Choosing a grid for a sauna heater

Recall that a sauna stove includes the following elements:

• Housing.
• Blocks.
• Chimney.
• Firebox.
• Ash box.
• Stone net, i.e. the heater itself.

Important! A special additional mesh that is attached around the chimney of the stove is called an economizer. Keep this in mind when choosing a ready-made exhibition model for your bath..

Factory, ready-made nets for sauna stoves can be round in shape, clearly enveloping the chimney pipe, oval, square, rectangular, cone-shaped, diamond-shaped. Nets stand apart, which are made in the form of a wide basket for a large number of stones. There are combined options – at the bottom of the basket, at the top, around the pipe there is a mesh with a noticeably smaller diameter.

Important! The economizer doesn’t just serve as a receptacle for stones to splash on. The mesh minimizes the heat that comes from the hot chimney pipe and, in the case of the basket, from the oven body itself. As a result, the chimney lasts longer, and those who take a steam bath do not risk getting heatstroke from too sharp heating of the air. In addition, the stones in the net retain heat, you can sit in the steam room longer, without even throwing up firewood..

The length of the stone net and its diameter always depend on the dimensions of the stove chimney. The economizer can cover the entire chimney, or it can be as little as half or a quarter of its height. Manufacturers usually indicate how much stones the grid is designed for – for example, 20 or 40 kilograms.

Structurally, the mesh is often made from metal rods of various thicknesses, which can be arranged in different ways. As a result, the economizer can look very attractive, in the form of an openwork design, or it can be the simplest one, similar to a thick netting.

The price, accordingly, will be very different. You can buy a ready-made heater grid of the Ermak and Sibir brands for 700–1300 rubles, or you can find models from such manufacturers as Karhu at a price of 2.5 thousand rubles. The most expensive are decorative nets, which will definitely become the best decoration of the chimney pipe, turning an ordinary stove into an important element of the bath interior.

When choosing a ready-made heater mesh, bath owners need to consider:

• The location of the oven in the steam room.
• The height of the chimney, or rather, its free part.
• Maximum furnace performance.

If the stove is installed in a corner, you can choose models in which one part is deaf, closed – it will still not be visible due to the location on the side of the wall.

For a narrow and cramped steam room, the heater mesh is chosen stretched along the chimney, narrow like a candle. Other structures will take up too much space and there is a risk of burns on the hot metal.

Important! Do not use galvanized metal coated with polyester resins and PVC for the manufacture of mesh heaters. Also, you cannot use dissimilar materials, for example, copper with aluminum or aluminum with steel..

As for the choice of the stones themselves that will fill the grid, the portal devoted a separate article to this issue..

Of course, factory-made grids for a heater stove have many advantages:

• They look beautiful, the models are varied, you can choose according to your taste and wallet.
• They do not deform, they are made of high quality, they serve for a long time.
• Ergonomic, often made for a specific sauna stove model.

Despite this, many sauna owners decide that they can make such a simple element of the heater with their own hands. And they are right! We will give you video instructions on how to make a grid for stones in a bath with your own hands: