The floor fan helps mix the bottom thermocline near the floor that has cool air and blow it towards the ceiling that has very hot steam. When the thermoclines are mixed, it averages out the temperature so if you set the room at 114 degrees, the room will stay longer at that temperature instead of what most people experience which is a wide variance in temperature at the body core level.
Most steam rooms have less than 100% humidity at the feet and leg level. The ceiling is almost always at 100% humidity and when the steam room has a pressurized generator that dumps too many grams of steam at once (fast burn), once the ceiling is at 100% humidity, if more steam is added after 100% it can stick to the walls and drip off the ceiling and the steam room now has a heavy, muggy steam. I prefer a slow burn steam if ceilings are over 7 feet or if using ceramic or porcelain tile that soaks up the steam.
Because the floor fan evens out the room temperature, the walls will not get as hot near the ceiling. When the walls get very hot, it condenses even more steam and takes it away so you don't have that dense steam cloud.
Note: Unless you want to hose down or splash the walls with a cold water bucket several times during your steam session, or splash cold water on the temperature sensor, a slow burn steam generator with a floor fan can help solve the problem.
Splashing water on the walls gets rid of the latent heat created by condensate so the steam can stay on longer. The best way is to get a generator that uses 1.5 gallons instead of 2.5 to 3 gallons to minimize condensate so the walls don't heat up as fast. Dry steam from atmospheric type generators are most optimal for keeping a continuous steam if you have over a 7 foot ceiling. (over 7 foot ceilings push the 110-114 degree sweet spot range above your head. If you have an 8 foot ceiling, the sweet spot is pushed up 12 inches higher than a 7 foot room.
See my page on thermoclines and how to stay in the 110-114 window the entire session (full body steam therapy). When the body is at the same temperature from foot to toe, this whole body vasodilation instead of just heating the upper body.
Floor fans
10 inch - If the room is very small, usually requiring a 6kw generator
12 inch - I like this size if the room requires a 7.5kw to a 9kw and the ceiling height is under 8 feet.
16 inch fans - If the room needs a 10.5kw generator and the ceilings are 8 feet to 10 feet
Note: you may want more than one fan aiming upward if your room height is above 8 feet and you want full body steam therapy. Adjusting the speeds of the fan will change the CFU and when you get the floor fan you can tweak it so you know the exact fan speed that will keep the room temperature at what you want.
How to Keep Steam Room Sessions at 20 minutes with floor fans
The floor fan will do the best job if the steam is a slow burn. If it is a fast burn steam that lets all the steam out in a big burst, once the burst is over there can be a duty cycle of several minutes when no steam comes out. Having a fan in the steam room works best when it is displacing a slow flow of steam coming out of the generator. Fans work best with atmospheric type generators that let out the steam over a longer period of time instead of dumping it out all at once.
Also, using a floor fan with a steam generator that produces steam with less condensate helps not to blow all the large molecule wet steam back up into the air. I've used fans in steam rooms that have a low psi generator that you can actually see the steam coming out of the steam head. These are the types that use 2.5 gallons instead of a 1.5 gallon for the same session. I have taken a napkin up to the steam head. When the steam comes out dry, it goes throw the napkin. Wet steam soaks up the napkin. See my page on low psi steam generators if you want to research them.
Dry steam stays in the air and doesn't immediately stick to the walls like wet steam. Dry steam blown by a fan will keep it in the air longer so it doesn't condense at the ceiling thermocline. Here is an example of a slow burn dry steam at 100% dryness fraction. This visual should help show what a slow burn, dry steam looks and feels like.
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Know before buying a steam generator
Know before buying a steam generator
Know before buying a steam generator
DiscountSteamGenerators.com
We're open now
1-800-336-9285
Ask for Sharon
We're open now
1-800-336-9285
Ask for Alex
These waterproof floor fans come in 8 inch up to 16 inch fans. If you have ceilings at 7 feet tall, you really don't need the fan since the 110 114 degree thermocline will naturally be around your body core level. If you have an 8 foot ceiling, you will need a smaller fan and don't need as high CFU. If you have a 9 foot ceiling then you may want to have a combination of a floor fan and a low cfu wall fan to bring the steam trap down so you won't be in a thermocline that is under 110 degrees. Those who get steam generators that have lots of condensate will have a harder time keeping a steam cloud in the steam room even with a fan.
I have made videos below showing how much closer the floor temperature is to the ceiling temperature with my laser thermometer just by having a floor fan
You don't know you like it till you try it
So many people say they like to stay in the steam room for half an hour or longer. I would say 90% of the people like to stay in the steam room for 30 minutes. These are usually people that go to gyms or spas and it is not continuous steam. In gyms they usually have one steam head that comes on and then turns off and you have to wait a few minutes for it to kick back on again. Also, in gyms you can't control the temperature unless you are in the room where they keep the steam generator (yes, I have snuck back there many times and turned up the heat).
If you tweak your steam room so that you are in the 110 to 114 degree window (114 preferably), and your entire body is at 114 degrees, not just your upper body or head, and the steam has low condensate so it actually feels good and is easy to breath, your session should only last 20 minutes. If you have never experienced full body vasodilation in a steam room you might not understand and think 20 minutes is too short or even 15 minutes for some people. It doesn't take long to heat your core 3 degrees over normal body temperature when your entire body is at 114 degrees. If over 114 degrees it doesn't feel comfortable and most people go into cardiac drift before they can finish a 20 minute steam session. When the steam is dry and it is so dense you can't see the person on the other side of the room, and you are not sitting in a muggy steam room, and the temperature never waivers that much it is a beautiful experience.
For those that want to tweak their steam room for this type of experience, starting with a steam generator that has a 6 degree variance or less in temperature to start with is much better than a generator that has high fluctuations in temperatures and has long wait times between steam sessions.
For those that have ceilings over 7 feet, I strongly urge people not to oversize and get a higher killowatt steam generator. This can make things even worse. If too much steam comes out at once, it will create more latent heat in a shorter time and the sensor will get too hot and turn off the steam. The steam become heavier and muggier due to the fast release of steam faster than it can fall to the floor. I prefer the atmospheric type that are a slow burn and release the same amount of steam over a longer period of time.
Having a floor fan will displace the steam in the room. After all, sizing the steam generator has to do with the cubic foot volume of the room. Many people go up two killowatt sizes for their steam generator and this can bring the 110 to 114 degree thermocline at the body level as it would normally be pushed up 12 inches higher if the ceiling is a 8 foot ceiling. Upsizing to a larger size is one of the biggest mistakes people do and end up needing to return it because their generator is too big. See my page on oversizing so you don't make the mistake.
Customer notice: If you already talked to someone and just say they told you to get a 9 kw and I tell you that you need a 6kw generator...who are you going to believe. It is not that they are telling you wrong, most of them are trying to get you enough steam so your steam is intense enough that you don't call back and return it.
Also, different brands have different sizing charts. If you have a 175 cubic foot room you will need a 6Kw generator but if you want a 20psi pressurized generator, their 6kw generator only goes up too 63 cubic feet. But, usually my sizing recommendation is different that what most people get. I figure in a lot more than just the size of the room and material used. Some people have a bench that takes up 50 cubic feet and when I subtract that. If the generator is far away from the room many people don't ask that question either.
Consumer notice: water proof fans - IP RATINGS
I urge people to make sure their fan has the right IP rating so that it is protected from water spray from any direction. The floor fans we use are IPX4 rated. Some fans have a lower IP rating and are not as good for a steam room. If you don't want to hardwire the fans the lithium battery powered fans are what most people use in their steam room. The 16 inch fan has the biggest battery and can go several steam sessions before you have to recharge the battery. The 16 inch fans are the most expensive ($169) and the smaller ones are around $49.
For optimal steam sessions with fans, steam should be dry (consisting of 97% steam and 3% liquid. It is hard to control steam for full body vasodilation (whole body steam therapy) when too much steam comes out at once and it has an extra gallon of water released into the steam in a 30 minute session.
If you want to tweak your steam room with fans and need help choosing fans that will displace the latent heat and steam in the steam room, make contact. 1-800-336-9285
