Guide

Will we actually use a home sauna? How to make sure you do

The worry that it becomes a garden ornament, answered: what makes people keep using one, and how cost per session falls with use.

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People who keep using a home sauna make it easy to start and give it a fixed slot in the week. The sums help too: the more you go, the less each session costs.

Cost per session falls with use

Sessions	Per session	Per person
1 a week	£27.94	£13.97
2 a week	£14.95	£7.48
3 a week	£10.63	£5.31
4 a week	£8.46	£4.23

Against £10 a person at a community sauna.

A £6,000 ready-to-use sauna for two people over five years, with electricity at 26.32p per and £150 a year of upkeep. Our sums; change them in the payback calculator.

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What makes the difference

Short walk, no faff. Put it where you can reach it in slippers, with a light on the path.
Hot when you get there. A heater on a timer or an app means no 45-minute wait after you decide to go.
A fixed slot. Sunday evening with the family, or after the gym on a Wednesday.
Room for company. A sauna that seats your household gets used more than one you take turns in.
Winter first. Buy in autumn and the first months are the ones you'll want it most.

Still unsure? Try a community sauna a few times first. The pros and cons page covers the other worries.

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Common worries

"It's too expensive."

Garden saunas you can buy today start at £3,900 ready to use, with the heater, electrics and base included. Infrared cabins that plug in start at £1,595. Used twice a week by two people for five years, a typical sauna costs a few pounds a person each time. A community sauna charges about £10. Work out your own payback →

"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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