FAQ About Mechanical Exhaust and Trumpkin Sauna Heights
We often get these questions about the Trumpkin sauna design details and hope these comments help.
We do NOT find that mechanical exhaust to be a game changer. In fact, it promotes the feeling of more convective heat which heats the skin more, instead of the radiant heat which warms the bones.
As a point of reference, traditional wood burning sauna heaters provide primarily deep radiant heat. Which for sauna bathers who have experienced both, rave about the “deep” heat.
As long as you have the intake and exit vents, we have found this to be adequate over the decades. Vents ensure air draw which is critical for the sauna heater appliance. If there’s too many sauna bathers and poor venting, then it can become quite stuffy. Vents provide fresh oxygen — a good thing! Vents also help the heat roll in the sauna — called Löyly, by the Norse.
What we do stress is that you slightly oversize the heater’s wattage to ensure that you have plenty of power to get the sauna room good and hot, the main goal!!!
The Trumpkin design features are all sound, however they make the sauna larger and a more expensive. In terms of size, the sauna can be indoor or outdoor, but the Trumpkin design is out of scale unless the room 6×7′ or larger (See our 6×7 Outdoor Trumpkin Sauna Kit / Freestanding Pre-Fab Modular). If the room is small, it is just too tall and looks like a tower, not a sauna.
We often suggest that people follow some of the Trumpkin design elements but bring it down to say a 5×7′ sauna footprint and a height of 7′0″- 7′6″ high. This is a good compromise.
Having the entire body above the stones when reclined on the high bench is perhaps the most important Trumpkin design element. We prefer the low bench to be down in the slightly cooler zone, so when you feel overheated but want to extend the sauna bathing session, just lay down on the lowest bench. For good working ergonomic bench heights, we suggest 18-22″ off the floor and similar distances between the low and high benches. Though note, for many of us a bench height of over 18 inches means our feet do not touch.
Hope you find this summary logical and helpful. Thanks for reading and thank you for your sauna and steam business.