Which stove to choose for a bath: factory or handicraft? I share my opinion after operating both options

My love for the bath has remained from the village where I was born and raised. There, almost everyone has their own bathhouse. Rustic simple, often with a stove welded from scrap metal. The home-made stove served us for more than 30 years, and then, during the reconstruction of the bath, a similar one was welded.

This furnace was welded from two disks from a KrAZ car and one (under water) from a ZIL. The firebox goes into the dressing room. A stove is installed above the firebox. A metal pipe passes through the stove from the firebox, which passes into a brick chimney, which in turn passes through the ceiling without any passages and refractories.

A similar stove served, as I wrote, for 30 years - the furnace burned out in it, rust ate up the water tank, and the chimney pipe almost completely burned out. I think this is a good time for a regular steel stove with weekly use.

Two more discs were found at the vtormet collection point and the furnace was renewed. The cost of purchasing metal was

about 1000 rubles (for 2018). The washing room in this version is combined with a steam room. The water tank is welded to the stove (through a double baffle so that the water does not boil). The stove is heavy, especially with a brick chimney. Therefore, a concrete slab was poured under it in advance. In terms of heat transfer, this stove is slightly inferior to the factory models. This was associated with the worst traction due to the lack of an ash pan.

A review about this country bath was in the article: Country bath for 70,000 rubles

Pros and cons: low cost for self-production (welding), durability, ugly appearance, a water tank is located in the steam room. Would I choose this option again? If only again for a village bath and making a stove with your own hands because of the price issue.

Before building my bath in 2010, I first focused on a makeshift stove, welded from 4 mm thick steel. But I looked at the prices, compared them with the factory models and bought the factory one. it was even cheaper. The factory furnace cost $ 18,000. rub. Garage production, as I remember - about 20 thousand

The choice in favor of the factory version was not only due to the price, aesthetic appearance and the fire door with glass. In this model there was also a heat exchanger, to which I connected corrugated stainless steel gas pipes and brought them into the washing room by connecting a water tank with a volume 50 l. This was planned in advance.

The steel is not so thick, but it is alloyed, heat resistant. The stove is already 10 years old. In the summer, one bookmark of firewood is enough to heat the steam room to 90 grams.

Looked at the prices for ovens with a glass door. Their cost now: from 30 to 37 thousand rub. With a regular door - from 20 thous. rub. I transported such a stove in the salon of my car (station wagon). You don't need to hire a Gazelle. A neighbor helped to unload, move and put in place.

Pros and cons: beautiful appearance, low weight (no foundation needed), the ability to connect a water tank through a heat exchanger, high cost.

Recently I saw sauna stoves at a construction base, which are made piece by piece in some kind of garage production.

The cost of a three-section, silver stove (firebox, heater and water tank) - RUB 29250 Two-section, but also with a water tank - RUB 28550 Stoves painted black - RUB 26,500

Agree, the view is at least severe. Not suitable for a beautiful sauna interior. In addition, such a bulky oven can be delivered only by truck (or in a caravan), and installed only with assistants. Such a furnace needs a foundation. The difference in price with the factory models is not big.

If you make a sauna stove yourself, then it will come out several times cheaper than all purchased options. But to such a stove, I would add strips of metal around the perimeter and lined the perimeter with a stone (jadeite, soapstone, serpentine, serpetinite). Alternatively, you can line the stove with a stone in the form of tiles. But the cost of the cladding kit is transcendental.

Who installed what kind of sauna stove at home - write in the comments.