SaunaScape

I’ve been a Lifehacker fan since its beginning. While some of their topics are obscure geekdom, the occasional tip about a new piece of software or website that ends up saving me hours makes it a daily stop on my morning review of the news. I was really interested this morning when I saw their new post “How to Hack Your Bathroom into a Home Sauna.”

I had to check the calendar to make sure today isn’t April 1. It isn’t.

Holy sh*t Lifehacker. What will you stoop to for linkbait?

The post is chock full of lots of crazy ideas and very few concrete details, like:

If you plan to install a wood-burning stove, you’ll need to fire-proof the walls and roof around the stove. Particle board isn’t cheap, but this is one area you don’t want to skimp on.

If you don’t have an air vent in the bathroom, don’t make one: the gap under the bathroom door will work just fine.

Um, NO NO NO NO NO!

If you’re putting a wood burning stove anywhere enclosed, you need to make sure you have proper ventilation. If you don’t you’ll end up at best poisoning yourself and at worst asphyxiating yourself and your whole family in your project. Especially if you follow their instructions to build a sauna stove:

A wood burning stove can easily be made from a junk yard gas canister. Use a cheap angle grinder to lop off the top, then just find a metal bucket, cut a hatch and fit the flue.

Those are the instructions. All of them. Now go forth and build one of these and put it in your house!

Please don’t follow these instructions. We value you as a reader too much to have you kill yourself in a home-made deathtrap.

If you’re really set on building your own sauna in your home, buy a good book like How to Build Your Own Sauna & Sweat by Mikkel Aaland, The Sauna: A Complete Guide to the Construction, Use, and Benefits of the Finnish Bath by Rob Roy, or Hot Tubs, Saunas & Steam Baths: A Guide to Planning and Designing your Home Health Spa by Alan Sanderfoot.

If you don’t want to shell out the dollars for a book, then visit Sauna Times or Kalle Hoffman’s Sauna Pages. Both offer plenty of free advice and detailed plans for building your own saunas and sauna stoves.

And unless you really, really know what you’re doing, build your first DIY wood stove sauna in a shed, far away from your home and anything else flammable.

Meanwhile, watch for these exciting posts coming soon to Lifehacker: “Improve your mood: Hack your bathtub and a toaster into your own electro-convulsive therapy system” and “Hack your own Botox from cans you fish out of your grocer’s dumpster!”

I've been a Lifehacker fan since its beginning. While some of their topics are obscure geekdom, the occasional tip about a new piece of software or website that ends up saving me hours makes it a daily stop on my morning review of the news. I was really interested this morning when I saw their new post "How to Hack Your Bathroom into a Home Sauna." I had to check the calendar to make sure today isn't April 1. It isn't. Holy sh*t Lifehacker. What will you stoop to for linkbait? The post is chock full of lots of crazy ideas and very few concrete details, like: If you plan to install a wood-burning stove, you'll need to fire-proof the walls and roof around the stove. Particle board isn't cheap, but this is one area you don't want to skimp on. If you don't have an air vent in the bathroom, don't make one: the gap under the bathroom door will work just fine. Um, NO NO NO NO NO! If you're putting a wood burning stove anywhere enclosed, you need to make sure you have proper ventilation. If you don't you'll end up at best poisoning yourself and at worst asphyxiating yourself and your whole family in your project. Especially if you follow their instructions to build a sauna stove: A wood burning stove can easily be made from a junk yard gas canister. Use a cheap angle grinder to lop off the top, then just find a metal bucket, cut a hatch and fit the flue. Those are the instructions. All of them. Now go forth and build one of these and put it in your house! Please don't follow these instructions. We value you as a reader too much to have you kill yourself in a home-made deathtrap. If you're really set on building your own sauna in your home, buy a good book like How to Build Your Own Sauna & Sweat by Mikkel Aaland, The Sauna: A Complete Guide to the Construction, Use, and Benefits of the Finnish Bath by Rob Roy, or Hot Tubs, Saunas & Steam Baths: A Guide to Planning and Designing your Home Health Spa by Alan Sanderfoot. If you don't want to shell out the dollars for a book, then visit Sauna Times or Kalle Hoffman's Sauna Pages. Both offer plenty of free advice and detailed plans for building your own saunas and sauna stoves. And unless you really, really know what you're doing, build your first DIY wood stove sauna in a shed, far away from your home and anything else flammable. Meanwhile, watch for these exciting posts coming soon to Lifehacker: "Improve your mood: Hack your bathtub and a toaster into your own electro-convulsive therapy system" and "Hack your own Botox from cans you fish out of your grocer's dumpster!"

Image by Trendmatcher via Flickr

Some people say they just can’t stand being in the heat. Heat saps your energy and makes it impossible to work hard goes the conventional wisdom.

As usual, it looks like science has proved conventional wisdom wrong. A new study in the European Journal of Applied physiology shows that people, if deceived about the temperature, perform as well in the heat as they do in temperate conditions.

In the article “Deception of ambient and body core temperature improves self paced cycling in hot, humid conditions” the team from the University of Bedfordshire in the UK details a test that they ran with seven different male cyclists.

The cyclists were tested once at a comfortable 71°F (22°C) and 40% humidity and twice at a sweltering 88°F (31°C) and 65% humidity. In one of those hot tests the temperature and humidity displays in the room were offset to show the room conditions to be 79°F (26°C) and 60% humidity. Each cyclist was given the tests in a random order.

They found that the cyclists performed the same when they thought the temperature was 79°F as they did when the temperature was actually 71°F. When they temperature was accurately displayed at 88°F, they did not travel as far, and exerted 10% less energy.

So how hot you think it is has more to do with how you perform than how hot it really is. Keep that in mind the next time you think you can’t stand the heat of the sauna.

via Lifehacker.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Image by Trendmatcher via Flickr"][/caption] Some people say they just can't stand being in the heat. Heat saps your energy and makes it impossible to work hard goes the conventional wisdom. As usual, it looks like science has proved conventional wisdom wrong. A new study in the European Journal of Applied physiology shows that people, if deceived about the temperature, perform as well in the heat as they do in temperate conditions. In the article "Deception of ambient and body core temperature improves self paced cycling in hot, humid conditions" the team from the University of Bedfordshire in the UK details a test that they ran with seven different male cyclists. The cyclists were tested once at a comfortable 71°F (22°C) and 40% humidity and twice at a sweltering 88°F (31°C) and 65% humidity. In one of those hot tests the temperature and humidity displays in the room were offset to show the room conditions to be 79°F (26°C) and 60% humidity. Each cyclist was given the tests in a random order. They found that the cyclists performed the same when they thought the temperature was 79°F as they did when the temperature was actually 71°F. When they temperature was accurately displayed at 88°F, they did not travel as far, and exerted 10% less energy. So how hot you think it is has more to do with how you perform than how hot it really is. Keep that in mind the next time you think you can't stand the heat of the sauna. via Lifehacker.

So you’re in the woods, and looking for a place to relax in a hot tub. You’re now in an area where there are hot springs, and you left your dutchtub at home. What’s a soul to do?

Player2756 posted instructions on Instructables giving instructions on how to build a wood-fired wilderness hot tub. Going through the instructions, it’s not the most environmentally build, and definitely not something you could even think about doing without several cars handy.

Instructables via Lifehacker.

So you're in the woods, and looking for a place to relax in a hot tub. You're now in an area where there are hot springs, and you left your dutchtub at home. What's a soul to do? Player2756 posted instructions on Instructables giving instructions on how to build a wood-fired wilderness hot tub. Going through the instructions, it's not the most environmentally build, and definitely not something you could even think about doing without several cars handy. Instructables via Lifehacker.

For those of you seeking out a unique sauna experience, recently the New York Times profiled the resurgence of an old trend in Korea: Using a cooling charcoal kiln as a sauna.

To make charcoal in Korea, oak logs are placed into red clay caves, then heated for about a week to about 1400°C or 2550°F. The charcoal is ready to remove when the caves reach about 200°C or 390°F. That’s when the fun begins. The workers at the charcoal factory unload the kiln, sweep it out, and bring in rice straw mats. Guests pay KRW 11,000 (about US$ 9) for a cotton uniform (Korean co-ed saunas are used clothed, and synthetic clothing would melt in the heat) and the privilege of spending the day in the kiln.

According to the Koreans, charcoal is a purifying agent, and is commonly used in the construction of electrically heated urban saunas, including many here in the US. (Update: Lifehacker also weighs in on the purifying power of charcoal)

We tried to find the location of some of these saunas, but so far have come up blank. If you have experienced one, and can share details about it, let us know in the comments.

[New York Times]

For those of you seeking out a unique sauna experience, recently the New York Times profiled the resurgence of an old trend in Korea: Using a cooling charcoal kiln as a sauna. To make charcoal in Korea, oak logs are placed into red clay caves, then heated for about a week to about 1400°C or 2550°F. The charcoal is ready to remove when the caves reach about 200°C or 390°F. That's when the fun begins. The workers at the charcoal factory unload the kiln, sweep it out, and bring in rice straw mats. Guests pay KRW 11,000 (about US$ 9) for a cotton uniform (Korean co-ed saunas are used clothed, and synthetic clothing would melt in the heat) and the privilege of spending the day in the kiln. According to the Koreans, charcoal is a purifying agent, and is commonly used in the construction of electrically heated urban saunas, including many here in the US. (Update: Lifehacker also weighs in on the purifying power of charcoal) We tried to find the location of some of these saunas, but so far have come up blank. If you have experienced one, and can share details about it, let us know in the comments. [New York Times]