Sauna construction deep dive with James Phelps AKA Jimmy Creel

James Phelps joins us to get super geeky about sauna construction.We dive deep into sauna ventilation, CO₂ testing, and stove design. James shares insights from his hands-on experiments and discusses what he learned writing his book Fire & Ice. Along the way, we cover practical tips for building a better sauna, managing humidity, and creating a truly breathable space.JAMES' BOOK https://www.amazon.com/Fire-Ice-tradition-technology-balanced/dp/B0D2RPWZS2/UPPER BENCH LINKS https://www.theupperbench.comhttps://www.instagram.com/upper.bench.podcast/https://www.facebook.com/theupperbenchTheme Music: Conga Se Menne "Guess Who's Coming to Sauna"CONTENTS00:00 Introduction and meeting our guest James Phelps06:11 How he decided to build a sauna08:07 Exploring different sauna construction possibilities09:30 Getting ventilation right; comparing different strategies13:01 Prevailing winds and ventilation as seen with sweat lodge ventilation14:51 Cold plunge and winter experience16:47 Different stoves options and interior vs exterior feed20:00 Preheating the sauna: “Close your eyes and you can't tell where the stove is”22:20 High rock mass vs low rock mass32:37 Sharing his findings and writing a book36:00 CO₂ testing and results37:34 Will galvanized fasteners rust in a sauna?39:24 How should a sauna smell? Using essential oil and other scents48:04 Listener question about vent placement in garage sauna50:17 James’ cold plunge routine and preferred sauna temp52:41 Using sauna for recovery post-surgery54:34 Closing comments