Fire and Ice - Guide to Sauna -White Banya: Where tradition meets science and technology to create the balanced heat Sauna

Fire and Ice - Guide to Sauna -White Banya: Where tradition meets science and technology to create the balanced heat Sauna

Fire and Ice is a practical design guide to build a Sauna or White Banya from traditional log using the post corner log construction. But the Wyoming Sauna is a North American design introducing the air-dam concept and balanced heat concept to traditional sauna. This may not be the first time such a concept has been used. This book just shows you how. You learn how to prevent recycling the CO2 and stale air into the breathing air of the upper chamber. This design keeps stale air on the floor where it is eliminated. The design also limits over productive radiant heat from the stove by surrounding the metal with rock. The stove is akin to the Russian style masonry stove, with faster heat output incorporated and hotter rocks. This creates a balanced heat with all three types of heat transfer, radiant, convective and conductive. This prevents any one of the three heat transfer types from being overpowering and uncomfortable, thus creating surround heat that envelopes the bather and is pleasant. The air-dam makes the experience excelent by constant and continuous flooding of fresh hot air to the upper chamber so it is never stale. When water is thrown on the rocks the experience is just as it should be because the design lowers the thermoclines for better feet warming and conservation of heat. The author details the sauna thermodynamics in layman's terms for concept and understanding. The book details the ways to build with logs using the post and wall log style of old Germany. This design helps preserve the logs from end rot. This book also details what to look for in rocks to use in the sauna and how to properly heat shield the heat from combustibles. A chapter discusses the use of firewood and drying. Another chapter discusses the wood of benches and how to keep the conductive heat of wood benches in check by using good choices in wood density or alternatively weight/volume. The details of how to build a biochar style stove are included. The reader will learn the differences and similarities of the Americas sweat cultures and the differences from Smoke Sauna and Black Banya to White Banya and Sauna that have morphed into the Modern North American Sweat lodge. The Ice bath and its use is covered detailing the best tubs to use and how to keep clean. The last Chapter is a slight study of the sweat culture in the Americas with quotes from Prince Maximilian of Wied's journals of his expiditions to North America in the early 1800's. The Builder that uses this book to design a modern sweat house will enjoy the North American Sauna - White Banya as it should be. Even Native Americans have embraced the new sweat lodge with incorporation of the age old traditions of their culture. Some historical notes about American laws relating to Sweat culture made them illegal for some cultures due to bigotry and manifest destiny mindsets. This is a very new and different book on how to do a practice that is thousands of years old and do it as well as possible based on applied science. If you are planning on building a Sauna of any kind you should read this guide for the venting information alone. Many books cover venting based on traditional styles this book covers it from the thermodynamic principles that create better venting and better balanced heat. When the venting is right everything else takes care of itself and is fairly straight forward and covered by the other books extensively. I hope you build a sweat house, sweat lodge, Temazcal, Sauna or White Banya - you should not be disappointed as it can be such a healthy addition to your life. Thank you and I wish You the greatest positive joy and energy - Jimmy Creel " If tar and heat is not the cure then you will die" - old sauna proverb. The Ice is the Fire and the Fire becomes the ice, the steam brings things back to normal - only the man that has experienced Fire, Ice and Loyly will understand this. Good Steam!