russian bath design

[Orah]

Has anyone designed a russian bath? We are conflicted as to whether or not to recirculate the hot air within the room with minimum outside air or to use 100% outside air and heat it all up to avoid odor problems. We are hoping a voice of experiance can let us know what has worked for them in the past. - Thanks

 

[stanlsimon]

Is this like the scandinavian sauna (dry and hot) or is it more like a steam bath (wet and hot)?

How many people are in there? Is this a public bath?

As a western capitalist I am ignorant of the customs of the Russians.

 

[Orah]

The bath will be wet and hot. The room is 540 sq ft and 7 feet high, so we figure about 30 people at maximum capacity. The bath is at a private gym - not a public bath house.

 

[flyrfan]

You should contact a vendor that reps natatorium (indoor pool) HVAC systems. Google PoolPak; DesertAir; Dectron...they are some of the majors Mfrs and some have good engineering literature for download. Also ASHRAE has some good engineering info in their Applications Handbook.

 

[Orah]

I checked out the sites you mention and they are more about de-humidification. We are trying to maintain a high level of humidity in the russian bath. The question we had was with regard with outside air and whether or not we had to use a high level of outside air (uses lots of energy to heat and humidify but eliminates odor issues) or to recirculate the hot humid air (with minimal outside air). We wanted to know if anyone has any experiance designing this type of steam room and the solution they used.

 

[stanlsimon]

Sorry I have not designed such a bath, however have you gone to the site

http://mha-net.org/docs/v8n2/kuznetsov/comfortable bath.html

?

This person seems to be knowledgeable in this matter.

Like all engineers, given enough time and money I could apply the rules of science and design such a building but it may very well be easier if you can find someone with experience designing exactly what you want.

The first question you need to think about is what fuel is available, gas, electric, or wood, also what type of wood?, Different species have different fuel values.

Also where is the bath building located, what is the design temperature difference from inside to outside.

How well insulated is the proposed building?

How tight are the doors and windows, will there be a lot of infiltration?

 

[22041967]

Hi I grew up in USSR so that I have gone to Russian bath in the past. You want to have hot wet air. You want to use only 100 % inside air. If you need help I can find you som
from Russian sites and translate to English