Sauna vs steam room.
Sauna vs steam room: the differences, and which is better for you.
A sauna is hot and dry, usually 70–100°C. A steam room is cooler, usually 40–50°C, but the air is saturated with water. That makes a steam room harder on your body than its thermometer suggests. Here’s how the two compare, from the few studies that put people in both, and which suits what you want.
Updated · 7 min read
Sauna vs steam room at a glance
A sauna heats the air. A steam room fills it with water. That one difference changes how hot each feels, how your body copes and how long most people stay in.
| Sauna | Steam room | |
|---|---|---|
| Air temperature | Usually 70–100°C | Usually 40–50°C |
| Humidity | Low, often 5–20%, rising for a moment when water goes on the stones | Close to 100%: the air is saturated |
| How the heat is made | A wood or electric stove heats stones and air | A steam generator boils water into the room |
| What it feels like | Dry, fierce heat on your face; sweat evaporates | Thick, wet air; sweat and condensation run off you |
| Strain on the body | Lower, at the temperatures studied | Higher: core temperature and heart rate rise faster |
| Typical session | 10–20 minutes | 10–15 minutes |
| Where you’ll find one | Seaside and lakeside saunas, spas, gyms, homes | Spas, gyms, hotel pools, hammams |
The only research that measured both rooms in the same people found the humid room harder on the body, even though it was 32°C cooler.1,2 Almost all the long-term health research is on dry, Finnish-style sauna.
Why a 45°C steam room can feel hotter than a 90°C sauna
Your body cools itself by sweating. Sweat only cools you when it evaporates, and it can only evaporate into air that has room for more water. In a dry sauna, sweat evaporates fast, so your skin stays cooler than the air around it. In a steam room the air is already full, so sweat runs off without cooling you, and steam condenses on your skin, giving up its heat as it does. As one research team put it, high humidity “causes difficulties in evaporation of sweat from the surface of the skin”.1
That’s also why a Finnish sauna suddenly feels hotter when someone throws water on the stones. The thermometer barely moves, but the wave of humid air, called löyly, stops your sweat from working for a few seconds.
What happens when people try both
Polish researchers put 10 healthy young men through three 15-minute rounds in a dry sauna at about 91°C and 5–18% humidity, and on another day the same in a humid sauna at 59°C and 60.5% humidity.1
| Measure | Dry sauna, 91°C | Humid sauna, 59°C |
|---|---|---|
| Rise in core (rectal) temperature | +1.16°C, to 38.05°C | +1.61°C, to 38.5°C |
| Heart rate at the end | 126 beats a minute | 138 beats a minute |
| Physiological strain index | 4.83 | 5.7 |
| Weight lost as sweat | 0.72 kg | 0.36 kg |
The authors concluded the humid room was “more stressful for the organism than the dry sauna”.1 A 2019 study by the same group found the same pattern in 10 young women: core temperature and heart rate rose more in the humid room, and the women rated it harder going. Their responses were also bigger than the men’s at the same heat.2
Two cautions. These are small studies in young, healthy adults. And their “wet sauna” at 60% humidity was closer to a Russian banya than to a spa steam room at full saturation, which runs cooler. The direction is clear; the exact numbers for a steam room may differ.
Notice the sweat. People lost twice as much weight in the dry sauna, because sweat could evaporate and the body kept producing more. In the steam room you look wetter, but much of what’s running down your skin is condensed steam.
Which is better for colds, congestion and breathing?
Many people reach for a steam room when they have a blocked nose. The best evidence on breathing warm, wet air for a cold is a 2017 Cochrane review of six trials with 387 people. It found it was “uncertain” whether heated, humidified air relieves cold symptoms, and the evidence did “not show any benefits or harms”.3
For sauna, a Finnish study followed 1,935 men for a median of 25.6 years. Men who used a sauna four or more times a week had about 40% less hospital-diagnosed COPD, asthma or pneumonia than men who used one once a week or less.4 That’s an association in regular, healthy bathers, not evidence that sauna treats lung disease. We found no comparable study of steam rooms.
If you have asthma, some people find hot, dry air hard to breathe and others find steam heavy. Go by how you feel, start short and leave if your chest tightens.
Which is better for your skin?
Steam rooms have the reputation, but sauna has the only study we could find. In a German comparison of 41 volunteers, regular sauna users had a more stable skin barrier, better-hydrated outer skin and faster recovery of skin pH after a sauna than people who didn’t use saunas.5 It was a small comparison, not a trial. We found no controlled study of steam rooms and skin. Both rooms make you sweat and soften the skin for a while; shower afterwards and moisturise if your skin is dry.
Which is better for weight loss?
Neither. The weight you lose in either room is water. In the head-to-head study, people lost 0.72 kg in the dry sauna and 0.36 kg in the humid one, and it all comes back when you drink.1 Drink water after both.
Which is better for your heart and long-term health?
If you want the benefits seen in research, choose a sauna. The long studies linking regular bathing with lower blood pressure and fewer deaths from heart disease and stroke are almost all from traditional Finnish saunas at around 80°C.6 There’s no equivalent research on steam rooms. They may help in similar ways, since both raise your heart rate and body temperature, but nobody has measured it over years. Our guide to sauna health benefits grades that evidence claim by claim.
Can you use both, and in what order?
Yes, and many spas are built for it. We found no study that tested one order against another, so go by comfort:
- Count the time in both rooms together. Two 10-minute rounds, one in each, is a full session, not a warm-up.
- Cool down and drink water between rooms. The studies used five-minute breaks between rounds.1
- Keep steam sessions shorter than sauna sessions. Your core temperature climbs faster in wet heat.
- Leave at once if you feel dizzy, sick or your heart is racing.
Steam room and sauna etiquette
- Shower first. Both rooms are warm and damp, and a rinse keeps them cleaner for everyone.
- Sit on a towel in a sauna. In a steam room, rinse the bench or sit on a towel if the place allows it.
- Ask before adding water to the sauna stones, and never pour anything else on them.
- Keep it quiet unless the room is clearly social. Banyas and seaside saunas often are; spa steam rooms usually aren’t.
- No phones, for privacy, and because heat and steam damage them.
Steam rooms, hammams and banyas
The steam room in your gym descends from the Turkish hammam and the Roman baths before it: warm, saturated air, marble benches and a long wash. The Russian banya sits in between. It’s a wood-lined room with a big stone stove like a sauna, but the air is kept much more humid, so it feels closer to steam. Our guide to sauna vs banya covers the differences, and infrared vs traditional sauna covers the cooler, lamp-heated cabins found in many gyms.
Who should be careful
The same groups who should check with a doctor before a sauna should check before a steam room: anyone with unstable heart disease, a recent heart attack, very low blood pressure or who is pregnant. Because a steam room raises core temperature faster, keep sessions short if you are new to it, and never use either after drinking alcohol.
How we wrote this page
We read the studies, reviews and official guidance linked below and checked every number on this page against its source. Where a figure we found only appeared in news coverage or on a seller’s site, we left it out or said so. Only two small studies have measured the same people in both rooms, and neither used a true 100% humidity steam room, so we describe their results as a guide to direction rather than exact numbers. We last checked the sources on 21 October 2026. Spotted something wrong? Email us.
Olladay makes booking software for saunas, so we’d like more people to use them. That’s a reason to be careful with claims, not to oversell them.
References
- Pilch W, Szyguła Z, Pałka T, et al. Comparison of physiological reactions and physiological strain in healthy men under heat stress in dry and steam heat saunas. Biology of Sport. 2014;31(2):145–149. 10.5604/20831862.1099045
- Pilch W, Pałka T, Pokora I, et al. Physiological indicators and thermal stress in dry and wet sauna in young healthy women [in Polish]. Medycyna Pracy. 2019;70(6):701–710. 10.13075/mp.5893.00883
- Singh M, Singh M, Jaiswal N, Chauhan A. Heated, humidified air for the common cold. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2017;CD001728. 10.1002/14651858.CD001728.pub6
- Kunutsor SK, Laukkanen T, Laukkanen JA. Sauna bathing reduces the risk of respiratory diseases: a long-term prospective cohort study. European Journal of Epidemiology. 2017;32(12):1107–1111. 10.1007/s10654-017-0311-6
- Kowatzki D, Macholdt C, Krull K, et al. Effect of regular sauna on epidermal barrier function and stratum corneum water-holding capacity in vivo in humans: a controlled study. Dermatology. 2008;217(2):173–180. 10.1159/000137283
- Laukkanen JA, Laukkanen T, Kunutsor SK. Cardiovascular and other health benefits of sauna bathing: a review of the evidence. Mayo Clinic Proceedings. 2018;93(8):1111–1121. 10.1016/j.mayocp.2018.04.008
Questions
Which is better, sauna or steam room?
For the health benefits seen in research, sauna: nearly all the long-term studies on heart health, blood pressure and longevity are on dry Finnish saunas. A steam room is cooler but more humid, and in a head-to-head study it raised core temperature and heart rate more. Choose the one you enjoy and will use regularly.
Is a steam room hotter than a sauna?
No, the air is cooler: usually 40–50°C against 70–100°C in a sauna. It can feel hotter because sweat can’t evaporate in saturated air, so your body loses its main way of cooling down.
Is a sauna or steam room better for a cold?
There is little evidence either way. A Cochrane review found it uncertain whether breathing warm, humid air relieves cold symptoms. Regular sauna users in a Finnish study had fewer chest infections, but that is an association. If you have a fever, skip both.
Is a steam room or sauna better for skin?
The only study we found is on sauna: regular sauna users had a more stable skin barrier and better-hydrated skin. There is no controlled study of steam rooms and skin.
Which burns more calories or helps weight loss?
Neither helps lasting weight loss. The weight lost is sweat, about 0.4–0.7 kg in the studies, and it comes back when you drink.
How long should you stay in a steam room?
Most people stay 10–15 minutes, a little less than in a sauna, because core temperature rises faster in humid heat. Start with 5–10 minutes if you are new to it.
Should you use the sauna or steam room first?
No study has compared the order. Go by comfort, count the time in both rooms together, and cool down and drink water between them.
Is it safe to use a steam room when pregnant?
Ask your midwife or doctor first. A fever-level body temperature in early pregnancy has been linked to birth defects, and humid heat raises your temperature faster than dry heat.