Home saunas
Which sauna fits your house?
Start with the room and the panel. The room's volume sets the heater size, and the heater size sets the circuit. Put in the dimensions and see both.
Choose a sauna
Infrared, stones, or out back?
Infrared cabinets warm the body directly and plug into a household circuit. A heater with stones heats the air and gives steam, and needs its own 240 V circuit. Outdoor kits add a foundation and a power run.
Infrared saunas
Cabinets with carbon or ceramic panels that warm you directly at 120 to 150 °F. Most plug into a 120 V circuit; the one- and two-person sizes fit a spare room.
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Traditional sauna heaters
An electric heater with a basket of stones heats the room to 160 to 195 °F, and water on the stones makes steam. Sized by kilowatts for the room's cubic feet, and nearly always on 240 V.
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Outdoor saunas
Barrel and cabin kits in cedar or spruce, with an electric or wood-burning heater. The questions are the foundation, the roof and how power gets out to it.
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Portable saunas
Tent and pop-up saunas with a steam generator or infrared panels. Small, cheap and stowable, with lower temperatures to match.
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What the panel has to carry
A heater's current at 240 V is its watts divided by 240. The breaker and wire size come from the heater's installation manual and the electrical code, and an electrician sizes them. The numbers below show why a 6 kW heater is a job for the panel, while a two-person infrared cabinet often plugs into a dedicated 120 V outlet.
Sauna electrical requirements| Heater | Current | Room volume |
|---|---|---|
| 3 kW | 12.5 A | 2–4 m³ (70–140 cu ft) |
| 4.5 kW | 18.8 A | 3–6 m³ (110–210 cu ft) |
| 6 kW | 25.0 A | 5–8 m³ (180–280 cu ft) |
| 8 kW | 33.3 A | 7–12 m³ (250–420 cu ft) |
| 9 kW | 37.5 A | 8–14 m³ (280–490 cu ft) |
Deciding