Best Sauna Temperature: Ditch The Excessive 200-Degree Heat
If you’ve ever browsed around sauna shops, physical or online, you might have noticed they all pride themselves on the stoves and heaters they sell because with them, you can reach temperatures up to 230 F (110 C).
Some go as far as claiming 200 degrees (93 C) is the ideal sauna temperature or the “sweet spot,” which is far from the truth and always makes me cringe.
As so many sources just repeat what other sources are saying, without providing any evidence why hotter temperatures would be better or even safe, many people are left wondering how hot is a sauna supposed to be.
So, let’s clear up all confusion, answer the question what is the ideal temperature for a sauna, and show you don’t need higher temperatures even if you prefer a hotter sauna.
There really is a better way.
What’s The Best Sauna Temperature in Reality?
When contemplating the best sauna temp and time, what most people are truly asking is what is a healthy temperature for a sauna. The best sauna temperature range is 140-185 F (60-85 C), with 160-180 F (70-80 C) being the most optimal range.
When you heat your sauna to a maximum of 180-185 F, it can afford to cool down closer to 140 F when you’re nearing the end of your sauna session; you get even more steam and humid heat at the end as the temperature has dropped a little.
You’ll achieve this easily by not adding wood, or by turning off your sauna heater a few minutes before you stop saunaing.
You might wonder why such a “low” seeming number is the best sauna temperature for benefits. That’s because the most promising results reported by the biggest and best sauna studies in the world have been achieved with sauna temperatures of around 170 F on average (75.9 C to be exact).
Between all the studied groups, there was very little variation in the average sauna temperatures used; they varied from 74.8 C to 77.4 C.
What about the time then; how long should you stay in the sauna? Saunaing for 30 minutes with breaks in between is a good rule of thumb, but if you want even more specific instructions, let’s see what the leading sauna researchers say.
Your heart rate starts to increase most significantly (which is good for healthy individuals) after 15 minutes of saunaing, which means that if you sauna less than that, you’re potentially not getting the most health benefits regarding circulatory health (Laukkanen et al., 2020, p. 34).
The vast sauna study with 2,315 men, monitored for almost two decades, showed that the group that had the least heart issues, saunaed for at least 19 minutes straight per session.
There are no known health benefits you’d only get with significantly hotter sauna temperatures. On the contrary, too hot a sauna is too dry and uncomfortable for most people, and at worst, it’s dangerous and even lethal.
Whenever you go higher in temperature, it always happens at the expense of steam.
As your sauna gets too hot and dry, and you try to make it more humid by throwing water, you do get steam but the sauna room also gets hotter temporarily. This is a problem when your sauna was too hot to begin with.
It’s exactly in these situations that you or anyone you’re saunaing with has to leave the sauna completely as they can’t bear the heat, or go sit on a lower-level bench where it’s cooler.
If you want to exceed the recommended range with an electric heater, you need approximately 30% more electricity to get the heat to 215 F.
That translates to a dry and unpleasant sauna in addition to a higher electricity bill.
What Temperature Is Too Hot for a Sauna & How Hot Sauna Is Safe?
Now that we’ve covered the ideal and normal sauna temperature range above, there are always some daredevils asking how much is too hot for a sauna.
Luckily we have very practical but sad information on this. There’s one group of people who tolerate higher temperatures, and that group consists of sauna competitors.
The last sauna competition ever was held in Finland in 2010. That competition led to serious injuries, two months in a coma for one finalist, and death to another finalist.
In the competitions, sauna temperature was always a minimum of 230 F (110 C), and half a liter of water (16,90 fl oz) was thrown on the rocks every 30 seconds. Even as a mere thought this kind of setting feels painful!
Third-degree burns all over the body were the cause of death for Russian finalist Vladimir Ladyženski. May he rest in peace.
The other finalist who survived, Finnish Timo Kaukonen, had 70% of his skin burnt, his respiratory tract got parched in the heat, and his kidneys stopped functioning.
And get this: the finale lasted only 6 minutes! When saunaing the wrong way, it doesn’t take any longer than that to die or to be on the brink of dying.
To recap, is 240 too hot for a sauna? Yes, without exception. I hope by now it’s clear why excessive heat that’s completely unnecessary in the first place is never a good idea.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
1. Is 200 degrees too hot for a sauna?
Yes, it’s unnecessarily hot, dry, and unpleasant for the majority of people.
Most people who aim for this sauna temperature, thinking it’s the real deal, use saunas incorrectly in the first place. They don’t realize to pour water on the hot sauna rocks to produce steam (löyly) that not only is pleasurable and the whole point of saunaing but also makes the sauna feel hotter.
Since sauna temperatures significantly above 175 F (80 C) aren’t known to offer any extra health benefits, there’s no reason to aim for 200 F, let alone dangerous temperatures such as 220 F.
2. Is 120 degree sauna hot enough?
In Fahrenheit (F) and for a traditional sauna, 120 degrees is not enough, best range being 140-185 F.
But if this sauna temperature was in Celsius degrees, it would be dangerously or even lethally hot (250 F).
3. I’ve tried 170-185 F, but it’s not hot enough for me. What can I do?
If you think a 185-degree sauna isn’t hot enough, it’s likely you’re throwing too little water and maybe also too rarely.
Try pouring 2-4 ladles of water on the hot rocks every 2-3 minutes to see whether you can feel a difference.
When the sauna heater is still on or the fire is still going, and you throw water on the hot rocks, you not only get steam but always get more heat too.
4. What is the best sauna temperature for beginners?
The traditional sauna temperature range of 140-185 F (60-85 C) works well for beginners, too. If you’re nervous about the heat, 140 F is the safest starting point.
The idea that as a beginner, you can’t tolerate heat, and that you should build your stamina over time, is silly. There is no point in ever trying to exceed the average sauna temperature range discussed above.
If you’re completely new to saunaing, you may have doubts and concerns (i.e., mental barriers), but physically you’ll be fine when saunaing correctly; you should never feel a burning sensation or be uncomfortable in any way in a sauna. If you are, it’s best to leave immediately.
5. Wet sauna temperature vs. dry sauna temperature; what is the hottest type of sauna?
Traditional saunas are clearly the hottest, reaching temperatures above 200 F although unnecessary, with infrared heat rooms coming in second (up to 140 F), and steam rooms third (up to 120 F).
Regarding wet and dry sauna temperatures, it’s tricky to answer because of a major misunderstanding: all the degrees given in this article are for traditional saunas that are NEVER dry saunas.
The reason they’re not dry is because of the steam (löyly) that is formed when throwing water on the sauna rocks (= the sole reason for saunaing). Steam obviously doesn’t mean dryness but is the opposite of it.
That’s why it’s actually more accurate to call traditional saunas wet saunas, but since so many people think a wet sauna means a “steam sauna,” really a steam room, this confuses things even further.
Saunas always have a sauna heater, either wood-burning or electric, and sauna rocks on top of which you pour water. A steam room doesn’t meet this definition as it lacks both, a heater and rocks, and has a steam generator boiling water instead.
That’s why a “wet sauna” can never really mean a steam room as it’s not a sauna to begin with.
What about a dry sauna, then? Infrared saunas are the only ones that are truly used dry, but even there the concept of “dry sauna” is problematic as infrared heat rooms are not real saunas.
6. What is the 200 rule for saunas?
This made-up rule means the sum of both heat and humidity for the best sauna experience, and some even claim it’s a Finnish rule.
So, if your sauna had a temperature of 170 F, the humidity would have to be 30% in order for you to achieve the perfect score of 200 (170 + 30 = 200). This is not a terrible suggestion by any means as the temperature is great and the humidity level is also somewhat realistic.
But since I’m of Finnish origin and bilingual, I can confirm this rule is completely fake. You can’t find any Finnish sources mentioning this or a similar rule.
They use Celsius degrees in Finland, so even if this “rule” was a thing, it wouldn’t be called the 200 rule, but more like the 93 rule or the 100 rule, but like stated, there is no such rule.
Although this rule is fake, we can still assess if it’s any good.
Going by my own sauna sessions, I’d get numbers like 237 (167 F + 70% humidity) and 220 (175 F + 45% humidity). The humidity ranges so much because the relative humidity overall was much higher in the first example.
As humidity varies and rises as you throw water, the rule of 200 isn’t a very useful metric even if you had a value of 200 at some point of your sauna session.
In order to know how humid it is in your sauna, or to be more exact, what levels of humidity you reach when pouring löyly, you need a hygrometer.
But if you’re not interested in turning your sauna sessions into math equations like select tech nerds, you can certainly get by without a hygrometer.
In fact, many saunas don’t have a hygrometer although all have a thermometer. I personally saunaed successfully for over 35 years without one, and only bought a hygrometer for readers’ sake (= so that I can occasionally feature it on this blog).
The only thing I like about this fake rule is the acknowledgment of humidity in saunas in general; it helps clear up misconceptions such as labeling traditional saunas as dry saunas.
7. What is the best sauna temperature for weight loss?
None as saunaing isn’t an effective way of losing weight and burns only few calories.
Final Thoughts
Since I included a lot of information above, let’s recap the main points.
What is a good temperature for a sauna? The best sauna temperature range is 140-185 F (60-85 C).
What about the most ideal sauna temp and time?
The most researched sauna temperature for health benefits is around 175 F (80 C). Sauna sessions that last at least 15-19 minutes seem to bring the most benefits.
If you’ve been under the impression that sauna temperatures of 200 to 220 F are optimal or desired, it’s a brilliant idea for both your health and wallet to reduce the temperature significantly, which will also allow you to stay in the sauna for longer for better health benefits.
That, however, doesn’t mean you should aim for 15 minutes or longer even when you feel dizzy or otherwise unwell, which can be the case if you’re very fatigued or had an intense workout before saunaing, for instance.
Listening to your own body is the most important metric every time you go to sauna.
Sources:
Association between sauna bathing and fatal cardiovascular and all-cause mortality events
Laukkanen, Tanjaniina, & Laukkanen, Jari (2020). Sauna, keho & mieli. Docendo.
