[dharmaturtle]

Thanks for the links. I built my own super cheap (under $100) electric sauna, though I would not recommend it for anyone else to copy. It's lasted me about 4 years now though with about every-other-day-usage without burning down the house so... that's nice. I'll see if I can apply any of Trumpkin's Notes to my jank build [0]

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28495062

[salad-tycoon]

Thanks for the link. Have recently been looking into saunas. So do you still strap your phone onto a block of ice ?

I’m looking to spend about 1500, if you were to upgrade your situation while having a slightly large shoe string budget, any leads ?

[dharmaturtle]

re: ice, yes, though I know Trumpkin and other traditionalists would be appalled. I do (occasionally) practice meditation - but I don't ever want to do it in a sauna.

I have no plans on upgrading so I haven't put any thought into it. A causal search revealed this in your price range [0] but I don't know anything about it. Don't forget that you'll likely need to pay for an electrician to upgrade your home circuit.

For me if I were to upgrade, it would be first be to get a better heater. The thermal foil + sleeping bag is surprisingly effective, though obviously I can't practice Trumpkin's advice on doing hot-cold-hot-cold-hot cycles easily without a door. It currently takes about 10-15m to get up to temp. So if you were on a smaller shoestring budget, I do think my thermal foil + sleeping bag build would save you a _lot_ of money on wood. I built a small (4x4x4) wood cube to sit in (you can see its base in the photo) but it leaked so much air that my DIY heater couldn't keep up. So I went with the thermal foil, which has all kinds of advantages... but it's certainly an eyesore :) A more powerful heater (with the appropriate house circuit) would make a small DIY wood box viable again. I think I _could_ recommend my jank build for others if they used a heater that wasn't DIY.

I still wonder when my DIY heater is going to kill me. I've since covered it with ceramic and wood so I'm no longer worried about 3d degree burns from fainting or whatever. And I use a GFCI outlet so any shock won't kill me. And I literally unplug it when not in use so it won't do anything unexpected. My thermal foil is _flammable_ though... which I found out when my heater started sparking. A better heater won't do that - but still...

Honestly, depending on your situation, it might just be better to save for a "real" sauna. For me time and money are currently at a premium, so I likely won't upgrade for years.

[0] https://se.kristo.shop/products/240064176624-17?variant=4064...