Sauna Watts is paid through affiliate links: if you buy through a link to Sun Home, Peak Saunas, Redwood Outdoors, SaunaBox, Sweat Kingdom or Sunlighten, we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. No program has accepted the site yet, we found no program for Almost Heaven, and a commission never decides a pick. How we choose.
A home sauna is a heater in a wooden box, and three numbers decide whether it works for you: the watts it draws, which set your electricity bill; the volts and amps it asks for, which decide whether you need an electrician and a new circuit; and the inches it takes, outside, which decide whether it goes in the basement, the garage or the yard. Sauna Watts reads those numbers from the makers' own pages and spec sheets, puts them side by side, and does the arithmetic with your state's electricity price.
- 116saunas read on November 7, 2026
- 7brand stores and spec sheets
- $2,499 to $45,299price range in our check
- 51state electricity prices (EIA)
No health claims here. Sauna makers talk a lot about what heat does to your body. We do not repeat it: those are claims for the makers to prove to the FTC and the FDA, not numbers we can check. This site covers heat, power, cost, space and installation, and nothing else.
Three questions before you buy
- What will it cost to run?Published watts, heat-up and session time, your state's EIA price: cost per session, per month and per year, then the saunas that fit your budget.
- Can my panel handle it?Watts and volts give the current; 125 % of it is the NEC continuous-load figure; next to it, the breaker each maker asks for.
- Will it fit?Your floor and ceiling against the outside dimensions of 103 saunas, with the wall and ceiling gaps the makers recommend.
What one session costs, in three states
The cheapest and dearest residential electricity in the EIA's August 2026 table, against the U.S. average, for four typical saunas from our check. Heat-up times are the defaults explained on the cost calculator; every figure is the ceiling, at full rated power for every minute.
| Example | Power | Heat-up + session | One session, U.S. average (18.16 ¢) [calc] | Nevada (12.72 ¢) [calc] | Hawaii (47.18 ¢) [calc] | A year at 3 sessions a week, U.S. average [calc] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-person infrared: Peak Saunas Mini 1-Person | 1,500 W | 45 + 30 min | $0.34 | $0.24 | $0.88 | $53 |
| 2-person infrared (120 V): Sun Home Solstice 2-Person | 2,006 W | 45 + 30 min | $0.46 | $0.32 | $1.18 | $71 |
| 2-person barrel, 6 kW heater: Almost Heaven Salem 2 Person Barrel Sauna | 6,000 W heater | 60 + 30 min | $1.63 | $1.14 | $4.25 | $255 |
| 6-person barrel, 8 kW heater: Almost Heaven Princeton 6 Person Barrel Sauna | 8,000 W heater | 60 + 30 min | $2.18 | $1.53 | $5.66 | $340 |
Infrared, traditional, indoor, outdoor
Infrared cabins warm you with panels and stay cooler (the makers we read print 140 to 158°F at most). They are the only saunas in our check that plug into a 120 V outlet, and the cheapest: the SaunaBox Solara 1-Person at $2,499. Traditional saunas heat the air and the stones with an electric heater of 3.5 to 10.5 kW, reach 170 to 230°F according to the makers that print it, and every one we read needs 240 V. Barrels and outdoor cabins are almost all traditional. The full side-by-side is in infrared vs traditional sauna.
The seven brands we read
Every brand sells direct from its own store, so each sauna has one seller and one price, read on November 7, 2026. Sunlighten publishes spec sheets but no prices (it asks you to fill in a quote form).
| Brand (own store) | Saunas read | Price range | Types | Plug into 120 V |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Almost Heaven | 50 | $4,172 to $27,814.50 | infrared, traditional | 0 |
| Redwood Outdoors | 16 | $4,299 to $11,699 | traditional | 0 |
| Sun Home | 15 | $4,999 to $45,299 | infrared, traditional | 7 |
| Peak Saunas | 11 | $5,450 to $16,750 | infrared | 6 |
| SaunaBox | 4 | $2,499 to $4,490 | infrared, traditional | 2 |
| Sweat Kingdom | 4 | $6,945 to $11,745 | traditional | 0 |
| Sunlighten | 16 | not published (quote form) | infrared | 7 |
See them all, with the picks for each need, on the home sauna comparison. If you only have an ordinary outlet, start with plug-in 120 V saunas; for the yard, outdoor barrel saunas.
Electricity: never on your own. Every traditional sauna in our check is hardwired at 240 V, and several infrared cabins need a new 240 V or 30 A circuit. A licensed electrician installs it, following the maker's manual and your local code. Our calculators give you the numbers to discuss with them; they are not wiring instructions.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to run a sauna at home?
Power in kW times the hours it runs times your electricity price. A 2,006 W infrared cabin run for 45 minutes of heat-up and a 30-minute session uses at most 2.5 kWh, about 46 cents at the U.S. residential average of 18.16 cents per kWh (EIA, August 2026) [calc]. A 6 kW barrel heater run 60 + 30 minutes uses at most 9 kWh, about $1.63 [calc]. These are ceilings: thermostats cycle once the room is hot.
Can a sauna plug into a regular outlet?
Some can. In our check, 22 models are sold by their makers as plug-in at 120 V, all infrared. Most need a 20 A circuit with a NEMA 5-20 outlet; a few Peak Saunas models and the SaunaBox Solara 1-Person use a standard 15 A outlet; the Sun Home Eclipse 2-Person needs a 30 A twist-lock. Every traditional sauna we read runs at 240 V.
Infrared or traditional: which uses less electricity?
Per hour, infrared. The median infrared model in our check is rated 2,750 W; the median electric heater in a traditional sauna, 8,000 W [calc]. Traditional saunas also need about an hour to heat up (Harvia's manual), against roughly 45 minutes quoted by SaunaBox for its 2-person infrared.
Do you test the saunas?
No. We have not tested any sauna on this site. We read the makers' product pages and spec sheets, quote their figures and do the arithmetic. Our method page lists every source and date.
Keep reading
- Cost to runThe maker's published watts, your heat-up and session time, your state's electricity price: the most a session, a month and a year can cost.
- Panel checkWatts and volts give the current; 125 % of it is the NEC figure for continuous loads; next to it, what each maker asks for.
- Will it fitYour floor and ceiling against the published outside dimensions of 103 saunas, with the wall and ceiling gaps the makers recommend.
- Compare 116 saunasStore price, people, published power, electrical hookup, outside dimensions and wood, cheapest first.