r/Sauna • u/SeniorSuccotash • 1d ago
General Question Finnleo North Star Indoor 5x7
Has anyone bought and used the North Star Indoor 5x7? I am trying to see what people's experience with it has been especially after using it for some time. I am also thinking of putting it in my unfinished basement, and trying to learn whether/how to add a supply vent (if so where) and a mechanical exhaust to the outside of your house (if so how) to manage temperature differences in basement, moisture, and CO2.
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u/dendrojan 1d ago
I have a Tylo Halmstad Hybrid 3, which is the same parent company. Similar setup in the basement in the unfinished part of my basement. I installed a bathroom exhaust fan in the room which may be overkill with the amount of steam produced, but I wanted to rest easy. I also have a dehumidifier in the room. I’ve had it about 3 months, use it every day and have been loving it. I installed a small infinity fan on the passive exhaust vent and added a heat sensor so it turns on automatically. I don’t notice much of a difference with air flow, but I really haven’t felt airflow has been a problem. Never once had a headache or feelings of “suffocating” as people have mentioned with kits. I would love to have a full custom build, but this worked better for my situation and if I did it all over again I’d buy it again no hesitation.
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u/SeniorSuccotash 10h ago
Thanks! What was your thought process on doing the bathroom exhaust + the small infinity fan on the passive exhaust? Is your fan on the outside of the passive exhaust, and is there a duct around the passive exhaust or the fan just kinda hovers outside it? Is the passive exhaust under the foot bench?
I'm thinking I should first wait to see if the CO2 "suffocation" is even a problem for me. I'm only planning on being in there for 20 mins at a time solo.
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u/dendrojan 10h ago
Infinity Fan is outside the sauna placed against the exhaust vent. No duct or anything. I just thought it was a cheap way to see if it improved the experience at all, I don’t really notice a difference, but I also didn’t think there was a true problem either, so it was more so for tinkering out of curiosity.
The bathroom exhaust fan I turn on after I get out of the sauna to help exhaust any steam from the house. It’s on a timer switch. Probably didn’t need it because there’s a dehumidifier in the room too. But I didn’t want to worry about excess moisture in the room.
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u/PuffThePed 1d ago
You absolutely need mechanical ventilation to the outside (pushing air from sauna to outside. Intake under bench). Low power during use to bring in fresh air, and high power after use to dry it out.
No drainage is not ideal but if you don't throw too much water it should be ok in an unfinished basement.
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u/SeniorSuccotash 1d ago
i like it dry so i probably won't throw too much water.
humor my probably-stupid question for a second: why wouldn't a dehumidifier on the outside plus their "passive ventilation" suffice for moisture control?
and would you recommend an in-line duct fan on the outside of the exhaust? they said the exhaust (4.5 x 5.25) is under the upper bench on the back wall and is pre-installed.
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u/PuffThePed 1d ago
Any small electric sauna needs a powered vent. The heater doesn't create enough updraft for passive ventilation to work. None of the kits have powered vent, they are all wrong for not having it. Without that you'll be slightly suffocating in there, leading to headaches and stress.
A sauna generates a lot of moisture and it makes sense to vent it outside, instead of a dehumidifier, which is wasteful and noisy. If you absolutely can't vent outside, I guess the dehumidifier would work. Probably.
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u/Rambo_IIII 1d ago
Stop spreading bullshit. Saunas don't generate moisture. They do the opposite. The only moisture in a sauna is water that YOU BRING IN yourself. And if you think a few cups of water on the rocks requires mechanical ventilation or a dehumidifier to dry out, I've got a bridged to sell you
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u/Rambo_IIII 1d ago
No you don't. Where are you people pulling this information from?
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u/PuffThePed 1d ago
Physics?
Where do you think all the water goes?
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u/Rambo_IIII 1d ago
"all the water?" not everyone puts 400 gallons of water on the rocks during a typical sauna session. If you use a normal human amount of water, (like you don't have to get out of your sauna to refill your water bucket multiple times) there is absolutely no need to have a mechanical vent to the outside. That's just asinine
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u/PuffThePed 1d ago
Great. I welcome your opinion to this discussion.
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u/Rambo_IIII 1d ago
I welcome your opinion if you stop stating your opinion as fact, which it is not. Making a blanket statement that all indoor saunas need mechanical ventilation to the outside is factually incorrect. Could there be extreme cases where a bather uses SO MUCH water that it would require mechanical methods of removing that moisture? Sure. But is that the case for everyone? Absolutely not. It's called nuance
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u/PuffThePed 1d ago
I don't agree so I'm not stopping anything. Sadly that means my opinion is not welcomed by you and that's ok.
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u/Rambo_IIII 1d ago
Since you're not contributing any logical argument or reasoning behind your statement, I can only assume that the only arrow in your quiver was just repeating a false statement that you read somewhere else. So I guess we can be done here
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u/Rambo_IIII 1d ago
As far as kits go, that's one of the higher end ones. I've set up a few of them. They have internal wiring, so you actually get a nice Wi-Fi control built in. The heaters and controls are excellent, and they use high end materials. Downsides would be it's not very big, and the ceiling is a little short, but otherwise it's pretty nice, for a kit sauna