Barrel saunas UK: every model, price and size

A barrel sauna is a cylinder of timber staves held together with steel bands, laid on its side on a pair of cradles. It’s one of the most popular garden saunas in the UK: 144 of the 489 saunas in our dataset are barrels, sold by 17 retailers, second only to cabins. This page lists every one, with the seats, size, height and heater each retailer states, and the price checked on 30 September 2026.

Shortlist: four barrels worth a look

These four come top on the rule printed under each one. For the thinking behind them, and picks for other kinds of sauna, see our best garden saunas.

Each pick is the top model on the rule under it, among models whose retailer publishes the seats, size, height and heater. A model already picked is skipped. Prices checked 30 Sep 2026; how we pick.

Every barrel sauna for sale in the UK

Use the filters to narrow the list. “Heater included” hides the 80 barrels sold as a shell only. Seat counts are the retailer’s own.

Prices include VAT. Each row shows the date we checked it against the retailer's own page; the latest check was 30 September 2026. Prices change: the retailer's checkout price is what counts. Height chips show the retailer's stated height: green 2.5 m or lower, amber taller. That's before your base, and it isn't a planning check (see why 2.5 m matters). “Not recorded” means we could not confirm the figure on the retailer's page.

Barrel sauna prices

Barrels start at £2,000 and run to £14,999. Half of them cost between £3,900 and £6,700, and the median is £5,272, against £9,429 for a cabin sauna. The price bands below show where the market sits.

Three things move the price more than anything else:

• Whether the heater is included. Only 40 of the 144 barrels come with one. The median barrel with a heater costs £3,658; without, £5,514, and you’ll still need to buy a heater. That looks the wrong way round, but it’s about who sells what. The lowest-priced brands, such as Vidalux, CenturaHeat and Gardj, put a heater in the price. 39 of the 80 barrels without one come from Finnmark and Steam & Oak, which price the shell and offer heaters as options on the same page.
• Length. A longer barrel means more seats and more timber. See the size table below.
• Timber and extras. Thermally modified timber, a panoramic glass end, a porch or a changing room all add to the price.

For the full cost of getting a barrel running (base, electrics, delivery), read the garden sauna cost guide.

Sizes: how long a barrel do you need?

Barrels are sold by length. Most are around 2 m in diameter, so the length decides how many people fit. Here’s what the 144 listings offer, by the seat count the retailer gives.

24 listings did not state a seat count.

As a guide from the data, a two-seat barrel is typically about 1.49 m long, a four-seater about 2.24 m and a six-seater about 2.45 m. Longer barrels often split the length into a sauna room and a porch or changing area, so check the internal sauna length in the retailer’s drawing, not just the overall size.

Measure your space with the barrel’s full footprint, including the cradles and any porch roof overhang, and leave room to walk round it for treatment and cleaning. If space is tight, our list of small garden saunas has every model that fits in 4 m² or less.

Every barrel we could measure is 2.5 m high or lower

This matters for planning. In England and Wales a garden sauna is usually permitted development, but anything within 2 metres of a boundary must be no more than 2.5 metres high.

Of the 144 barrels, 101 have a height stated on the retailer’s page, and all 101 of them are 2.5 m or lower. That’s a real advantage over cabins, where 41 of the 101 with a stated height are taller. Remember to add the height of your base: a 2.4 m barrel on a raised timber frame can end up over the limit.

The rules differ in Scotland and on designated land. Our guide to installing a garden sauna covers planning, bases and electrics for each UK nation.

Sources: Planning Portal: Outbuildings - Planning permission; Welsh Government: Planning permission: outbuildings. Checked 30 September 2026.

Timber: spruce, ThermoWood or cedar

Most barrels are Nordic spruce or pine. Of the 144 listings, 68 mention thermally modified timber, often sold as ThermoWood, either as standard or as an option, and 9 in cedar. Thermal modification heats the timber with steam and no added chemicals, which permanently lowers the moisture it takes up, improves its stability and increases its resistance to rot. Strictly, ThermoWood is a registered trademark of the International ThermoWood Association, so not every “thermowood” barrel uses it.

Sources: International ThermoWood Association: ThermoWood; International ThermoWood Association: home page. Checked 30 September 2026.

Stave thickness varies from about 35 mm to 46 mm. Where the retailer states it, the median is 42 mm. Thicker staves insulate better, but add weight and cost.

Heaters for barrel saunas

Barrels take an electric heater, or a wood-burning stove with a flue through the roof or back wall. Where a heater is included and its output is stated, the most common sizes in our data are 9 kW, 4.5 kW, 6 kW.

If your barrel comes without a heater, size it to the room. Our heater size calculator has a barrel setting that works out the volume from the inside length and diameter. Then compare every model on Harvia heaters and HUUM heaters. A 9 kW heater usually needs a dedicated circuit, and some need a three-phase supply; the running cost calculator shows what each size costs per session.

Heat-up times are the retailer’s claims, not our measurements, and they depend on the weather and the heater:

Claims as we recorded them from each listing; words in quotation marks are the retailer's own. Where a sauna is sold without a heater, the claim depends on the heater you add.

Porches, changing rooms and panoramic windows

A basic barrel is one room with a door at one end. Many add something:

• Porch or terrace: 45 barrels have a covered porch or terrace, a sheltered place to sit between rounds.
• Changing room: 27 split the barrel with an inner wall to make a changing area.
• Glass end: 5 have a glass back or a large window. Glass loses heat faster than timber, so expect a bigger heater.

These figures only count listings where the retailer says so; others may have the feature without stating it.

Costco barrel saunas

Costco UK sells 5 barrel saunas, including the Vidalux range that’s also sold direct. Costco sells to members only.

Compare those with Vidalux’s own prices on our Vidalux page, which puts the same barrels side by side.

Barrel kits: what arrives and how heavy

Almost every barrel arrives as a kit: pre-cut staves, the steel bands, two end walls with the door and window, the benches and the floor, with the heater boxed separately if it’s included. The staves run the full length of the barrel, so they’re the longest parts to carry. Where retailers state a weight, barrels in our data run from about 350 kg to around 1,400 kg, and the longer, thermally modified ones are the heaviest:

Delivery is almost always to the kerb. Costco’s terms, for example, say the driver moves the crate by pallet truck on level hard standing only. From there it goes through the garden piece by piece, so:

• Measure the route. Check every gate, passage and corner against the longest parts.
• Have the base ready. It needs to be flat and level before the kit arrives, and able to take the sauna’s weight plus the people in it.
• Plan for two people, at least. Staves, bands, benches and door go together on site. Some retailers offer assembly at extra cost; others leave it to you.

Lead times range from in stock to made to order over several weeks. Delivery terms, lead times and assembly services differ a lot between retailers: UK sauna retailers compared sets them side by side, and the garden sauna cost calculator adds assembly to the price.

Looking after the timber

A barrel is a timber building outdoors, and the outside needs looking after. 68 barrel listings in our data mention thermally modified timber, as standard or as an option, and it resists rot better than ordinary spruce. At the other end, some kits arrive untreated, mostly Palmako’s, which means treating the outside yourself before the first winter.

Whatever you buy, read what the warranty asks of you. Polar Recovery’s guarantee depends on a breathable wood oil or sauna-safe finish, and some retailers give a shorter warranty if you assemble the sauna yourself. Our retailer comparison lists the conditions we found.

Barrel, cube or cabin?

A barrel’s curved roof means less air to heat above the benches than a square room, and the shape sheds rain well. The trade-off is headroom at the edges and a curved floor space. A cube or pod gives you a flatter floor and more headroom for similar money; a cabin gives you a proper room, a changing area and more seats, at a higher price. If you want to heat with logs, see wood-fired saunas.