Guide

How hot does a sauna get, and how long does it take to heat up?

Typical temperatures for traditional and infrared saunas, heat-up times where sellers publish them, and what speeds it up.

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A traditional sauna usually runs at 70 to 100°C and takes about 45 minutes to heat. An infrared cabin runs cooler, around 60°C.

What sellers publish

Sauna	Type	Top temperature	Heat-up
Layzee Living 250cm Outdoor Barrel Sauna	Garden sauna	90°C	45 min
Steam & Oak Kajo 2 Full Spectrum Infrared Sauna	Infrared sauna	60°C	—
Polar Recovery Nova 2 Person Infrared Sauna	Infrared sauna	65°C	—

Few sellers publish heat-up times or top temperatures. We show them on each product page when they do.

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What makes it heat faster

A heater sized for the room: heater size guide.
Thicker walls and a well-fitting door.
A smaller room. A barrel has less air to heat than a cabin of the same seat count.
A timer or app, so it's warming up before you head out.

We use about 45 minutes of heating and an hour of use in our running costs.

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Common worries

"We'll use it twice and it'll become a garden ornament."

The best guard is a sauna that is easy to start. Many heaters can run on a timer or from an app, so it is hot when you walk out. And the sums reward use: the cost of each session falls every time you go. Will you really use it? →

"With energy prices what they are?"

About £1.97 a session for a 6 heater at 26.32p per , or about £0.53 for an infrared cabin. Twice a week, that is about £205 a year. A wood-fired stove uses £80 to £180 of logs a year instead. Your own running cost →

All ten sauna worries

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