Harvia Spirit Sauna Heater Review

Harvia has finally managed to bring its Spirit model into the US market. Harvia Spirit is a direct answer to HUUM's most popular electric sauna heater - HUUM Drop. Harvia Spirit is a wall-mounted sauna heater, with a large rock capacity, classic curved design, and stainless steel cage.

Designed and manufactured in Finland, Harvia Spirit delivers unmatched Finnish quality to US sauna goers. UL listed Spirit has unique ventilation ducts, which ensure an even heat distribution in the sauna room. The ducts cool the wall structures of the Spirit effectively, making sure the heating elements will last long, even in daily use.

Available Configurations of Harvia Spirit

Harvia Spirit is made for home use and comes in 6kW and 8kW versions in the North American market. As said, Spirit is engineered for home use, meaning it’s not a suitable option for large commercial saunas. Spirit is wired with 240V/1PH.

Harvia Spirit SP60E & SP80E

The smaller 6kW version is called Harvia Spirit SP60E, while the more powerful version is Harvia Spirit SP80E. Here are the technical details for both configurations:

As you can see from the table above, SP60E and SP80E are physically the same size. The difference between the models is the power of the sauna heater's engine. We always recommend taking the bigger configuration of Harvia Spirit, if possible by your electrical infrastructure. The reason is, that with a bigger heater, your sauna heats up faster and the heater will probably last decades because it doesn’t have to work very hard to keep up the temperature.

Reasons To Consider Harvia Spirit For Your Sauna

Heaters with large rock capacity are more expensive, compared to heaters with lower amounts of rocks. Why? Well, the steam that a heater like Harvia Spirit produces is much more enjoyable compared to a heater like Harvia KIP which has a low rock capacity of only 30 lbs. Harvia Spirit produces more gentle, soft steam compared to a heater like Harvia KIP. That’s where the marketing phrase “Harvia Spirit - Feel the Spirit of Löyly’ comes from. Löyly is a Finnish word that refers to steam that a sauna heater produces when water is ladled onto the rocks.

Harvia Spirit can be equipped with a WiFi-enabled control panel, which allows you to control the sauna environment remotely through an app on your phone. After a long day of skiing or for the less fortunate, a long day of work, you can turn the sauna on remotely while commuting back home. This means that your sauna will be ready as soon as you arrive! Convenient.

Spirit is very energy efficient, reliable, and quick. This is thanks to the air ventilation channel, within the heater. Unique ventilation ducts protect individual components from overheating and ensure effective and even heat distribution inside the sauna room.

HUUM Drop vs Harvia Spirit

Harvia Spirit was born as a direct answer to the HUUM Drop. HUUM Drop has been dominating the wall-mounted, higher-end sauna heater market segment since 2016. HUUM had a lot of problems with their Drop heater early on. Harvia took the time needed to learn from its biggest competitors' mistakes. That’s why Harvia can bring in a product that is near perfect from the start.

As an owner of a company selling large quantities of sauna heaters in the US market, I can say that I have for sure seen some problems with Drop heaters. However, HUUM has now as of 2024 been able to fix those problems. Mainly their problems were heating elements breaking prematurely. That was fixed by a new invention called the heating element separator & a few other small technical improvements. Also, in my opinion, HUUM Drop is just so popular, that the minor few having problems with the heater, can make large noise on the internet, even though those problems don’t touch the majority of Drop users.

Going back to the Harvia Spirit, I believe that this heater will be bulletproof from the start. Harvia is coming up with a battle-ready answer.

Let’s analyze this battle deeper.

Advantages of Harvia Spirit;

• Control panel can be installed inside of the sauna room, with HUUM it has to be outside of the sauna room or somewhere low near the door if installed inside the sauna
• Newly designed air ventilation channel is said to distribute the heat very effectively (haven’t had a change to test as of writing this)
• UL listed

Advantages of HUUM Drop;

• Can reach 230f, compared to Spirit which goes up to 195f
• Most consumers prefer the cleaner look of Drop compared to Harvia Spirit which has this black stripe in the middle of the cage

What do Spirit and Drop have in common;

• Wall-mounted design
• Large rock capacity
• Open cage - a lot of rocks visible - allows you to control the steam
• You can throw water onto the rocks
• WiFi-enabled system available
• About the same price with the same functionality

Harvia Spirit Sauna Construction Requirements

As mentioned earlier, Harvia spirit is suitable for home saunas up to 431 adjusted cubic feet with the bigger SP80E configuration. Meaning, that if your sauna is made out of wood, Width x Length x Height in feet has to be 431 or less.

You can download the official Harvia sizing guide by clicking this link.

Other requirements are related to sauna ventilation. Sauna should be well ventilated any case, if you want a great sauna experience, but here are the specifics that Spirit requires from your ventilation:

• The air in your sauna room should change at least 6 times an hour.
•  If mechanical ventilation is used, the air supply vent should be placed above the heater.

Available Accessories

Harvia offers an embedding flange and safety railing as additional accessories with the Spirit heater. Other than that, it's good to note that you need a Xenio sauna control system to run your sauna as well as the rocks for the heater that are sold separately. WiFi add-on is also an additional accessory you can integrate into your system in order to use the app functionality.

What can I get with the Spirit:

Mandatory to run your sauna

• Harvia Spirit Sauna Heater 240V/1PH
• SP60E - 6kW version

or

• SP80E - 8kW version (more powerful)

• Harvia Xenio CX30C-U1 Sauna Control System
• Includes control panel, main module, and the sensors - everything required to run your sauna

Additional Accessories Available

• Harvia HSP3M Safety Rail
• Offers additional safety - meaning you don’t burn yourself to the site of the heater so easily.
• You can get one or more depending on how much protection you want.
• Harvia Xenio Wifi Remote Control
• Different control panel for your Xenio system, that allows you to connect your system on the internet and control the sauna from an app.
• Embedding flange (coming soon)
• If you want to embed your Harvia Spirit in the sauna benches, there will be an embedding flange available in the future.

Conclusion

I tried to keep this article unbiased and produce an informational piece that will help you with your sauna heater choice. After all, for us, it doesn’t matter which heater you choose, we offer all the leading brands in the market.

Finnish sauna technicians have answered the Estonians and Spirit of Löyly is available in the US. Harvia Spirit offers Combined mystique and beauty in one package. Design of the Spirit divides opinions, and you can form your own.

Spirit is a safe and reliable option for your small to medium-sized home sauna. Technologically advanced electric sauna heater produced by the world's biggest sauna manufacturer. Any questions or comments, contact us and we’ll be happy to discuss with you further!

Written by Veeti Sairanen, CEO & Co-Founder of thesaunaheater.com