ensure the removal of combustion products. It is not possible to install such heating with your own hands; specialists must work with gas equipment. The installation of these devices is justified in production facilities, warehouses or garages. They are not suitable for a home or bathhouse.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=v0vbA44F-Tc

If the home is heated with liquid energy, then the bathhouse can be easily connected to the heating system of the living space. Radiators are installed in the bathhouse and connected by pipes. The pipes are removed, insulated and laid in a trench; the depth of the trench should be below the freezing level of the soil. Next, we bring the pipes into the house and make a connection with the heating circuit. That is, another room appears near the house. But before you do such heating, you need to make sure that the boiler power is sufficient.

Finishing work

It is necessary to check the “operability” of the system - to heat the stove.

Kindling the stove

Check the draft; there should be no odors or smoke in the room. Test the traction on different wood burning modes

Important note: the firewood must be dry. During the burning of wet wood, a lot of moisture condenses on the walls of metal chimneys, to which soot sticks.

The result is that the nominal diameter of the chimney decreases, the draft force is disrupted, and frequent cleaning of the internal surfaces of the pipe is required. To clean the chimney you need to disassemble the pipes. Doing this is long and tedious; there will be plenty of dirt in the bathhouse.

And one last thing. Some bathhouse owners install a damper on the chimney to preserve heat. We do not recommend doing such things. Firstly, a bathhouse is not a room in which you need to keep warm all night. Secondly, premature closing of the damper often causes carbon monoxide poisoning.

Shiber

Heating route to the bathhouse

This option is suitable for those whose bathhouse building is located near the main house. You can extend the heating main to the bathhouse both by air and underground. Modern thermal insulation materials such as penoplex make it possible to make any heating main virtually energy-saving.

With a heating main, you can make even radiators or warm floors in the bathhouse.

For example, a heating main with 20 cm of foam insulation and a heating cable inside will not freeze in any frost, be it -30C or -40C. A self-regulating heating cable is needed to ensure that the water inside the heating pipes does not freeze in the event of a problem with the heating system of the main house.

Do-it-yourself bricklaying of a sauna stove

If during the construction of a house the seams between bricks can reach 10 mm, then for a stove their thickness of more than 4 mm is already a disaster. Due to periodic heating, such seams very quickly crumble, and smoke and carbon monoxide begin to enter the room. Therefore, brick stoves for a bathhouse must be built from the same one-dimensional bricks with an even bed and side walls.

Ordering a sauna stove

Experienced craftsmen spare no time in pre-building the lower part of the furnace dry - without mortar. This makes it possible to select the necessary bricks, number them, assess possible problems, make cuts and prepare pieces of the required size and shape. Then the “dry masonry” is disassembled and repeated with mortar.

The first row should be laid out very carefully. It should be perfectly horizontal, and the dimensions of the diagonals of the resulting rectangle should be equal to each other.

Using a plumb line, the bricks of the first row are then used to check the verticality of the furnace walls. The horizontal position is checked with a long level (the length of the level must be greater than the diagonals), and the equality of the diagonals is checked with a cord. In addition, the right angles and straight line of the sidewalls of this row are checked. Subsequently, each row is also controlled by a level and checked for verticality.

To fasten the blower door on the 3rd row, use galvanized steel wire or a strip of mild steel. To prevent the door fasteners from interfering with the masonry, use a grinder to select grooves in the brick into which the wire is embedded.

Under the steel corners on the 5th row, areas are also selected with a grinder so that the metal is flush with the plane of the brick. The grate bars are laid freely on the corners and, if they burn out, they are just as freely exchanged for new ones. In addition, by expanding the grate bars do not destroy the brickwork.

Next, you should start constructing the combustion chamber, and after that, continue to raise the outer walls. In this way it is much more convenient to maintain the required dimensions of the high-temperature firebox and adjust the size of the thermal gaps between it and the outer wall.

Lay out the firebox of the sauna stove

The firebox is laid from fireclay stove bricks and refractory clay. It is not advisable to make the entire furnace from fireclay bricks, since it has a low heat capacity and cools quickly. On the other hand, using ordinary red brick, even ceramic, in the firebox leads to its rapid destruction from high temperature, and a do-it-yourself brick sauna stove simply fails.

The firebox doors, as well as the doors of the heater chamber, are secured using wire or metal strips, as mentioned above. The perimeter of the door frames should be wrapped with a stove basalt cord, which compensates for thermal fluctuations in size. Similar compensation is made on the guide frames of the chimney dampers.

Selecting grates and stones for the bath

Particular attention should also be paid to the selection of grate bars. They work in very aggressive temperature conditions and therefore can quickly burn out

Therefore, grate bars are usually made from heat-resistant thick cast iron, but in no case from reinforcement or construction wire rod, no matter how thick it is. Excellent DIY brick sauna stoves are made from scraps of rails or rail pads. The service life of such grates exceeds the service life of the stone stove itself.

Cobblestones for the heater should be round in shape and of a size that allows you to easily load and unload them through the door of your chamber. The role of cobblestones can be played by medium-sized pieces of broken insulators of high-voltage lines. They are made of heat-resistant glass and can withstand rapid temperature changes. But the heat capacity of glass is worse than stone, such a furnace will cool faster.