The Magic of Steam Showers
Let me tell you about my wife’s cousin Dave, who is an electrician. Whereas other people treat themselves to a sports car or Caribbean cruise, Dave treated himself to a steam shower in the basement of his house, for which he spent a total of about $3,500. After work, he steps in there, turns the steam on, and watches a day’s worth of tension disappear into the mist.
Although traditional hot air saunas, the kind that are lined with wood, where you sit with a towel over your face, are a luxury beyond the reach of most people, a steam shower is something different. It can be fitted into an existing shower stall, and easily incorporated into a larger one during a bathroom renovation. When in operation, small but powerful electric steam generator heats water from a dedicated supply line, then sends plumes of relaxing and head-clearing steam into the shower stall through one or more nozzles located near the floor. If I have a client trying to decide between a whirlpool or a steam shower, I recommend the steam shower every time.
In addition to the generator, construction of a steam shower requires a stall enclosure that is completely sealed off from the bathroom so all that steam cannot escape. Otherwise it’ll peel the wallpaper off the entire top floor of your house. Shower curtains are useless in this respect; a tightly fitting floor-to-ceiling glass door is the only solution. Locating the generator can also require some maneuvering. Although only the size of a carry-on suitcase, it requires additional space to keep hot pipes away from wood framing, and an enclosure that can be accessed in case a part needs replacing. Generally they are put in a closet that abuts the shower area, or down in the basement, but the closer the better. To get the most steam, you want the most direct and short a pipe run as possible from the generator to the shower, with a maximum distance of 50 feet. The cost of these units is between $900 and $1,500, but the cost escalates, depending on how they’re installed, as Cousin Dave discovered.
See also: Power Showers.
this sounds like a dream come true, a steam shower at home, usually they are kept at the gym and other people usually are in there. so i gather it works the same as sauna. but boy are they pricey ouch!