Are you looking for tips for a sustainable sauna and the most environmentally friendly sauna experience possible? Then you've come to the right place! There are around 30 million sauna-goers in Germany.₁ A sauna session is healthy for the heart, skin and immune system, among other things. It contributes to physical recuperation and mental relaxation. But is it also healthy for the environment? After all, conventional saunas are extremely energy-intensive - and consume a lot of electricity when used regularly. They also require a lot of wood to produce and a lot of space to install.
Fortunately, there are many options available to us for sweating much more ecologically in the future. Whether you want to build an environmentally friendly private sauna or simply enjoy a sustainable sauna at a wellness hotel, this article will give you the most important tips. Let's get going.
- Prefer FSC certified wood
- Going to the sauna together
- Generate energy with a heat pump wherever possible
- Heat up a sustainable sauna with green electricity
- Sweat in the solar sauna
- Relax in a barrel or bio sauna
- Using recuperative heat recovery
- Get sustainable accessories
- Ensure regular care
- Use sauna consciously
1. prefer FSC certified wood
When buying a new sauna, the main thing you should pay attention to is that the wood from sustainable forestry comes from. This can be easily recognized by the FSC seal of the Bonn-based non-profit organization Forest Stewardship Council. It is best to contact us for your Sauna to suppliers who deliberately use only FSC-certified material. How the company Caribou for example - the company also supports the planting of new trees and forests in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern through school forest projects.
Additional Tip: Also make sure that toxic adhesives and paints are avoided in the sauna of your choice. The RoHS seal gives you peace of mind, as it confirms that hazardous substances that are difficult to dispose of and harmful to the environment do not exceed the maximum permitted limit.
2. go to the sauna together
This tip means that the Ratio between sauna size and the number of sauna users is crucial for sustainability. After all, a larger sauna generally requires considerably more energy to heat up. The more people there are in a slightly larger cabin, the more sensible it is to heat it up.
So relate your later usage behavior into the purchase decision into account. If you often have sauna-loving friends over, then it's worth investing in a sauna for 4-5 people, for example. If you tend to have saunas on your own or you often have saunas for two, then a smaller and more energy-efficient version will suffice. Ultimately, you can also save money through sustainability.
3. generate energy with a heat pump where possible
In a banya sauna (70-80°C), a Finnish sauna (80-100°C) or an earth sauna (around 130°C), considerable temperatures have to be generated in the cabin. Until the Sauna heater It usually takes 20-30 minutes to reach this point. Added to this is the usage time. According to EnBW, a sauna session consumes about as much electricity as 300-400 hours of work on a laptop.
The Power Saving through conscious user behavior is one thing - the source of the energy is another. With an installed Geothermal heat pump can provide the heat for your sauna or steam bath much more efficiently, for example, as it uses the available heat from the ground for heating and hot water preparation.
4. heat a sustainable sauna with green electricity
Switching to a heat pump will do a lot for your sustainable sauna - but admittedly, this can be a relatively expensive tip to start with. Switching to green electricity, on the other hand, is an option that anyone can implement in 5 minutes with just a few clicks and at no extra cost. The electricity used to heat your sauna then comes from renewable sources, such as Solar, hydro or wind power - and not from coal or nuclear power plants.
5. sweat in the solar sauna
In the meantime, there are also the first "zero-energy saunas" or solar saunas, which are generate and store the electricity they need themselves and whose collectors even align themselves automatically with the sun. So you can make your sauna sessions and your desire for a climate friendly life with each other and enjoy emission-free wellness moments.
6. relax in a barrel or bio sauna
We must not forget sauna types that are more environmentally friendly and energy-saving in terms of their features. A barrel sauna, for example, can already be due to its round shape heat up faster and more energy efficient than classic saunas.
Also in an environmentally friendly bio sauna is the usual Infusion with low energy input possible. The final temperature is "only" around 55°C - but the humidity is between 40 and 55 percent. The special feature is above all the pleasant alternating sequence of sweating and cooling down.
7. use recuperative heat recovery
Today, building technology is so advanced that the sauna's heat generated is recycled via ventilation systems can be used to warm up fresh air and save energy costs. So if you're planning your next wellness weekend, keep an eye out for offers like this and ask those responsible if you want to further optimize your sustainable sauna experience.
Tip: Incidentally, heat recovery is also an aspect that you should consider when sustainable house building should definitely be taken into account.
8. get sustainable accessories
Whether it's a towel, bathrobe, sauna bucket, sauna ladle, footbath bucket, sauna infusion set, hourglass, infusion concentrate or sauna salt - if you want to sweat it out sustainably, you should also choose environmentally friendly accessories. Make sure that the products of your choice from certified material produced, and as far as possible plastic free packaging and last but not least durable are. So you can enjoy them forever, protect your wallet and, of course, the environment.
9. ensure regular care
Longevity is the keyword! So that you can use the consumed, natural resources for the production of your sauna for as long as possible, you should use it Check and clean regularly. For example, remove water and limescale stains from the sauna heater with a brush and make it a habit to ventilate your sustainable sauna. Also wipe the wooden seating and lounger areas with a damp cloth and sauna wood cleaner off. You should also look after the floor, the wall cladding and the sauna door.
10. use sauna consciously
It is not only advisable to clean your sustainable sauna properly, but also to use it correctly. I already mentioned at the beginning that you should adjust the size of the sauna according to your preferred usage behavior. I would also like to add that you should clean your sauna ideally does not heat up every day - On the one hand, so that you can enjoy it for a long time and save money. But also so that you protect the environment while you consciously sauna, enjoy and relax.
Sustainable saunas - no problem!
There is no such thing as a perfect sauna. Whether a sauna is sustainable depends on many factors. For example, the location, usage behavior and, last but not least, the origin of the energy and wood. Fortunately, we as consumers and users have a decisive influence on this. For example, we can give preference to FSC-certified wood, reduce electricity consumption, store and reuse heat, and use the sauna consciously and maintain it regularly.
Ultimately, there are so many things that sauna fans can do to make saunas more sustainable. I hope I have been able to help you with this article. Do you have any questions or further tips for more sustainability in the sauna sector? Then I look forward to your comment.
Stay sustainable,
PS: Speaking of sweat! How you train and exercise more sustainably will be explained in the next article. Have fun!
References:
₁ Handelsblatt: Around 30 million sauna users in Germany (as of 27.09.2004), available at https://www.handelsblatt.com/archiv/rund-30-millionen-saunagaenger-in-deutschland/2406902.html. [10.06.2022].
₂ EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG: Sauna for the home: This is how high electricity consumption is (as at 29.11.2021), available at https://www.enbw.com/blog/wohnen/energie-sparen/sauna-fuer-zuhause-tipps-fuer-den-kauf-und-betrieb. [10.06.2022].
