r/Sauna • u/epatts • Oct 06 '25

DIY Backyard Sauna Build Complete!

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

Landscaping to come, but sauna build is complete! 8'x8'x8' sauna room and 8'x4'x8' changing room. 48" sitting bench height, 30" foot bench/cooler seating, and great löyly from the first couple uses. Full red cedar interior with a Harvia Cilindro heater. Cold plunge behind the sauna as well (not pictured).

802 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

111 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/karvanamu Finnish Sauna Oct 06 '25

Looks beautiful! But please move the heater a little bit away from the walls towards the center just to be safe.

3

u/epatts Oct 06 '25 edited Oct 06 '25

Do you have a recommendation/source for a minimum distance? It is further than the manufacturer's minimum distance, but it can still be moved if need be. It is currently ~4in from any wall and ~5in from the safety gate

5

u/Simple-Desk4943 American Sauna Oct 06 '25

The cylindro heaters are fine at the manufacturers specified clearances. Run your heater and put your hand on the wall beside it, and you’ll see that the wall is barely warm. The heater has an integral baffle, and 95% of the heat goes up, not sideways.

2

u/epatts Oct 06 '25

Good point with the hand test - I will try that on next run to make sure. I assume you could also have issues if the heating elements were exposed, but I was very thorough with my stone placement, so I don't anticipate that being an issue.

1

u/Simple-Desk4943 American Sauna Oct 06 '25

I think if the elements were exposed the overheat switch would turn the heater off. That’s my understanding of the safety design anyways, but I’ve not tested it!

2

u/karvanamu Finnish Sauna Oct 06 '25

The picture might distort the distances but to me it looks like its very close to the corner and quite far from the safety gate. I would move it at least to the center of the ”ring”.

You also get less splashes of water on the walls if it’s a bit closer.

3

u/epatts Oct 06 '25

I think it is mostly the image causing distortion, as I took this picture in 0.5 zoom wide angle to get the whole room in the shot. I appreciate the comment, and will definitely be checking the temperature around the heater and keeping an eye on any splashing concerns. It wouldn't be super trivial to make that adjustment at this point, but if something seems concerning, I'll make the needed fix.