Steam Showers

A built in steam shower

A built in steam shower is a normal tiled shower made airtight, with a generator installed out of sight and a steam head and control inside the enclosure. The room does the containing; the equipment only makes the steam.

That is why this route is decided at the construction stage. The enclosure needs a sealed ceiling and a door that closes properly, the generator needs somewhere to live with a water supply and power, and none of it is easy to add to a shower that is already finished.

Steam generator sizing

The generators here are rated in kilowatts, from around eight up to the mid twenties, and the rating is chosen from the volume of the enclosure rather than from preference.

Size is not the only input. The materials lining the room matter too, because stone and glass draw heat out of the air faster than a tiled surface over a warm substrate does, so two enclosures of the same volume can need different generators. The manufacturer publishes a sizing method for exactly this, and it is the one to use and not a rule of thumb.

Steam shower controls

Modern steam is run from a digital control mounted in or near the enclosure, with screens here from five to fifteen inches. They hold a set temperature, run a session on a timer, and on the larger units bring lighting, sound and the shower itself under one interface.

Because the generator is hidden, the control is the product as far as daily use is concerned. It is also the part that is seen, which is why they are offered in finishes and in round and square forms to suit the rest of the bathroom.

Steam shower packages

Several of these are sold as packages rather than single components: a control, a steam head, a rainhead and lighting bundled together, sometimes with a digital shower valve so the shower and the steam run from the same screen.

The reason to buy that way is the same as with any matched set. The parts are designed to work together and to look like each other, which is harder to achieve when a control from one range is paired with a shower fitting from another.

The cabin route

The alternative is a complete steam cabin: a sealed enclosure with its own generator, seating, lighting and controls built in, delivered as a unit. Some pair the steam with a whirlpool bath; some carry a screen.

It solves a different problem. A cabin does not require the room to be airtight or the walls to be built for it, so it can go into a bathroom that already exists. What it asks in return is that the room makes space for a finished object rather than the object being shaped to the room.

Which route a bathroom can take

If the bathroom is being rebuilt, the built in route is available and gives a steam room that looks like the rest of the bathroom. If it is not, a cabin is usually the only practical option, and it is the reason the format exists.

If the shower itself is also being specified, the shower systems range covers matched fittings, the shower niches and benches page covers the components a steam enclosure is built with, and the stone shower bases page covers the floor.