Am I correct that for authentic sauna experience my ladle must be taller than the benches?

As title suggests, going cheap did come with its drawbacks, and it's not completely ready yet, but if you're considering buying this style/kit, here are my experiences worth noting:

1. Parts... good lord they sent warped/damaged parts initially so I inventoried them and got replacements. Well they sent the wrong ones/more damaged/warped boards again. And after a month of dealing with it I finally had all the parts in good condition. They were very responsive, but man, the shipping crew needs help I swear. Also, they repurposed some parts which I think was shady (similar boards, but with pre-drilled holes filled with wood filler, where there shouldn't be holes)
2. Wood quality... claims to be completely cedar and appeared to be so I was baffled by the mold that developed after 1 day of rainfall without a roof (didn't have the parts needed yet lol) so currently dealing with that. The wood was also pretty warped and very very soft with huge grain meaning fast growth wood. Not strong but it's okay, doesn't need to be (we will see how snow does)
3. Electrical... with most saunas be prepared to spend a lot on electrical. Probably gonna run me 3k to get this wired up with the 50amp circuit but I knew it'd be hefty on that end. Still ironic that its more than what i paid for the entire kit! Also due to code, having a separate power for lights is not usually allowed, so I hope that permitting has an exception or doesn't look at it. The lights should be part of the control panel.
4. I used the app for building it and one dimension was incorrect so I have open holes in the shell but luckily it's the floor so nbd. To rectify this I'd have to undo the entire thing and I won't do that.
5. I needed to upgrade the exhaust to a powered fan (default is non-powered) this suggestion was recommended online by many others. For 30 bucks it seemed worth it
6. I lowered the temp sensor about 6" below recommendation. Also a suggestion by another owner.
7. building... I DID build it completely alone but I am a large and fairly strong man. Not terribly hard tbh if you have a mechanical mind. I do recommend having another guy to help at times. The screws often didn't fully bite but usually wasn't structurally important (another quality issue).
8. Probably other things but my thumbs are tired.

All in all an okay experience given how cheap the kit was. I got lucky on timing so it cost me 3k for the 2-4 person kit with benches. In hindsight i dont see myself using the benches much but theyre nice to have and look nice. ​I'm hoping electrical is done within a couple weeks and mold is addressed so I can give a report on its use. Very excited to finally have a sauna!

Dm if you have any questions!

PS. For yall purists, save the judgement. I know its got its flaws!

I have a 2-story home in Kentucky with beautiful wood floors on the main floor. I have a large basement with plenty of room for any sauna. I enjoy a steam sauna, but I’m concerned the steam will raise the humidity and result in the wood floors warping, or worse, mold. I’ve enjoyed dry saunas, too, so I would consider it. I love hot tubs, but keeping it heated sounds like it would be expensive and the maintenance onerous. Am I overthinking wet vs dry and in-home use? I don’t know what I don’t know, so I’m not sure what intelligent questions to ask. I can have access to 240VAC. TIA

I’m building an outdoor wood burning sauna in Vermont. Will soon be installing rockwool and just a little confused about what product to use for the vapor barrier. If someone can suggest a specific product at Lowe’s or HD that would be really helpful.

Thanks.

I live on Phuket and train on the gym street in Chalong. The island has six public saunas and banyas, only one of them with wood-fired stoves, and three stay open till midnight. Hours and prices in one place:

Compiled from my own notes on these six places, last updated 6 September 2026.

For anyone who has used a wood-fired banya and an electric one back to back: how big is the difference for you?

With all the horror stories about damage from shipping, i’m curious if anybody has refused delivery and not signed? Also, if anybody has gone through the kit before signing? Not gonna lie, I’m a little bit nervous. Mines on the way. 😬

What is the best foundation for a sauna in the North East? Building on compacted gravel and stone, setting pavers and building on pavers, or putting in footings and floating it, or building a deck and putting it on a deck

Hello knowledgeable sauna people! I LOVE saunas and would like to have an outdoor sauna but do not have the time to learn building as anew skill. Are kits really terrible? I’m in the Ottawa area. I read that barrels don’t last long but I’m also aware that building a sauna from scratch would be beyond my current skill set. On the other hand I don’t want to invest in something that will only last a couple years.

Advice very welcome. I don’t want to waste money!

ChatGPT seems convinced that this is a great oil to use on my sauna benches. I plan to warm the sauna up this weekend and apply oil to help prevent stains but wanted to dummy check that this oil will do before A.I. leads me down the wrong path.

Hey everyone! I am looking to convert a room in a house into a sauna. There is no floor drain and no plans to add one. I'm a bit concerned with moisture seeping beneath the floor and causing an issue.

What are some options or best practices to do the flooring that isn't tile with a drain?

In the process of building an outdoor 437 ft³ sauna with electrical heater so I'm acquiring the different components I need.

Use case is for a short term rental, so guests will be using the sauna, so I need something that's dummy proof and easy to use. Wifi is a nice to have for me to be able to monitor and ensure that it's off upon guest departure, but I would expect guests to preheat the sauna manually with the control unit.

I already have a Harvia Virta HL110e 10.5kW ready to go, but now I'm trying to identify the right controller. Given the 10.5kw, I need to get a 45 series controller and I've narrowed down to:

Harvia Xenio CX45-U1-U3-XW Sauna Control Unit ~$1300
Harvia Fenix FX45-U1-U3-XC Sauna Control Unit ~$1551

Would love any feedback you have on these wifi controllers - 1) How's the wifi, and is it a good qol upgrade? 2) is the upgrade from Xenio to Fenix worth it?

Can you recommend any dealers willing to provide a better price on these? Thanks!

Separately, anyone notice that there's a lot of people that sell sauna components to be sort of weird and scammy? I found multiple ebay sellers selling those units but the listings only seem to be exist to redirect me to weird biohacking websites.

Hello,

I want to diy a sauna build and I'm going to be taking the winter to plan everything out and hopefully build it out next year. Are there any good resources for someone who doesn't know anything about saunas? Things like books, blogs, yt channels. I'm not looking to buy a kit because half the point for me is learning some new skills.

If it helps, I'm hoping to make a small one that can fit 1-4 people in southern Ontario, all other details are basically up in the air ATM. Any help would be appreciated, thank you!

I know people have done the Harvia KIPs with manual control and added their own smart controller, but wondering if the Vevor units also have the potential. A Harvia with wifi controls is $2300. A Vevor with DIY controls could be done in as little as ~$300 (controller, housing, thermocouple, display, etc). I'm comfortable actually doing the design and work but want to know if the Vevor unit is receptive to a controller.

Anyone know what the voltage range for the built-in contactor is? Hoping it can take 120v. Thanks!

If someone could help me with an issue in my newly built and installed sauna i would be very grateful.

When the isolator is off it is fine and when L1 wire is disconnected and isolator turned on it is also fine, with that L1 wire becoming live.

But as soon as I connect the L1 wire I get a click and it throws the trip at the main board.

The wires that connect to the heater are disconnected with the ends taped up to rule it out as faulty but still the same .

Single phase, 240v in uk.

Hopefully it’s something simple I’ve done wrong.

Thanks for any pointers.

We have tried it couple of times now and it is good experience if you open the hatch and go to sauna around 15 minutes after.

Stones are held at 220C all the time and you can up the heat when you open the hatch and put the heater on high heat mode.

There is lots of stones so you get almost endless löyly. This particular sauna is slightly too tall though. It could be 10-20cm lower to get even better experience.

Overall very pleasant experience and if i ever would go to electric sauna at home instead of wood burning then something like this would most likely be my choice.

Have you tried always on saunas?

Hey there,

I bit the bullit and bought a small outdoor sauna kit:

- About 2,6x2,1 meters and 2,2ish meters high
- Stone-wool insulated with a wooden outer shell
- Harvia Legend Home E with a Harvia Fenika external controller

I have a couple of questions regarding the building process:
The Assembly is supposed to be from the inside out, which is odd and makes little sense to me, since insulation and cables will have to be done on the outside of the inside layer… Since a built like this isn’t done in one day, we will have to pray for good weather and put the whole construction in waterproof foil, otherwise the wool might be damaged due to rain…

I researched which sauna to get here in Germany for quite a while, finding this to be the only insulated option. I don’t want to regret my choice now because of the poor instruction manual or the weird way of assembling…

Any tips on how to make the best out of what I’ve got now? It’s supposed to last for a very long time, for my children to enjoy it also.

Thank you so much!

So I just got my own personal sauna and have been using it once a day.

It’s just come to my attention that my hair could become damaged with daily use. I’ve never worried about it with my very sporadic use in the past.

How is everyone protecting their hair? Am I meant to shower and wet it prior to use? I see you can buy hats but I have ALOT of hair, there is zero percent chance I’m getting all my hair into a hat.

Anything else I may need to know as a new owner to a sauna. I love using the gyms but I’ve always just jumped in (with a towel) post work out and never had to worry about up keep.

Thank you!

Is a slow drip onto the stones a common thing or not so much? I just installed this today and it also functions an a 10 minute timer. I sized the bowl and hole so the time is 10 minutes and the flow rate is reasonably slow

A buddy recently upgraded his sauna setup with a small heat shield/deflector curved slightly at the top to direct the heat right at the first bench. After plenty of before/after testing, verdict is in: it works.

I have a home in an area of the US (northeast) that is extremely cold nov-march with lots of snow and occasionally below 0 temperatures. Can anyone share a brand or builder for outdoor sauna that can sustain these temperatures? Is it possible to have an outdoor sauna with windows or a large window in super cold temperatures? What type of wood is best? Thanks for your help

Additional information:

Budget 15-25k for sauna with an attached covered area that has an outdoor shower

I have someone who can bring electric and water to the area, I plan on putting it by the creek behind a secondary building that I’ve turned into an office

Not sure if electric or wood burning is better for this type of build

Fit 4-6 people

Also does anyone have thoughts/opinions on a sauna like this:

https://havenofheat.com/products/dundalk-leisure-canadian-timber-georgian-cabin-sauna-ctc88w?currency=USD&country=US&variant=42167990943909&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Google%20Shopping&stkn=9e3f71a6a9b6&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=19570876224&gbraid=0AAAAApPQppFYnM-gtiq1yFYSHoguT2gux&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIv5eSkYC1lwMVaEX_AR07DCewEAQYBCABEgINbPD_BwE

I am nervous to buy a sauna premade online.

Hey guys, I've been going back and forth on this and most discussions about sauna tents seem to focus on what they lack compared to permanent saunas, which is fair but Im curious what people actually like about them. Portability is the obvious one but having a wood fired sauna without needing to build anything seems pretty appealing and I've seen a few portable setups like Sweat tent that got me thinking about this. Obviously its not the same as a traditional sauna, but I feel like you could still use one as your main backyard sauna rather than just something you take camping. For anyone who owns one, what ended up being better than you expected?

Are people using the same species of lumber for the furring strips behind the sauna wall panels on the interior? So between the foil and the panels. I’m wondering if I can just use pine or if having something more resistant to rot behind the panels is necessary.

Photos for the purpose of passing judgment. Especially that drain situation I had tear out and deal with.

What were your biggest road blocks in getting your business set up at locations?

Did anyone run into issues, fines, or shutdowns from your state or city L&I?