Electric Sauna Heaters

How do electric sauna heaters work

Electric sauna heaters work on the principle of electrical resistance heating. They utilize an electric current that passes through a resistive heating element, typically made from high-resistance materials like nichrome or kanthal. As electricity passes through this element, the resistance generates heat, known as Joule heating. This heat then radiates to the sauna rocks placed on or around the heating element, which absorb and emit this heat into the sauna room, raising the air temperature. If water is poured on the heated rocks, it quickly evaporates, increasing the humidity and enhancing the sauna experience. Most electric sauna heaters also feature thermostats or digital controls to precisely regulate temperature and potentially include safety mechanisms to prevent overheating.

Replacing your electric sauna heater

Electric sauna heaters need to be replaced every 10-15 years. It’s also not unusual to have to replace the heating elements before replacing the entire sauna heater. Sauna heaters with larger rock capacity usually require replacing the heating elements more often. The reason is that when heating elements are in direct contact with the stones, they can move slightly with the rocks and also get more exposure to minerals in the water thrown onto the stones. However, replacing heating elements is a straightforward process. You can get new ones from us at a very affordable price and change them yourself in a few minutes. Sauna heaters with larger rock capacities also give out better steam, so I would recommend them over the ones with low rock capacity.

Maintaining your electric sauna heater

Most of the sauna owners don’t do any kind of maintenance for their sauna heater, until it breaks down. However, we recommend performing some light maintenance periodically. If you use the sauna every week, we would recommend taking away the rocks and cleaning the sauna heater from dust and debris at least once or twice a year. This helps prevent fire hazards and ensures efficient heating.

Inspect the heating elements periodically to see if there’s any damage to them. If needed, you can replace them easily.

Lastly, make sure your sauna is properly ventilated. Proper ventilation prevents moisture buildup, which can damage the heater and other sauna components. In any case, since you sweat in the sauna and there’s a lot of humidity involved, we recommend cleaning the sauna monthly.

Costs of running an electric sauna heater

Let’s use a small home sauna heater as an example here. If you have a 4.5kw sauna heater running at full power, it consumes 4.5kw of electricity per hour. A typical sauna session, from heating up to being in the sauna, might last 1.5 hours. Here’s what the math would look like:

Local Electricity Rate: The cost of electricity is $0.15 per kilowatt-hour (kWh). It's important to note that this rate can fluctuate depending on your location and energy provider.

Sauna Session Duration: The typical duration of a sauna session, including heating up and actual usage, is 1.5 hours.

Heater Power: The sauna heater operates at a power level of 4.5 kilowatts (kW) when running at full capacity.

Calculation of Sauna Session Cost: To find out the cost of a single sauna session, multiply the electricity rate per kWh by the session duration in hours and then by the heater's power in kW.

Formula: Cost of sauna session = Electricity rate × Session duration × Heater power

Calculation: 

4.5kW × $0.15/kWh × 1.5 hours = $1.01

Conclusion: Therefore, the cost of a single sauna session with these parameters would be $1.01.

Electric, Gas, or Wood Fired Sauna Heater

Which sauna heater type should you choose? 

If you use your sauna regularly, and want to conveniently heat it up by just a push of a button, you should consider an electric sauna heater. 

In case you want the traditional sauna experience, and you treat the sauna going more like a fun journey from start to finish, and it’s something you might be doing while you’re in your summer house, then a wood-fired sauna stove is the correct choice for you. The smell of burning wood, the sounds and the authenticity of the sauna experience hits you differently with a wood-fired heater. It’s a lot of work to heat the sauna up with a wood fired sauna stove, though, and you need the wood and more time to do it, so it’s not something you want to do every day.

Lastly, there’s a new kid on the block called a gas sauna heater. Gas sauna heaters are extremely reliable  and often favored for their cost-effectiveness and performance in larger outdoor installations. If you have easy access to gas lines and you have a larger outdoor sauna, this is something you might want to consider.

Conclusion

In summary, choosing the right sauna heater involves considering several factors, including the size of your sauna, the place you live in, and your personal preferences regarding the sauna experience. Electric sauna heaters are the most popular choice for any sauna by a huge margin. Please don’t hesitate to contact our sauna experts, we’re passionate about the topic and are definitely interested in talking about saunas with you, regardless of the state of your sauna project.