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By ANNE MARIE CHAKER

Saunas today are hot. Even in Texas.

James Hall, a civil-engineering consultant, relishes evenings spent in his backyard sanctuary. He

shuts the door and cranks up the heat to about 200 degrees Fahrenheit.

"Afterwards you get a real calm feeling of well-being," he says.

That may surprise some of Mr. Hall's

neighbors, who think that Dallas is often

steamy enough. Mr. Hall says his sauna

provides not only relaxation, but also a certain

cachet with friends and colleagues. "We'll

have clients over and instead of going some

place for happy hour, we'll have a sauna, a

couple beers," he says. "People think it's

weird at first" but then are usually won over,

he says.

Saunas have been at the core of Finnish

culture for thousands of years, a traditional

toasty respite in a cold and snowy climate,

according to the nonprofit North American

Sauna Society, whose members are fans and merchants. More Americans are making space for

sauna rooms, clearing out basements, converting closets and even partitioning off backyard

sheds. Florida Hot Tub and Sauna, of Ft. Lauderdale, says sauna sales this year are up as much

as 40% over last year. Rozycki Woodworks, of Royalton, Minn., says sales of its handmade

barrel-like outdoor saunas have been climbing about 6% a year for the past four years. Kalevi

Ruuska, a Fishkill, N.Y., sauna dealer, says sales were up 50% this year.

"What I'm interested in is whether our American friends will sauna in the nude," says Leslie

Kahn, an architect in Bethesda, Md. She and her husband are remodeling a basement bathroom

in order to add a sauna. Her husband believes sauna sessions he experienced overseas helped

with aches and pains. The couple also enjoys the social aspect and hopes eventually to entertain

guests with sauna parties. The cost of the sauna, including installation, will be around $5,000, on

top of about $12,000 for remodeling the bathroom, she says.

Besides the Euro-cool factor, saunas' growing

popularity also is due to their practical appeal.

They are less fussy to install than other spa-

type amenities. The source of their intense,

radiant heat is simply stones placed inside

and on top of an electric heater. Some

outdoor units are set up with a traditional

wood-burning stove, requiring no electricity

for heating (just a good stack of firewood).

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Eli Meir Kaplan for The Wall Street Journal

Elizabeth Orlic, her daughter Selah Orlic Phillips, age 6, and her husband Winthrop Phillips, walk to the sauna at her father Don Orlic's house in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley.

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Eli Meir Kaplan for The Wall Street Journal

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A Sauna Party Kit

Sauna: An 8-by-10 footer can comfortably seat seven to 10 people.

Towels: For guests to wear, or, if going au naturel, everyone can place them over the bench seats.

Water: It's important to stay hydrated between 'innings,' or re-entry visits.

Snacks: Serve post-sauna. It's not a good idea to sauna on a full stomach. Finnish fare includes smoked salmon and herring. Also beverages beer, vodka or fruit juices.

Cold dip: For the full Scandinavian experience, a dip in an outdoor swimming pool or a lake is refreshing after a hot sweat.

Whether indoors or out, saunas typically are

built using a light-colored wood able to

withstand wide fluctuations in heat and

humidity. In the U.S., western red cedar is popular and releases a pleasant scent.

Although saunas can be enjoyed dry, many people like to add humidity by sprinkling water on the

rocks. There's no need to rejig water lines and plumbing—as homeowners often do when

installing a jetted whirlpool tub—nor is there water quality to maintain, as with a hot tub.

Health concerns about jetted water in bubbly spa tubs may be also be helping saunas'

popularity. A 2000 study at Texas A & M University tested 43 water samples from whirlpool tubs

in hotels and homes nationwide and found all had some form of microbial growth, such as fungi

or staphylococcus. The reason: The water in the jet-spray pipes tends to get trapped, and

bacteria may accumulate. When the jets are switched on, microbes are forcefully blown into the

tub where a person is soaking, carried on a bubbly mist that can enter lungs or open cuts, says

Rita Moyes, microbiology professor at Texas A&M.

A sauna can be relatively affordable.

Converting a closet into a two-person sauna

might cost as little as $3,000, not including

installation, while a "designer deluxe" model

with digital controls and high-end lighting

could climb to $10,000, says Keith Raisanen,

president of Saunatec Inc., a Cokato, Minn.,

manufacturer and distributor. Most saunas, he

says, fall in the $4,500-to-$8,000 range and

seat from four to seven.

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In Washington, D.C., a 10-seat sauna in the

basement of the Finnish embassy becomes

an evening hotspot, where journalists and

politicos mingle on Friday nights about twice a

month. Embassy spokesman Kari Mokko

says he limits invitations to about 15 each

time and regularly changes the guest mix.

"The demand is so high," he says. The sauna

was built into the embassy, which was

completed in 1994. Parties, considered a

useful vehicle for promoting Finnish culture,

came soon after.

The room is walled in North Carolina white

pine with benches made of cedar; it is heated

to 190 degrees. Men sauna separately from

women; each group takes its turn in an

adjoining shower room. A buffet spread—

think gravlax and meatballs in dill sauce—

follows in an adjacent cocktail room, where a

bartender serves vodka and cold beer.

Last fall, Don Orlic, a cardiovascular

researcher, and Roxanne Fischer had an

outdoor sauna built at their weekend retreat in

Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, in a free-

standing cabin about 75 feet from the main

house. Dr. Orlic digitally sets the temperature in the sauna from inside the main house, allowing

30 minutes for the sauna to reach as high as 180 degrees. He relaxes there for 20 to 30 minutes

at a time. On cold winter days, he says, he loves the contrast of brisk air and penetrating heat. "I

love to make margaritas and have our friends over," Dr. Orlic says. "It's a social thing."

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The sauna, which comfortably seats five, cost

about $10,000 for the basic preassembled

unit. Installation—including underground

electric lines and plumbing for a nearby

outdoor shower and other custom elements—

drove the cost up to $25,000. Dr. Orlic hasn't

received his first post-installation electric bill

yet. Art Glick, owner of sauna and hot tub

distributor Almost Heaven Group, of Renick,

Don Orlic, Roxanne Fischer and Elizabeth Orlic in the sauna.

CREDIT: Stephen Voss for The Wall Street Journal

Guests arrive for a sauna party at the Embassy of Finland in Washington, D.C.


A tray of smoked salmon at the embassy party.

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W. Va., estimates a 5-foot-by-7-foot sauna

might consume an average of five dollars a month in electricity.

Saunatec's Mr. Raisanen, whose grandparents emigrated from Finland, says he and his wife like

to take a sauna at night, set at 165 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. "We like a lot of steam," says

Mr. Raisanen, who keeps a bucket and ladle next to the rocks.

A timer on the heater gets the sauna hot at 9:30 p.m. That's an ideal time, he says: It's a couple

of hours after dinner (he advises against a sauna after a big meal), and the kids are in bed.

Lights are kept low. "It's really our cherished quiet time," he says. "It's a shut-the-door-to-the-rest-

of-the-world-type thing."

Mr. Raisanen sells prefabricated sauna units

that can be assembled by a homeowner in

hours and installed in a basement or workout

room. His "custom cut" kits, in dimensions

supplied by the customer, are made to be

installed on pre-framed walls. Installation can

be arranged through the dealer at extra cost,

Mr. Raisanen says.

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"Infrared" saunas, with heaters built into the

walls, are a fast-growing part of his business,

Mr. Raisanen says. They have caught

consumers' attention with lower prices: A two-person infrared unit might cost as little as $2,000.

Humidity can't be adjusted the old-fashioned way, because there are no rocks. And they don't

get as hot, a plus for some people.

There have been safety concerns about infrared technology, though. In 2008, the Consumer

Product Safety Commission recalled about 225 infrared saunas after reports that some caught

fire. Some distributors today refuse to sell infrared models. Others say the technology has

improved. Initially reluctant to continue selling them, Mr. Raisanen says he has begun working

with an exclusive supplier with high quality-control standards.

Write to Anne Marie Chaker at [email protected]

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Inside the embassy sauna.

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