Outdoor saunas - Why insulation is vital to the construction

During the last few years, saunas use and ownership in North American has seen a rapid growth in popularity...in North America...sauna culture in other parts of the world, like Finland has been present for generations.  In the US and Canada, saunas have seen a dramatic increase in popularity as the wellness industry has grown to fit an aging population and more desire to have wellness products in homes is becoming less expensive and more accessible.  Many more options and companies are now offering these types of products.   

This is also an opportunity for companies to take advantage of this rapid growth in the wellness market by offering cheaply made and poorly designed saunas.  These saunas look the part, but just don't function the same as higher quality products being offered by long time brand names.

Outdoor Saunas in particular are being sold by companies that are offering very pretty and stylish units, but are really quite inferior and just not engineered for long term use or really even to be used outside at all. 

Here are some characteristics of poorly engineered designs and how they should be constructed. 


Here is an incorrectly designed sauna

Glass - The use of glass in an outdoor sauna should be kept to a minimum, because glass, especially single pane tempered, has no insulation value.  In fact, the Sauna360 company has a maximum glass use of around 20% for all their saunas and they reduce the amount of glass for outdoor saunas.  This sauna not only has a glass door, which is not an issue, but the entire front of this sauna is completely glass.  In cold months and sub zero temperatures this will struggle to get hot and stay hot. 

Roof - Pitch and overhang.  Sloped roof is important to run the water away from the front and help with snow-load.  The reason for overhangs on sauna roofs (and your home) is to keep water away from the walls and potentially forming icicles that will eventually damage walls and possibly cause leaks.

The interior of this sauna looks to be well used, but the overall exterior design will cause problems during cold and snowy months.

Barrel Saunas - If there was an award for the worst sauna design, this might get that award.  Unfortunately, people are gobbling up these monstrosities by the truckload.  

You only need to cruise some online sauna forums to learn quickly why the sauna community hates on barrel designs, but we will fill you in on why these are a no-go in the sauna world. 

Shape - The barrel shape is quite uncomfortable to sit in as you usually sit along the sides, and the sides are curved inward. The inward curve also does not allow for upper benches, which is an absolute must in all traditional saunas.  You will get cold feet and not get the sauna experience you are looking for, as well, the second someone opens the door, the heat is back to zero.  
Leaks - In addition to the shape being uncomfortable, you will see the barrels now coming with roofing on them.  You see that some don't also.  That is because every single one of them will leak.  Why do they leak?  Because the wood shrinks, and those metal bands need to be tightened.  No matter how well you try and tighten them, they will leak. 
Insulation - Here is an easy answer...there is none.  They also have ZERO insulation, not even the basic foil used in all saunas.  They are full of gaps and are single walled with no insulation.  If that is not bad enough, this particular unit also has glass not only on the front, but the entire back is glass as well. 

Fun fact > The largest sauna builder in the world, which is upwards of 40% market share, does not make or offer a barrel sauna. 

We do not want to deter anyone from entering the sauna world and we want to promote sauna use by everyone, but there are just some things consumers need to be aware of before purchasing an expensive item like a sauna. 

Our line of outdoor units are premium quality and engineered to last a lifetime.  Check out some of our products here