How Much Electricity Does a Home Sauna Use?

Having a home sauna gives you a place to relax and unwind after a hard day. The amount of electricity a sauna uses, however, should factor into your decision to purchase or build one for your home. This article will give a rough idea of the amount of power you will need, the costs associated with that, and how to lower them potentially.

The Amount of Electricity a Home Sauna Uses 

The heater in a home sauna uses an average of 6 kW (kilowatts) of electricity while heating the room to the appropriate temperature. Once properly heated, energy expenditure eventually drops to about 3 to 4 kW during your session, since maintaining the temperature requires less heat. 

Average home sauna electricity use sits at around 9 to 13 kW hours per one-hour session if you factor in the time to prepare the sauna. That being said, the amount of electricity a home sauna consumes can vary depending on several different factors:

• The size of the sauna

• How effectively the sauna area is insulated

• How long the sauna runs

• The sauna heater’s size

• How high the sauna’s temperature gets

If you want to calculate the electricity a sauna uses monthly, multiply its output by the usage per hour and the number of uses per month. 

[Sauna heater kW] x [duration of sessions] x [number of sessions] = [monthly amount of electricity use] 

When it comes to calculating the duration of your sauna session, be sure to account for the time spent getting the sauna up to the proper temperature before you use it.

The Cost of Home Sauna Use

Knowing the amount of electricity your sauna uses is vital for knowing how much it costs to run. The price of utilities can be a major determining factor for deciding whether or not to install a sauna in your home. After all, it is difficult to relax if doing so costs you an arm and a leg. 

If you want to estimate the cost of the electricity your sauna uses, multiply the heater’s wattage by the number of sessions per month and the amount your utility company charges per kilowatt hour. In the United States, the average consumer cost of electricity is $0.12 per kilowatt hour, but the local utility company’s rate will vary from state to state. 

For example, a sauna running for 90 minutes (30 minutes heating up and 60 minutes in use) each day for 30 days will run for 2,700 minutes or 45 hours. If the heater operates at 6 kW per hour, that works out to 270 kilowatt hours (kWh) per month. So, if the average cost of electricity is $0.12 per kWh, that sauna will cost:

[270 kWh per month] x [$0.12 per kWh] = $32.40 per month for an hour a day in a 6 kW sauna

Of course, the more you use your sauna, the more you will spend on electricity costs. 

Reducing Your Home Sauna Energy Use

Photo: ecobo / Adobe Stock

Though electricity usage is a relatively small part of home sauna cost, it is the one over which you have the most control. There are several factors in a sauna’s energy usage where you can introduce a measure of efficiency. As a result, you can noticeably lower your energy bills even if you use your home sauna a lot.   

Use Your Sauna Immediately Once It Is Warm

A sauna can take between 30 minutes to an hour to heat to the desired temperature, so it can be easy to get lost doing other things while waiting. Keep in mind, though, that every minute you spend not luxuriating in your appropriately warm sauna is another minute you will have to run the heater once you are in it. 

The easiest way to lower energy use is to cut down on wasted electricity by using your sauna as soon as it is warm. You can set a timer or reminder on another device to let you know when the sauna is ready.

Choose the Right Sauna for Your Needs

Saunas come in two types: traditional and infrared. When considering infrared versus traditional saunas, an infrared sauna does not use as much energy on average. 

Because infrared rays apply heat directly to the body, they do not need to heat the air around you as much. The reduced need for heat means they use less energy to raise the temperature. 

Though traditional saunas use more energy due to heating the air in the room, they can get the temperature much higher. If you use a wood-burning stove filled with heated rocks instead of an electric heater, you can significantly reduce the amount of electricity your sauna uses. Traditional saunas also have fewer electrical elements prone to failing, so they can last slightly longer than infrared saunas if you keep up with maintenance. 

Properly Insulate the Sauna Area

Insulation serves to keep the heat from escaping the enclosed area of your sauna, but only if it is intact. Improper insulation leads to heat leaks, which in turn makes the sauna heater work harder to maintain the temperature. The more the heater has to work, the more energy it uses, driving up the cost of running your sauna. 

Quality wood is usually enough to insulate an indoor sauna if you have managed to keep it well sealed. You can also use fiberglass rolls or thermoplastic boards, especially if you have an outdoor sauna. 

Use the Correct Size of Heater for Your Sauna

The internal volume of your sauna determines the size of the heater you will need. If yours is too small, it will spend more time and energy getting the area to the right temperature. Each sauna heater will include a guideline for the power requirement to sauna size ratio within the product specifications, so be sure to pay attention to it. 

This consideration is more relevant to traditional saunas than to infrared saunas, as the latter do not heat the air as much. That said, it is still a good practice to use the appropriately sized heater according to instructions. 

Adding a sauna to your home can be a great long-term investment for stress relief. Whether you are looking to install an indoor or outdoor sauna, be sure to hire a professional local sauna installer to help guide you through the process and further reduce your stress.