I have read your comments about buying an indoor sauna, and putting it outside but I have a specific question about that. I live in Hawaii temperatures ranging from low 60s to low 90s I have a covered lanai where I want to place the sauna, it would get some sunshine and no direct rain. My question is do you think this could be done without ruining the sauna. Thank you for your time love your channel.
https://cleverleverage.com/outdoor-infrared-sauna/
Video Transcript (AI Generated)
Alright, welcome back guys.
Today’s infrared sauna question is for Steve.
Steve wants to know about placing an indoor sauna outside.
It says I’ve read your comments about buying an outdoor sauna and putting it out or buying an indoor sauna and putting it outside but I have a specific question about that.
I live in Hawaii, temperatures ranging from low 60s to low 90s.
I have a covered lanai where I want to place the sauna.
It would get some sunshine and no direct rain.
My question is do you think this could be done without ruining the sauna?
Thanks for your time, love your channel.
Well yeah Steve I can help you with this.
Just a disclaimer, all the sauna companies, doesn’t matter which one it is, are they’re gonna tell you don’t do this, right?
They’re gonna say if you want to place an outdoor sauna outside, buy an outdoor sauna that has weatherproof siding, a regular roof and things like that.
If it’s under a covered lanai, let me see how I can create an example for you.
For instance, there’s a couple things.
So there’s a few, you say it’s gonna get some sunshine but usually people get some splash up.
So if you’re gonna place the, like most people, if it’s a back patio or something like that, the French doors come out and they’re gonna place it to one side so it doesn’t obstruct the view of the backyard or whatever’s back there.
It depends on your setup, right?
And so what a lot of people do is they place it in the corner of the patio and it’s gonna be, it’s usually close to the slab, right?
And so if it’s not a screened-in area or there’s no splash guard or anything like that, let’s just say that this is your slab and it’s really close, when things come off the gutter or rain comes off the roof and it’s gonna splash up and hit the sauna, it’s not a big deal if it just happens a time or two.
But over time, you get this moisture plus it gets the sunrise in the morning, it depends on how your place is or you know situated.
That stuff really wears on the wood.
And so an indoor sauna doesn’t have a protective covering the usually the exterior of the wood is not sealed.
You know, they might put a varnish or something like that on it from the factory but when I say sealed I mean like weatherproofed, right?
And so most of the time what usually happens is people say, “Okay, well they’ll just put a sauna cover on it,” right?
But a sauna cover is only gonna come down and the last couple of inches it’s still gonna get the splash up, it’s still gonna get the elements, it’s still gonna get all that stuff.
If that’s the case, then I would say no.
I wouldn’t recommend doing something like that.
And obviously I’m being very descriptive here because this is most people’s situation with the lanai or the patio.
If you have a completely enclosed lanai, I wouldn’t worry about it.
If it’s just the heat or just the the temperatures or the humidity or something like that, I wouldn’t worry about that.
That wouldn’t stop me from putting it outside personally.
Now, like I said, most sauna companies are gonna tell you not to do this.
If you want an outdoor sauna, you know, get a sauna that’s intended for that.
But I think it could be done without ruining the sauna.
So long as you say it’s gonna get some sun exposure, if it’s gonna get really beat on, like let’s just say your patio is here and the sun rises here and all around the day, you know, it’s just gonna get hammered, I would add in some type of a shade or sun protection or something.
I wouldn’t just let the thing just, you know, be completely hammered with with the elements all the time.
If you’re gonna do that, like I say, you’d be better off with like a shed style sauna.
I’ve done a couple videos or blog posts on the blog on outdoor specific saunas that have insulated walls with a protective covering on the outside and an actual shingle roof or a weatherproof roof.
But based on what you’ve said here, I wouldn’t have any hesitation.
My only concern would be make sure there’s no gutter splash up, you know, make sure that there’s no… if you’re gonna have, I don’t wanna say a hurricane, we’re almost in a hurricane season here in Florida, but if you’re gonna have winds that can blow rain in on the side of the sauna all the time, address that.
Do something about it.
It will ruin the sauna.
But yeah, I think you’d be alright.
If you need further help with this, give me some more details or give me the, you know, the sizing requirements or how much coverage you have on the roofline there and I can help you.
If there’s a specific…
I don’t think you mentioned which brand or model or anything like that.
I guess in this case it doesn’t really matter.
Any of the indoor ones would all suffer the same fate if you’re really going to, you know, stick them in the harsh elements.
But I think you’d be okay.
I think it definitely…
I think it can definitely be done without ruining the sauna.
So hope that helps.
See you guys in tomorrow’s video.