WRONG-SIZE-GENERATOR

Wrong Size Steam Generators - One of the most common complaints

About 1 in 3 people who read a sizing chart come to me and ask if the kilowatt size is the right one for their steam room. I get calls asking what my price is on a certain steam generator and after talking to people they have no idea how to really size their room. There are so many variables besides cubic feet. These sizing charts don’t take into consideration the quality of steam, just the volume of steam needed. I would say about 1 in 4 people after talking to me that originally thought they needed a certain size then talk to me and need to upsize it or downsize it. Those that get the size too big will always have a higher latent heat index and the steam will be muggier and wet.

Many salespeople will usually upsize people just so they don’t want to return it if there is not enough steam. Having more steam and quicker steam up times creates a muggier steam if the room is too far from the boarder line of upsizing.

The most common size for residential steam rooms is the 9kw sizes. One in 4 people that want the 9kw after talking to me end up buying a 7.5kw or 10.5kw model when looking for a pressure cooker type generator).

The salesperson that made the first recommendation didn’t consider heat co-efficients, getting too high of a latent heat index, and never even mentioned what the dryness fraction would be if they upsized. Most people get steam generators that make steam too drippy and the steam coming out is not in equilibrium with the steam condensing to the floor. This is a big problem with getting the wrong size. The steam gets very hot and clusters together and then you are waiting a long time for the next steam session to kick on but it comes on after you waited way too long since the room is very hot but the steam is gone.

I urge people to look for a generator that has the lowest latent heat index (steam that holds the least amount of non-steam moisture). The open tank generators (non-pressurized) steam have highest dryness fraction. If someone wants to upsize to make their steam more intense, I only promote upsizing to a higher kilowatt size if the steam is an open tank. Upsizing a generator will create more heat and the duty cycles will be less, even more less if using a low pressure steam generator.

What to do if you bought the wrong size:

There are many people that buy from the manufacturers and other authorized dealers that customers end up returning the steam generator back to the manufacturer for a different size. I always call to see if there are any of these available. I can get a deep discount on these if anyone wants one. Contact me if you are interested in a return from someone who bought the wrong size. The manufacturer checks them out to make sure they are in working condition and once they are certified used then I can buy them cheaper than my normal wholesale. For those that want the expensive open tank generators or who want surgical steel tanks and surgical steel heating elements, they can be too expensive more most home projects. Sometimes there is a dent on the side of a generator and I can get these at the same price as the returns.

It gets tricky when one company tells you that you need 6KW for a 175 cubic foot room and another tells you you need a 12kw.

Rarely does someone undersize. Everyone seems to be scared enough to always go to the next size and if they have high ceilings then to upsize even more. There is one company that I butt heads with nearly every day. They say there is no way a 6 kw generator will power a 175 cubic foot room. They say they need a 12 kw and the last person had a 9 foot ceiling and they told them to get a 13.5 kw generator. That is double the size I recommended.

Some steam generators need to have double the power when they are pressurized. Due to being inefficient, to produce hot enough steam and put out 2.5 gallons instead of a little over a gallon on the high end models that use very little water, it has to boil nearly twice the amount of water to produce the same steam since almost half of what is coming out of the steam head is nearly 50% condensate, 50% steam. The condensate is what causes the heat trap. That is the steam that is so hot that it rises to the ceiling. So, more steam needs to be produces to break away from the steam trap. I don’t like the models that have low psi that use 1/2 inch pipes that use so much steam. If it had 20 psi and had 3/4 inch pipes that didn’t make so much condensate that is a different story.

I am not saying other places are giving the wrong sizes or upsizing too high. If you go to my Thermasol page you will see that their 6 kw model works with rooms up to 84 cubic feet. SteamSpa’s 6kw generator only works with steam rooms up to 63 cubic feet. Steamcore’s 6kw will work with up to a 175 cubic feet. The benefit you get with the Steamspa which you would think is super inefficient if you need a 12 kw generator to do what a Steamcore can do with only 6kw of power. The difference is the fluence of steam. The Steamspa makes a really hot steam while Steamcore has a milder temperature and has very little water (condensate) in the steam. Both rooms are at the same temperature but the Steamspa is way more saturated than any other brand I have tested.

Steamspa steam sizing charts will give you one size recommendation while Mr. Steam or Thermasol can give you a much different size recommendation. The right size generator that most people prefer is a dry steam that has very hot steam so that it the excess heat from a 20psi generator can stay at the steam trap at the ceiling without taking away too much heat from the lower part of the room.

The dual tank inlet type generators also give a dry intense steam but in just is not as dense. The cloud lingers and stays at near the same temperature because it is so dry that there is very little condensate to bring down the steam cloud down to the floor. And, since it uses minimal water, Brownian motion doesn’t take over and create a large steam trap.

My sizing quiz will ask you enough questions that you don't get the wrong size.

Take my steam generator sizing quiz here.

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