Compare 4.5kW Electric Sauna Heaters

Adding water over your sauna rocks produces a wonderful steam and humidifies your sauna session

All sauna heaters (wood-fired, gas and electric) are designed to enjoy a traditional Finnish steamy sauna experience.

Generally a few splashes of water with your ladle is enough to create a good steam.

A few pointers

• Wait until the rocks are actually hot. Flick a few drops first. Water should burst in steam instantly.
• Drizzle water with a ladle, never use your hand! Steam is very hot so careful when near the heater
• Do NOT dump water on the rocks. Electrical sauna heaters are NOT made to be dowsed with water. This is an electrical hazard potentially. If some water exits the bottom, you’ll know you’re adding too much.
• Add several drops of eucalyptus oil to the water to open your lungs and pores.
• Do NOT put eucalyptus oil directly onto the rocks or any other essential oil — they are volatile oils and will ignite when hot.

Read more about ladling water over sauna rocks.

• What is a sauna heater contactor / relay box?

  

  Sauna Heater Contactor / also called a relay box or power box

  Some sauna heaters controls work best when power switching is modulated thru a contactor. It’s a box separate from the heater and the controller

  All 8,000 watt heaters and above usually require 40 amps or more at 240 voltage, a contactor limits the electricity flowing to the timer

  A sauna heater contactor, e.g. on a 40 amp breaker will limit the electrical flow to the timer/controller to 30 amps, thus protecting the timer/controller against any electrical surges and being overwhelmed with too much power.

  Freezing Conditions on a Relay / Power Box

  Some sauna heater contactors  (also called a relay boxes or power boxes) should NOT freeze. So if choosing a larger outdoor sauna, add this component to a well-insulated area in your home OR installed the contactor box in the area above the ceiling and below the roof line.

Or in other words .. What size sauna heater (in Kilowatts) fits my room?

Factors When Choosing Your Sauna Heater Power Range (kilowatts)

First off it’s worth emphasizing that your ceiling height can NOT be above 8 ft, and should really be at about 7 ft. Sauna heaters are NOT designed to heat a 10 ft ceiling and it’s a waste of energy — as sauna heaters heat from the top down.

If you’ve already built a sauna space or are in the design phase, then we follow this rule of thumb:

kW = cubic feet of the sauna / 25

Of course measure the actual useable space.  So when we quote a 5×7′ sauna, we mean the interior is 5 ft x 7 ft. x height. Our default height for a modular sauna kit is 6′4″. The exterior footprint is 8″ larger or 5′8″x7′8″.

So consider our example formula:

5 x 7 x 6′4″ = 222 cu. ft. / 25 = 8.88 kW (round down)

So, in this case an 8kW heater will more than suffice for an indoor 5×7′ sauna and is perfect for an outdoor sauna where the temperatures outside are colder.

A sauna heater undersized for your hot room will:

• be on too much
• suck the oxygen out of the room
• overheat the rocks

A sauna heater oversized for your hot room will:

• be on too little
• heat the room too fast

Mounting and Installing Your Electrical Sauna Heater on the Wall

Wall-mounted electrical sauna heaters

It most cases mounting the heater’s top screws at 23″ off your hard floor. See the image at right.

We have a great article about converting a spare room into a sauna that includes information and videos on centering, mounting, and installing your sauna heater.

Floor Sauna heaters

Your electrical sauna unit should include specs on mounting the heater. Heaters usually have specific information on how far the unit should be mounted from the wall.

Also our articles on proper sauna heater venting

• How to vent a sauna?

Look over that and if you still have questions, let us know.

Wiring for an electric sauna heater

If you’re renovating an existing room or it’s new construction …

• Review your electric service control panel
• Install a dedicated 30amp (≤6kW) or 40amp (>6kW) circuit
• Run wire through bare studs to where the heater will be mounted or sit
• Do the same for the light / switch and if needed, the heater control panel

• Then, your electrician will return and connect the sauna heater, heater control panel, install light fixtures and switch
• Test the sauna heater! Surprisingly, some leave without actually turning it on

DO NOT LET YOUR ELECTRICIAN LEAVE WITHOUT TESTING THE SAUNA HEATER!! 

• Dry sauna heater or a steamy sauna heater?

  

  Dry sauna heater vs steamy sauna heater?

  A dry sauna heater heats the sauna with dry air. A steamy sauna heater has an extra unit which releases humidity into the sauna. Of course, you can always ladle water over your rocks to lay back and let the machine add steam to your sauna session. While on one of our, e.g. Compare 8kW Sauna Heaters pages you’ll find a “Steamy” tab that lists units with the steamy feature. All the other sauna heaters are dry type.

  You need no plumbing outlet as you fill the Combi-U with a pitcher. The Combi-U operates at 145° F at 65% humidity. The Combi-U has a computerized automatic “dry out cycle” to eliminate any moisture problems to your sauna.

  The wet/dry sauna heater combine the best features of the sauna and steam room. Since it is used in a wooden room, the humidity is still not as high as a steam room, but it does provide more steam than one can get by pouring water over rocks. It requires a 240V elelctrical circuit with 30-40 amps. There are reservoirs for water that are filled manually or automatically (requires plumbing).

We offer an Infrared Sauna Therapy Tent and a 36×42″ Modular Sauna Kit

Using infrared red lights as a source of infrared heat to promote sweating, has been gaining popularity for the last decade

The infrared red lights differ from traditional infrared emitter style heat therapy rooms in some important ways