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Bio Sauna: What It Is and How It Is Used

Sauna Dekor is a bio sauna (soft sauna) manufacturer and installation contractor for hotel spas, wellness centres and private villas in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, building in Istanbul since 1987 and installing in more than 35 countries in our 40th year. A bio sauna is not a cooler Finnish sauna: the combined heater, the humidity control and the ventilation rate are a different specification, and the cabin has to be built for continuous moisture.

Sauna with a backlit amber onyx panel behind slatted timber backrests

Temperature: between 50° C to 60° C Humidity: 45% to 65% Bio sauna is a sauna with a much less heated and humid atmosphere than Finnish saunas. While the temperature in the Finnish sauna ranges from around 50-60°C compared to 85-95°C, the humidity between -30 in the Finnish sauna is around 45-60% in the bio-sauna. Relaxing aromas, herbs, etc., on heated rocks in traditional Finnish saunas. Steam is removed by pouring the added water. On the other hand, the sauna's interior is illuminated with different colored lights at intervals during general use. It has been revealed that the colors used in the sauna have both biological and psychological functional benefits in the human body.

Chromotherapy lighting is a common option in a bio sauna: the cabin lighting can be held on one colour or cycled slowly through a sequence, and it is chosen for atmosphere. The fittings are IP-rated and the controller sits outside the cabin. Bio saunas, which have a more humid and lower temperature indoor environment than saunas, have many users. Because they run cooler than a Finnish sauna, they suit guests who find a 90 °C cabin uncomfortable.

Warm cedar sauna interior with tiered benches and backlit bench edges
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How to Make a Bio Sauna?

Sauna Dekor offers expert solutions for creating custom saunas that meet all your needs including Bio Sauna construction. They provide guidance for choosing the location of your sauna, design and installation services, and even maintenance support. Their experienced team listens to your dreams for the perfect sauna and helps make them a reality with custom wood textures and decorations. They can build saunas in any room of your house or in your garage, basement, or attic. Sauna Dekor provides high-quality service and always stands behind their products and designs. Contact them today to get started on creating your dream sauna!

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Stages of Bio Sauna Manufacturing

The most important and primary step in constructing the bio sauna, which you will create to add the warmth, controlled humidity and lighting of a bio sauna to your living spaces, is to correctly determine the area where the sauna will be built. If it is located inside the house or project, a place where plumbing, heating, and electricity can be easily accessed should be chosen. For a sauna to be designed outdoors, the sauna's location should be determined so that the area sits on a flat surface, away from overhanging trees and running water. If the sauna is located technically and physically suitable, such as the size and distance to mechanical installations, the user's desired sauna design should be started. For example, what style the sauna room to be built should be, which tree type should be preferred, experts should be consulted for the technical details of the lighting for the use of colors, the cost of the materials to be selected, etc. all must be determined at this stage according to the imagined design. After the sauna design, the application process is carried out professionally by the Sauna Dekor Spa & Solutions installation team in your home or the appropriate area of ​​your project.

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Materials Used in Making Bio Sauna

As in traditional sauna designs, wooden timbers and paneling are used indoors. According to customers' requests, budgets, and design requirements, Cedar, Pine, Fir, Spruce, and Ayous trees are mostly preferred in Turkey for Bio Sauna construction. A sauna stove should be selected that will provide the required temperature and humidity. Panels that will adjust the temperature and heat values in the sauna should be preferred. Aromatherapy materials are among the products used in the bio sauna to be determined after the design. Aromatherapy scents and oils that will relax your body and increase your inner peace while resting will make your bio sauna experience much more enjoyable.

Explore More Sauna Types

Discover our Finnish sauna and infrared sauna options. Pair with a steam room or massage room for the ultimate spa.

Sauna with pale timber benches, LED-lit backrest slats, a wooden bucket, ladle and birch whisk

Bio sauna against Finnish sauna and steam room

A bio sauna sits between the two rooms most people already know. It runs cooler than a Finnish sauna and drier than a steam room, which is why it is the room that carries a mixed-age hotel clientele through a longer session. The engineering consequence is that it is neither: a Finnish cabin builds heat and sheds moisture, a steam room is a sealed, fully saturated wet room, and a bio sauna has to hold a moderate temperature and a controlled mid-range humidity at the same time.

Bio sauna in context
Bio saunaFinnish saunaSteam room
Air temperature50–60 °C70–95 °C40–46 °C
Relative humidity45–65%5–15%Close to saturation
Heat sourceCombi heater: stones plus steam vesselStone heaterSteam generator
InteriorTimber, built for continuous moistureTimberTile, mosaic or solid surface
Session lengthLonger, gentler cyclesShort, hot cyclesMedium
VentilationMechanically supported, drying cycle neededPassive is often enoughMechanical extract, mandatory

What building a bio sauna actually requires

The heater is a combi unit — stones plus an integrated steam vessel — and it needs a plumbed water supply, a drain, descaling access and a controller that manages both outputs. Because the cabin runs wet for hours, timber selection and detailing matter more than in a dry cabin: kiln-dried, low-resin species, no exposed metal fixings against skin, and joints that can move. A post-session drying cycle is part of the control strategy, not an optional extra. The ventilation logic behind that is set out in sauna ventilation, the comparison most clients start from in sauna vs steam room and infrared vs traditional sauna, and the usage pattern a bio sauna suits in how often to use a sauna.

Frequently asked questions

What temperature and humidity does a bio sauna run at?

Roughly 50–60 °C air temperature with relative humidity held around 45–65%. That is cooler and moister than a Finnish sauna and much drier than a steam room, which is what allows a longer, gentler session.

What is the difference between a bio sauna and a Finnish sauna?

Temperature, humidity and equipment. A Finnish sauna runs hot and dry from a stone heater; a bio sauna runs cooler with controlled humidity from a combi heater that has stones and a steam vessel. The bio cabin therefore needs a water supply, a drain, descaling access and a drying cycle that a dry cabin does not.

What power supply does a bio sauna need?

It depends on cabin volume, glazing area and insulation, and it is calculated per project. As an order of magnitude, a small private cabin sits in the single-digit kilowatt range on a three-phase supply, while a hotel cabin can be several times that. Combi heaters also need a plumbed water feed and a drain, which is the point most electrical designs miss.

How is a bio sauna maintained?

Daily wipe-down of benches and floor, periodic descaling of the steam vessel on the schedule the heater manufacturer sets, stone replacement when the stones break down, and a drying cycle after the last session so the cabin does not stay damp overnight. Access for descaling has to be designed into the bench layout.

Who is a bio sauna best suited to?

Hotel and resort spas with a mixed clientele, wellness and recovery centres that run longer sessions, and private villas where not everyone wants a 90 °C cabin. It is often specified as the second heat room alongside a Finnish sauna rather than instead of one.

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