One of the biggest decisions a person will make when building their sauna is what heater to choose from. Without a doubt there are many great options to choose from in the sauna industry but beyond the aesthetics (Please don’t just purchase a sauna because it looks nice) there are some underlying factors that we feel are sometimes overlooked and might help you if you are deciding on what Sauna heater to choose from. A high-quality sauna heater should last you years of constant use (At Homecraft we regularly see & hear of our heaters working for more then 20-25 years) and is not a product that you should be having to replace after just a few short years. The Sauna heater is the heart of a sauna room and is the most important aspect of your sauna so it is not a decision that should be taken lightly. Knowing how important of a choice it is we decided to write a quick helpful guide outlining some things to consider to help you make an informed choice that you won’t end up regretting down the road.
Certifications: Aren’t all Sauna heaters on the market safe?
It might look sexy and appealing but what if the sauna heater you are looking at were to void your home insurance and is sold under the pretences of a different electrical certification? Would you be willing to risk your own home insurance for a product that doesn’t meet industry standards? Aren’t all sauna heaters certified if they are being sold by a local sauna dealer? All those questions might seem startling but that is exactly what is happening in the North American sauna market and most oftentimes is going unnoticed. As Sauna heaters come in from Asian or European countries many of what is hitting the market today are not properly approved (CSA, UL, Intertek) electrical sauna heaters for North America. Some of the most popular heaters being sold by many local sauna dealers are in fact sauna heaters that could put your home insurance in jeopardy if an issue were to occur. Not every approval and not every sauna heater has the same certifications so we would encourage you to make sure the sauna heater you end up choosing is truly certified so that you don’t end up being the one to loose because of “assumptions”
Functionality: Are all sauna heaters the same?
Most sauna heaters on the market today are well built and will ultimately do the job that they are designed to do but for those interested in a traditional sauna experience there are differences to how a person might want to enjoy their sauna experience. A traditional dry sauna heater is a heater that comes with a minimum amount of rock capacity. This allows the sauna to heat up considerably quicker (2 or 3 times faster) then a deep-rock sauna heater but also sometimes feels like a sharper heat as the heat emitted into the sauna room comes primarily from the heating elements. A wet sauna heater is a sauna heater that comes with more rock mass allowing for more water to be put on the rocks (once it is fully heated). Since rock mass is much larger some heaters will take 45 – 60 minutes to fully heat up the room. The benefit for many is that once the room is fully heated the rocks also emit a constant heat which is sometimes described as a softer heat. Your decision should be based on what you decide as important as a user.
Customer Service: help, I cant get anyone to help me?
Depending on how often and how you use your sauna heater will greatly effect the general wear and tear of your heater. A well manufactured sauna heater will generally not fail you and should last well over 10 years of good daily use. That being said because it is an electric heater there are parts that will most likely need to be replaced prior to that time. Something to consider is how you plan to source replacement parts and what the cost will be? With general shipping delays many brands outside of North America are having a harder time supplying replacement parts for their sauna heaters. Its possible the dealer you end up buying your sauna heater from doesn’t stock parts to the heaters they sell which can also add delays when they need to bring in parts & accessories from far away. One of Homecraft’s advantages in being a sauna manufacturer in North America is we stock a large amount of replacement parts, heaters & accessories that we can quickly and affordably replace to help our customers.
Hidden costs: What will my sauna actually cost?
Every company has a different way of pricing their sauna units and comparing prices is very important. An initial glance of the price of a sauna heater might make you think that most saunas heaters are priced within the same range but it usually isn’t that way at all. We would encourage every customer to price out how much your end price will be for the Sauna heater, Sauna Control & rocks. There are some companies who advertise the heater for one price and everything else becomes an expensive add-on that can quickly make the final price for a working sauna heater upwards of $3000 dollars. At Homecraft the price listed always includes our Digital Sauna control which makes the price listed much more inline with what you will end up paying for a fully functioning sauna uint. Be aware that listed prices oftentimes aren’t telling the full story and every company has a different way of how they sell a full sauna unit (Heater & Control) For this reason listed prices are often times between the $1000-$1600 range but oftentimes, depending on how the company is trying to up sell, ends up being much more expensive.
For more help look at our resource page https://homecraftsaunas.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/help-choosing-sauna-heater.pdf email us at info@homecraftsaunas.com or phone at 1-800-870-7544.
Other Resources: https://www.saunaplace.com/choosing-the-right-type-of-sauna-heater/