Steam Generators

Steam generators are associated more with steam baths than they are with saunas.

When a sauna produces steam it does so in a short burst known as a steam shock. This steam production is the result of cold water being thrown across the hot rocks of the sauna stove and it only lasts a few seconds, but does increase the humidity of the sauna room. (Sauna rooms usually use dry heat unlike steam baths and rooms which use humid air.)

Steam generators produce water vapour and bring the humidity of the room or steam bath up to something close to 100%. This is a very different environment to that of a sauna. i.e. It is hot and wet rather than hot and dry.

Steam generators come in a variety of forms. Some are included in a shower that doubles up as a steam bath (which is really more like a shower room), whilst others come as a steam generator with a separate head, a control unit and even aromatherapy.

These generators are available in different power outputs that enable them to work for air volumes (rooms) of different sizes.

Small steam shower rooms that cater for a single individual are sometimes referred to as capsules.

Portable steam units are very small and are made of fabric with a separate external steam generator. They are sometimes referred to as portable saunas, but in fact they are steam baths. Most portable steam baths work by enclosing a chair into which the bather sits. The top of the fabric unit then zips or ties in a snug way around the bather’s neck enclosing all of the body except the head. The generator then fills the unit with warm humid air at about 45 degrees Celsius. The bather then stays in the humid environment in order to gain the benefits of the humid heat.

The advantage that is often claimed for these small and portable steam units is that - they have all the benefits of a much larger and more expensive model, but they allow you to breath cool dry air rather than the moist warm air produced by the generator.

The manufacturers of steam baths generally claim the same benefits as more conventional saunas, but with a shorter bathing duration being required. Indeed, some suppliers claim that 1% of bad fat can disappear in 25 minutes when using this kind of equipment.