What is a Finnish Sauna?
The classic Nordic ritual: a wood-lined room heated by a stove, where dry heat and the occasion of löyly (steam) relax the body and quiet the mind.
The original sauna
Also called a traditional sauna
The traditional sauna comes from Finland, where it has been part of everyday life for well over a thousand years — a place to bathe, recover and gather, in a country with more saunas than cars. What most of the world calls a traditional sauna, the Finns simply call a sauna: a timber room, a stove, a bed of stones, and time set aside to use them.
That heritage shapes everything about how a traditional sauna works, from the wood it is lined with to the ritual of pouring water over hot stones — the burst of soft steam the Finns call löyly.
A deep, radiant warmth.
A traditional sauna heats the air, and the air heats you. A warmth that has anchored Nordic wellbeing for centuries.
Heaters
Electric or wood-fired?
Most home saunas use an electric heater: it reaches temperature predictably, needs no flue, and suits indoor rooms as well as garden cabins. A wood-fired stove takes more tending and belongs outdoors, but rewards you with the crackle, scent and slow ritual that many bathers consider the truest form of sauna. Hekla’s traditional range offers both, in thermally modified Nordic spruce (Thermowood) built for the UK climate.
Same benefits, different heat
Traditional or infrared?
Traditional
70–90°C
The classic ritual
Hotter, more humid at the löyly moments, and more intense — heat that hits you at the door, water on stones, and cool-downs between rounds.
Infrared
45–60°C
Calm, everyday heat
Warms you directly at a gentler temperature over longer sessions, and is typically cheaper to run — heat you can read in.
Traditional sauna FAQs
A Finnish sauna is the original traditional sauna: a timber room heated by a stove and stones to around 70–90°C, with low humidity punctuated by bursts of löyly steam when water is poured over the stones. The terms Finnish sauna and traditional sauna describe the same thing.
Typically 70–90°C at head height. Beginners usually start nearer 70°C and work up. Our temperature guide explains the ranges and how to adjust them.
Löyly is the Finnish word for the wave of steam released when water is ladled over the hot stones — and, to Finns, the whole character of a sauna’s heat. It briefly raises humidity and the felt temperature, then the room settles back to dry warmth.
Choose traditional for the classic high-heat ritual and löyly; choose infrared for gentler, lower-temperature sessions that are quicker to warm up and economical to run. Visiting a showroom is the easiest way to feel the difference — find your nearest Hekla stockist.
Shop traditional
