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January 20, 2025
EAU CLAIRE/CHIPPEWA FALLS – You’ve probably heard of outdoor hot tubs that people frequently use in the middle of winter.
Maybe you even know someone who has one.
But what about an outdoor sauna?
Would you use one in the middle of winter?
Mike Holden, co-owner of Steam Rock Saunas, and his partner, Diana Lambert, said they have enjoyed the fun and health benefits of an outdoor sauna for a couple of years now.
“Getting our own sauna when we moved back to Wisconsin from Texas back in 2022 was a game-changer for us,” Lambert said. “We didn’t know what we were missing.”
After saunaing for a full year and personally feeling many physical and mental health benefits, Lambert said “we knew this was something we had to share with others.”
“We want to help folks in our area learn what saunaing is all about and bring the experience to their daily lives,” she said.
Based on a lot of research, Holden said they reached out to Thermory – an outdoor sauna manufacturer – purchased a sauna off the internet and installed it themselves.
“We’re pretty big do-it-yourself people, so we put it together ourselves, but it was a little cumbersome,” he said, adding that he also has a background in construction.
“Once installed, we fell in love with it,” he said.
Satisfied with their purchase and wanting to introduce others to the benefits of saunas, Holden said they became a dealer for Thermory Barrel Saunas.
“We started Steam Rock Saunas in October of 2023,” he said.
As dealers for Thermory Barrel Saunas Steam Rock Saunas can sell to anyone in the State of Wisconsin.
They also sell Harvia and Huum Stove products, which are used to “fuel” the sauna, if you will.
One step further
Though they were able to install their sauna personally, partly due to Holden’s background in construction, the partners said not everyone can do so.
Enter Steam Rock Saunas, Holden said.
The co-owners said they wanted to take the e-commerce experience one step further and provide greater assistance to customers, helping them avoid some of the cumbersome parts of the installation process while helping guide others through the entire process from start to finish if they needed that kind of guidance.
“We’re trying to bridge that ‘click-and-buy’ market,” Holden said. “With us, you get someone local who has a knowledge base and can answer questions and help at any step along the way. We’re kind of like a direct conduit to the manufacturer.”
In a nutshell, Holden said Steam Rock Saunas can help customers decide which model of sauna is right for them, order it and have it drop-shipped to their home.
He said he and Lambert also do the site prep or provide assistance in doing so, and provide help from start to finish – if a customer wants them to.
Holden said they can even help customers find an electrician to do the electrical part of the installation.
“It’s rather daunting to make such a large purchase online without assurances that you can reach a real person if there is an issue,” Lambert said. “And it can be daunting not to have a local lifeline to consult with or do the site prep and sauna assembly.”
Lambert said for many, life is busy, schedules are hectic and “handiness with tools may be a hindrance” to getting a sauna experience started – which is another driver for why they started the business.
“We source the products, provide end-to-end, turn-key installation from site prep through assembly for both wood-fire and electric saunas, and consult if a customer desires to do the site prep and/or assembly on their own,” she said.
Marketing the business
Launching Steam Rock Saunas, Holden said, was one thing, spreading the word about outdoor saunas, especially in winter, and drumming up business is something else completely.
To help, the partners said they purchased a second sauna and installed it on a trailer that they now use for mobile marketing events, such as the annual Christmas parades in both Chippewa Falls and Eau Claire.
It is all wired and set up, Holden said, ready to use at a moment’s notice.
“We actually had it fired up and had people saunaing during a parade,” he said.
Besides parades, Holden said they have taken the mobile sauna trailer to the Northern Wisconsin State Fair, ice-fishing tournaments and sports shows, and used it for social media marketing.
The trailer, he said, is also used in Steam Rock Saunas’ “Try Before You Buy” program, where they’ll deliver the trailer to a customer’s home and let them rent it for a week to try it out.
At the end of the week, if they decide to buy a sauna of their own, Holden said the rental cost is credited against their purchase price.
“Most people that rent it, are interested in purchasing one after they experience it,” he said.
Holden said their marketing efforts are starting to pay off – with the sauna trailer creating even more buzz.
He said they had a busy fall and winter is already off to a very good start.
Thermory saunas a good fit
Holden and Lambert said they partnered with Thermory for a host of reasons – which includes having the three components that contribute to a great barrel sauna:
- The more glass the better
- Wood type/modification
- The diameter of the barrel
Thermory glass, Holden said, is tinted so privacy remains intact.
He said the company also uses a variety of spruce tree species to make their products.
Lambert said the wood is thermally modified, meaning it has been “super-heated” using only temperature and steam to treat the wood.
“The moisture level of the wood is reduced to 0% over a period of 35-46 hours and then the temperature is raised to the necessary level, followed by the cooling and misting of the wood,” she said. “Heat triggers physical and chemical reactions in the wood, which means Thermory wood is highly durable, stable in changing weather conditions, has better insulating qualities, is chemical-free, lightweight and biologically-resistant to pests and microorganisms, (meaning rot-resistant, too).”
Lambert said Thermory also has the largest diameter barrels available.
This feature, she said, makes sitting in the barrel feel much larger than it looks.
A larger diameter is especially important if the desired capacity is four to six people.
“Having the extra diameter makes for a more spacious experience on the inside without noticeably increasing the visual footprint on the outside,” she said. “The most common feedback we get when people try the barrel sauna is, ‘It’s a lot bigger in here than what it looks like from the outside.’”
Holden said the traditional saunas are heated either with electric stoves – where the elements are surrounded by rock – or a wood stove, which is specifically designed to hold a bunch of stones.
Water, he said, can be added to the rocks to create steam with either heating option.
“Some people also put essential oils in the water so they can have a steam effect with, for example, a lavender scent,” he said. “There’s about 100 different blends of essential oils you can add.”
The benefits
Besides being a fun, winter activity, Holden said there are health benefits, involved with saunas.
According to Steam Rock Saunas’ website (steamrocksaunas.com), those benefits include:
- Reduced risk of stroke and hypertension with regular use
- Helps promote muscle relaxation and eliminates lactic acid when used after exercise
- Supports deeper, more relaxed sleep
- Helps with relaxation and regulates the level of cortisol in the blood
Additionally, Holden said there are other studies and information online that discuss the benefits of saunas.
“There’s a labyrinth of information available out there,” he said.
As long-time sauna users, Holden and Lambert said they like the aspect of contrast therapy – which includes going from hot to cold and back again.
“It’s such a great thing to be able to get outside in the cold, winter months,” Holden said. “You can go into a room that’s 160 degrees. We spend an hour to an hour and 20 minutes in there and go in and out during that time. So you’re in a very hot room, then go outside when it gets to be too hot for you and you get that cooling effect, but it doesn’t necessarily feel like it’s 10 degrees out or whatever. Then you go back in to warm up again.”
Western Wisconsin focus
At the moment, Holden said Steam Rock Saunas primarily focuses on the Eau Claire-Chippewa Falls market.
However, since they can sell to anyone in Wisconsin, he said under the right conditions they might consider going further out than just their current area to install.
“It depends on the circumstances,” he said.
