Do Stone Baths Retain Heat?
Owning a bath or sauna is a great way to spend your leisure time in a private house or in a summer cottage. If you are thinking about building your bath, you have to solve many important issues that are necessary before building it. One of the important issues is the lining of the steam room, for which it is necessary to choose the right materials that will not only be visually attractive but also fully comply with the features of the operation of the room.
Most often, a bath is built of wood or brick. But there is an alternative – a stone bath, which will be more durable, due to the characteristics of the natural material.
In general, the stone is actively used for bathing. For example, a free standing stone bath is a very popular type of sanitary ware, which is increasingly being chosen by both designers to implement their ideas and users themselves. Such a product will ideally fit into absolutely any style and direction of the interior (be it space, the popular Scandi style, minimalism, loft, and so on). In addition, the stone has a unique natural pattern, thanks to which you can create a unique interior design and a unique atmosphere in the bathroom.
Users can currently find a wide range of sanitary ware models provided by various manufacturers. Pay attention to Luxury, Aquatica, and other widely used options.
As for the bath itself, here the stone finds its wide application. In particular, with the help of this natural material, the walls of the steam room can be clad, and a stove is made. By the way, the very first sauna stoves were made of stone. Over time, its metal counterparts have become more popular. But still, it is stone ovens that have some significant advantages:
getting steam of excellent quality, which is one of the key characteristics of the bath as a whole;
the possibility of longer heat transfer;
unlike the wooden walls of the bath, in the case of a stone bath, users will not need to carry out additional fire-fighting measures;
the possibility to effectively heat a room with a large area, due to the high power of stone stoves;
the absence of passage through the heater of combustion products, which is observed in stone ovens.
In addition, the stone is a natural material with increased strength and excellent resistance to various types of influences, in particular, to elevated temperatures, moisture, and so on. This is what makes stone products perfect for use in a steam room.
At the same time, stone products in the bath have certain disadvantages that need to be paid attention to. Some owners of baths or saunas note that stone structures do not retain heat as well as they would like. To what extent this statement is true, let’s see.
Features of heat transfer and other aspects of the operation of stone baths and saunas
Stone products are actively used in bathrooms and steam rooms. This is due to the functional and aesthetic advantages that this natural material has. To date, the market offers a wide range of stone bathtubs, sinks, and other types of plumbing. You can view the catalog of presented models at https://www.aquaticabath.co.uk/category/solid-surface-bathtubs, which contains a variety of high-quality products from the best manufacturers on the market.
When choosing a suitable stone product, you should pay attention not only to its external design but also to other important options. In particular, the features that a certain product made of natural material has, its shape and size, ergonomics, and other performance characteristics are important.
To select the functional elements of a stone bath, the key characteristic is its heat capacity. At the same time, different stones may have different heat capacity indicators, which must be taken into account when selecting a specific material. The most common types of natural stone are:
Jadeite is a semi-precious rock of emerald or light green color. It is characterized by a sufficiently large heat capacity, a service life of about four years, as well as the highest strength.
Soapstone is a rock with a dense and durable structure, which, when heated, releases soft and pleasant heat. Its heat capacity is higher than that of jadeite. In addition, it is resistant to chemically active substances.
Basalt is a volcanic rock that practically does not absorb moisture and is homogeneous and extremely strong. In addition to high thermal conductivity, this stone is environmentally friendly and has excellent bactericidal properties.
Crimson quartzite is a rock, which in the vast majority consists of natural quartz. This rare mineral has a lower heat capacity than previous types of stone but is strong, durable, and extremely wear resistant.
Diabase – another type of natural stone, which is widely used for arranging baths and saunas. Its distinctive characteristics are a service life of about two years, high thermal conductivity and strength, and uniformity.
Stone walls in the steam room allow you to set up a truly energy-efficient bath. To achieve this, it is necessary to engage in competent warming of the room, as well as a reliable vapor barrier. In this case, stone baths will perfectly retain heat, so that the owner of the steam room will be able to avoid wasted heat costs.
In addition to good heat capacity, the stone structure of the bath or sauna walls is characterized by convenient and economical maintenance. The use of natural stone for arranging the steam room avoids the occurrence of fungus, and this material is also distinguished by excellent wear resistance and resistance to various types of influences.
In addition, choosing the construction of a bath made of natural stone, subsequently, it will be quite easy and simple to take care of such a room. These types of saunas and baths are easy to finish. In particular, the stone frame is the most stable structure, the dimensions of which do not change at all depending on changes in temperature and humidity. In such a steam room, almost all the necessary finishing can be done with rigid fasteners to the main structure of the bath.
Thus, the stone construction of a bath or sauna, which you plan to build in a private house or in a summer cottage, is a comfortable, reliable, and safe room. Natural stone is an easy-to-use material that creates a unique atmosphere, with stylish design solutions. With proper organization of communications, the stone surface will perfectly retain heat inside the room, which will not only create a favorable atmosphere but will also significantly reduce costs.
In addition, this design can be easily decorated in such a style and using such materials as you want. At the same time, you will not worry about the fact that over time the structure may be deformed, and will be subjected to decay or other influences. The stone decoration will retain its attractive appearance and basic functionality for a long time, delighting visitors with a pleasant stay. In the future, such a design will be quite easy to care for, which makes it even more comfortable and easy to use regularly.