Home saunas and sauna kits

Over the last ten to twenty years, many perceived luxury purchases have become accessible and affordable and amongst these are home saunas.

Just like home cinema rooms and outdoor swimming pools, home saunas (assembled from a kit) are no longer outside the domestic budget and they can be very affordable if fitted by the house owner.

A sauna can be a place of solitude and escape, or a social area that can be shared.

Buying a home sauna kit

Buying and fitting home sauna kits may sound extravagant and expensive, but today there are lots of good value sauna kits and many are priced in the "affordable" range.

Home saunas are perfect when it comes to aiding relaxation and encouraging good health. They can help you to relax, cleanse your skin and ease away the aches of joints and tired muscles.

Home saunas do not require any special provision for ventilation, and an opening window in the sauna room’s enclosure is all that is necessary.

You can also avoid steam and humidity by using one of the new infrared heaters. These radiating heaters make the skin feel hot and sweat generating a moist environment.

Home sauna running costs

Modern home saunas are cheap to run with low energy costs and no requirement for servicing. They also self clean through the sauna process which makes them easy to maintain.

Home sauna kit types

There are two different ways of assembling a home sauna from a sauna kit.

The first system is known as a materials-only sauna kit and the second system is known as a pre-fab sauna kit. The former is cheaper than the latter, but it requires more hands-on work and a higher level of skill to produce.

Both sauna kit types include an electric or gas sauna stove, along with many sections of timber that make up the sauna panelling and seating.

The big difference though, is in the structure and level of assembly of each kit type. Pre-fab kits arrive in a near completed state and they can support themselves. They may even take the form of a shed or cabin and they require little if any real tradesmen skills.

Material sauna kitsare comprised of timber sections, fixings and instructions that allow an exiting room to be converted into a sauna. These kits require cutting, fixing and some degree of carpentry ability.

Costs and what you get

Material sauna kits represent very good value, but because they only include the materials required to build a sauna in an existing room they are not free-standing or suitable for the outdoors. Material sauna kits are really only sauna linings, but because these kits are delivered in pieces, they require carpentry or DIY skills.

Pre-fab saunas are more expensive because they are partially assembled and require a lesser level of skill to bolt together the pre-assembled wall and ceiling sections. Most pre-fab sauna kits can be fully assembled in a few hours.

Pre-fab sauna kits can be supplied with a roof, a door, a patio area and one or more windows. The more expensive versions look like traditional log cabins and this means that they also look great close to swimming pool, or the out buildings used to house swimming pool heaters.

What you pay is naturally determined by the size, complexity and luxury fittings of your sauna, but cheap sauna kits are definitely available and they will fit into any home or garden.