Sauna safe?

Just heard Dr. Rhonda Patrick talk about the health benefits of a sauna and how heart rate and heart rate variability is affected, and can be measured during what the science says is similar to moderate exercise. So of course I wanted to test it out wearing my Garmin Fenix 6 Pro Solar. However, I wanted to be sure the heat wouldn't harm my watch and finding concrete answers to the question isn't easy, including a phone call to Garmin.

I called Garmin and they said the watch can stand up to 113 degrees but couldn't answer how that is determined. Is that the internal temp of the watch circuitry, or the outer surface, or the ambient room temp (highly unlikely). What if I'm hiking on a hot Arizona day with the sun beating down on the watch, that should be a good thing for my solar watch, right?

I opted to play it safe and didn't take my watch into the Sauna but when I got inside I immediately noticed a few Apple Watches and people using their iPhones and other smartphones. I find it hard to believe my Garmin watch isn't a durable as those devices so what gives?

I'd love to measure:

Heart rate
Heart Rate Variability
Temperature

I'd also like to wear my Garmin Pro Heart Rate Strap but again no concrete information available.

Lastly, this would be a great widget opportunity for the software folks

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+1 5135968 over 3 years ago

Probably not what you want to hear, but a Polar H10 is better for HRV logging. The SDK is open for all to use and you can get multiple phone apps that do this, ie HRVInspector or Polar Sensor logger.

Just start the session and as its all stored to the H10's internal memory, no need to risk a watch in there.

0 sandiegojoey over 3 years ago in reply to 5135968

I have an H10 so that's an option I'll check out. My goal is to record the entire sauna session in the same way I'd record other activities so that I have a record of it with all of my other workouts. I'd also like it to transfer to Strava in the same way my other workouts do. I'm going to see if there's an app that uses the H10 and will record my sauna session and then transfer to Garmin Connect, thanks for tip (although my first choice would be to use my watch).

0 Pierrotsc over 3 years ago in reply to sandiegojoey

interesting. what kind of workout would you start on polar beat ?

0 skopek over 3 years ago

I always use my watch in the sauna. The watch is cooled down a bit from your body.

From last week: Sauna was at 85°C (185F) the watch measured not more than 42°C (108F). I was in there for 20min.

The metal bezel feels hoter than 42°C.

I never used my Heart Rate Strap.

0 kuczi over 3 years ago

I have used the watch in the sauna 10 times. Dry sauna, temperature yesterday 115 C and three series of about 10 minutes each. Temperature on the watch max 48 C

0 Federonic over 3 years ago

I just use my HRM pro in the sauna and leave the watch outside :) Way better.

0 Pierrotsc over 3 years ago

i take my wearables off when i do sauna. not sure if the heat is good for the screen and battery life. i did this morning wore my polar H10 connected to my phone with polar beat. Although i did get a great sweat at 140 F using infrared, my hr did not go above 96 bpm. So i do not think it is as good as a workout :) i use the polar beat app on the phone with a yoga profile.

0 matej787 over 3 years ago

I would love to hear official response from Garmin. I sometimes go in sauna but i never take my fenix with me, but i would love to.

0 skopek over 3 years ago in reply to matej787

The temperature specification is in the manual. There will be nothing more official.

Operating and storage temperature range	From -20º to 45ºC (from -4º to 113ºF)
USB charging temperature range	From 0º to 45ºC (from 32º to 113ºF)
Solar charging temperature range	From 0 to 60°C (from 32 to 140°F)

Or do you look for something like 4min at 130C is ok, 2min at 180C is ok, 30min at 85C is ok.

0 Splat Matt over 2 years ago

Noooooo! Never where a watch in a sauna even if it is a dive watch rated to 300m. The seals (and some cases glues) were not intended to be in hot water. Lots of watches do not recommend because dissimilar materials example at different rates yada yada yada.