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Pick a sauna from our check (or type its watts), choose your state, and the calculator works out the most that one session, one month and one year can cost you in electricity: the maker's published power, the minutes it runs, and the residential price the EIA measured in your state. Add a monthly budget and the people you want to seat, and it lists the saunas that stay under it, cheapest first.
The result appears here.
How the calculator works
- Energy = power in kW x (heat-up + session minutes) / 60. A 6,000 W heater running 90 minutes uses 9 kWh at most [calc].
- Cost = energy x your state's residential price. EIA, Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A, average price to residential customers, August 2026, read on November 7, 2026.
- Month = sessions a week x 52 / 12; year = sessions a week x 52.
- Budget list: every sauna with a published price and wattage that seats your number of people, at the default heat-up for its type and your session length, if its monthly maximum stays under your budget.
What the result leaves out: the thermostat cycling (it lowers the real figure), a cold start in winter or outdoors (it raises it), lights, Bluetooth speakers and red-light panels when the maker counts them separately (SaunaBox does: 1,800 W of heat plus 273 W of red light on the Solara 2-Person, 2,073 W in all, and we use the total), and any time-of-use rate your utility charges.
Which watts we use
- Infrared: the total wattage on the product page or spec sheet (Sun Home, Peak Saunas, SaunaBox, Sunlighten). Sun Home publishes it for 5 of its 11 infrared models; for the others the page gives only volts, amps and the outlet, and the calculator says so.
- Traditional: the heater that comes in the cheapest in-stock version we priced (for example "6kW KIP Heater w/ Dials" on Almost Heaven's Salem). Pick a bigger heater in the store and the cost grows in proportion: 8 kW costs a third more per minute than 6 kW.
What an hour costs, state by state
EIA residential prices for August 2026, the most recent month in the table we read, and the ceiling cost of one hour at two typical powers. Prices vary by month and by utility; your bill shows your own rate per kWh.
| State | Residential price, Aug 2026 | One hour of a 2,000 W infrared sauna [calc] | One hour of a 6 kW heater [calc] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 16.33 ¢/kWh | $0.33 | $0.98 |
| Alaska | 29.41 ¢/kWh | $0.59 | $1.76 |
| Arizona | 15.05 ¢/kWh | $0.30 | $0.90 |
| Arkansas | 14.37 ¢/kWh | $0.29 | $0.86 |
| California | 29.75 ¢/kWh | $0.59 | $1.78 |
| Colorado | 17.17 ¢/kWh | $0.34 | $1.03 |
| Connecticut | 24.51 ¢/kWh | $0.49 | $1.47 |
| Delaware | 18.70 ¢/kWh | $0.37 | $1.12 |
| District of Columbia | 25.98 ¢/kWh | $0.52 | $1.56 |
| Florida | 14.99 ¢/kWh | $0.30 | $0.90 |
| Georgia | 15.90 ¢/kWh | $0.32 | $0.95 |
| Hawaii | 47.18 ¢/kWh | $0.94 | $2.83 |
| Idaho | 13.37 ¢/kWh | $0.27 | $0.80 |
| Illinois | 19.32 ¢/kWh | $0.39 | $1.16 |
| Indiana | 17.02 ¢/kWh | $0.34 | $1.02 |
| Iowa | 17.06 ¢/kWh | $0.34 | $1.02 |
| Kansas | 15.47 ¢/kWh | $0.31 | $0.93 |
| Kentucky | 13.80 ¢/kWh | $0.28 | $0.83 |
| Louisiana | 12.87 ¢/kWh | $0.26 | $0.77 |
| Maine | 32.11 ¢/kWh | $0.64 | $1.93 |
| Maryland | 21.40 ¢/kWh | $0.43 | $1.28 |
| Massachusetts | 30.48 ¢/kWh | $0.61 | $1.83 |
| Michigan | 22.99 ¢/kWh | $0.46 | $1.38 |
| Minnesota | 17.20 ¢/kWh | $0.34 | $1.03 |
| Mississippi | 14.43 ¢/kWh | $0.29 | $0.87 |
| Missouri | 16.02 ¢/kWh | $0.32 | $0.96 |
| Montana | 15.57 ¢/kWh | $0.31 | $0.93 |
| Nebraska | 13.54 ¢/kWh | $0.27 | $0.81 |
| Nevada | 12.72 ¢/kWh | $0.25 | $0.76 |
| New Hampshire | 27.64 ¢/kWh | $0.55 | $1.66 |
| New Jersey | 24.61 ¢/kWh | $0.49 | $1.48 |
| New Mexico | 16.51 ¢/kWh | $0.33 | $0.99 |
| New York | 28.65 ¢/kWh | $0.57 | $1.72 |
| North Carolina | 14.95 ¢/kWh | $0.30 | $0.90 |
| North Dakota | 13.31 ¢/kWh | $0.27 | $0.80 |
| Ohio | 19.38 ¢/kWh | $0.39 | $1.16 |
| Oklahoma | 14.82 ¢/kWh | $0.30 | $0.89 |
| Oregon | 15.92 ¢/kWh | $0.32 | $0.96 |
| Pennsylvania | 21.77 ¢/kWh | $0.44 | $1.31 |
| Rhode Island | 28.18 ¢/kWh | $0.56 | $1.69 |
| South Carolina | 15.76 ¢/kWh | $0.32 | $0.95 |
| South Dakota | 15.15 ¢/kWh | $0.30 | $0.91 |
| Tennessee | 13.42 ¢/kWh | $0.27 | $0.81 |
| Texas | 15.91 ¢/kWh | $0.32 | $0.95 |
| Utah | 13.31 ¢/kWh | $0.27 | $0.80 |
| Vermont | 23.84 ¢/kWh | $0.48 | $1.43 |
| Virginia | 17.64 ¢/kWh | $0.35 | $1.06 |
| Washington | 14.63 ¢/kWh | $0.29 | $0.88 |
| West Virginia | 16.31 ¢/kWh | $0.33 | $0.98 |
| Wisconsin | 19.41 ¢/kWh | $0.39 | $1.16 |
| Wyoming | 14.43 ¢/kWh | $0.29 | $0.87 |
| U.S. average | 18.16 ¢/kWh | $0.36 | $1.09 |
Before you size the circuit, run the panel check; to compare all 116 saunas, see the home sauna comparison.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to run a sauna for 1 hour?
Its power in kilowatts times your price per kWh. One hour of a 2,000 W infrared cabin at the U.S. residential average of 18.16 cents (EIA, August 2026) is about 36 cents; one hour of a 6 kW heater, about $1.09; in Hawaii (47.18 cents) the same hour of the 6 kW heater is about $2.83 [calc]. Those are ceilings at full power.
How much does it cost to run a sauna per month?
Multiply the cost of a session by your sessions. Three 90-minute runs a week (60 minutes of heat-up, 30 in the sauna) of a 6 kW heater at the U.S. average come to at most $21.25 a month [calc]. A 2,006 W infrared cabin with 45 + 30 minutes, three times a week, at most $5.92 [calc].
Why is the result a maximum?
Because it assumes the heater draws its full rated power for every minute. Once the room reaches the set temperature, the thermostat switches the heater on and off, so the meter turns slower. No maker we read publishes how much slower, and we do not put invented figures in a calculation.
Where do the heat-up times come from?
60 minutes for an electric-heater sauna: Harvia's heater manual says a properly sized heater takes "about an hour for a properly insulated sauna" to reach bathing temperature. 45 minutes for infrared: SaunaBox says its Solara 2-Person "reaches 158°F in approximately 45 minutes". Change both to match your own sauna, or the season: a cold garage or a winter yard takes longer.