Choose, install and use a sauna at home

Plain-language guides for people buying their first home sauna: which type of heat to pick, where it can go, what wiring it needs, and which brands sell what.

Three kinds of heat, three temperature ranges. Start here: the type of heat you want decides almost everything else.

Start with the buying guide

Before you buy

Best home sauna: how to choose

Traditional, infrared, outdoor or portable. Size, power and budget, decided in that order.

Sauna heaters

Electric, wood-burning or infrared panels, and how to size a heater to the room.

Sauna types

Outdoor saunas

Barrel, cabin or cube, what goes under it, and the wiring nobody mentions up front.

Barrel saunas

Why the round shape heats well, which wood to pick, and the upkeep the staves need.

Infrared vs traditional sauna

Lower air temperature, a different feel, different wiring. Which one fits how you sauna.

Sauna blankets

What a heated wrap does and does not do compared with a cabin, and what to check before buying.

Using your sauna

Sauna temperature guide

Typical temperatures for Finnish, infrared and steam, and why humidity changes how hot it feels.

Steam room vs sauna

Wet heat or dry heat: temperature, humidity and what each one needs at home.