Patent ID: 7113696

Claim:
For use with a steambath, a steam generating system comprising: a tank for holding a quantity of water, said tank including means permitting the ingress of water and means permitting the egress of steam; a relatively low wattage heater element thermally coupled to the water held in the tank; thermostat means operatively coupled to the relatively low wattage heater element to maintain the temperature of the water at a higher level than the temperature exterior to the tank but below the boiling temperature of the water; a relatively high wattage heater element thermally coupled to the water held in the tank; and switch means operatively connected to the relatively high wattage each heater element to heat the water held in the tank to its boiling point to produce steam for the steambath upon demand by a user wherein the relatively low wattage heater element uses power in the range of approximately 50–100 watts.