Ãœber exciting sauna discussion :p:

[ioan]

I'll take a look at the technical details of those sauna competitions, I doubt that the air and the steam in the sauna is actually at 100°C.

BTW did any of you try to put your hand in boiling water, 100°C or so? I doubt you'll be able to keep it there for more than a fraction of a second, Finnish or not you'll damage your skin.

[janneppi]

Boiling water, however is completely different case than 100°C air.

[Juppe]

I'll take a look at the technical details of those sauna competitions, I doubt that the air and the steam in the sauna is actually at 100°C.

BTW did any of you try to put your hand in boiling water, 100°C or so? I doubt you'll be able to keep it there for more than a fraction of a second, Finnish or not you'll damage your skin.

The difference is in heat transfer coefficient between water/skin and air/skin.

with water it is approximately 1000 - 2000 W/m2°C and with air maybe 5 W/m2°C. Hence the difference.

If you put a ham in an oven it takes about 1,5 - 2 hours to cook, but if you were to boil it in water it is much faster. The reason is the same.

Give it up, I very much know what I'm talking about.

[ioan]

The difference is in heat transfer coefficient between water/skin and air/skin.

with water it is approximately 1000 - 2000 W/m2°C and with air maybe 5 W/m2°C. Hence the difference.

I know it depends on the heat transfer coeff. but sooner or later (in our case later) your body ends up having the same temperature with the hot air. This is why I replied to janneppi's post.

As a side question, what's the use of doing this?!

[janneppi]

I know it depends on the heat transfer coeff. but sooner or later (in our case later) your body ends up having the same temperature with the hot air. This is why I replied to janneppi's post.

As a side question, what's the use of doing this?!

The use is to teach you that humans can easily survive in a 100°C sauna for 30 minutes, even 60 minutes(in normal core temperatures), without breaking the laws of physics or boiling themselves to death.

[tinchote]

I know it depends on the heat transfer coeff. but sooner or later (in our case later) your body ends up having the same temperature with the hot air. This is why I replied to janneppi's post.

As a side question, what's the use of doing this?!

As far as I know, the key is the extremely low humidity (around 5%?).

[janneppi]

As far as I know, the key is the extremely low humidity (around 5%?).

A finnish sauna is pretty humid, as water is thrown on the heated stones
Apparently a bigger issue why it's "comfortable" is a small micro climate very near the skin, which is cooled by body heat opposed to being heated by hot air.
You can test this by blowing on your skin in a sauna , it feels damned hot.

(Don't blow on your fellow saunagoers skin, it's concidered rude. Hitting the other guys sholder is concidered a suitable punishment. )

[schmenke]

Like Banneppi, I enjoy a sauna at between 100 and 120 deg. C and I'm not even Finnish :

[Eki]

You need a colder source to cool yourself when surrounded by air and water particles that are at 100°C.
And in function of your volume it will take more or less but not ages, and definitely not more than 1 hour.

No, evaporation makes things cool down below the ambient temperature. That's what human sweating is about and that's what cooling towers are based on:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooling_tower

[A.F.F.]

Oddly enough, where the temperature is 110°C. http://www.saunaheinola.com/

This is time to confess that I'm originally from Heinola