The ticket price is only part of it. Pick a type and size to start from real UK prices, then add the heater, assembly, electrics and base.
Defaults: heater £500 (retailers' add-on prices for a 4.5 to 8 kW Harvia run £449 to £600), delivery £0 (free to most of mainland UK), assembly £0 (DIY; retailers quote £350 to £2,100), electrics £400 (the low end of retailer estimates of £400 to £1,500). The base is left at £0 because it depends on your ground: add your quote.
Calculator by outdoorsauna.uk, using UK prices checked 30 September 2026. A guide only, not professional advice: important information.
How the calculator works
Choose a type, a seat count and whether you want the heater included. The calculator fills in the median price of matching saunas from the 489 UK listings we’ve checked, and shows how wide the range is. Then it adds the extras: a heater if the sauna doesn’t come with one, delivery, assembly, the electrics and the base. Every default is a figure a retailer publishes, or zero where we have nothing we can source, so change each line to your own quotes as you get them.
Once you’ve picked a model, type its real price into “Sauna price”. The rest of the sum still applies.
What a garden sauna costs by type
| Type | Listed | From | Median | Middle half | Median per seat | Heater included |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sauna tents | 15 | £795 | £1,895 | £1,750–£2,800 | £374 | 80% |
| Outdoor infrared | 10 | £2,410 | £5,095 | £3,250–£6,850 | £2,200 | 100% |
| Barrel saunas | 144 | £2,000 | £5,272 | £3,900–£6,700 | £1,126 | 28% |
| Cube saunas | 86 | £2,151 | £5,267 | £4,050–£7,500 | £1,325 | 37% |
| Sauna pods | 26 | £3,995 | £6,999 | £5,550–£10,100 | £1,804 | 12% |
| Cabin saunas | 199 | £1,999 | £9,429 | £5,700–£15,700 | £2,236 | 22% |
| Sauna and tub sets | 9 | £16,450 | £18,480 | £17,450–£21,000 | £2,953 | 11% |
“Middle half” is the range covering the middle 50% of prices (25th to 75th percentile), which ignores the very cheapest and dearest listings. Cubes are listed on the sauna pods page.
The full breakdown, with a chart, is in our garden sauna cost guide. For the cheapest and best-value models in each category, see best garden saunas.
Why a sauna with a heater can cost less than one without
It looks backwards, but in our data the median four-seat barrel with a heater costs £4,612, and the median without one costs £5,150. That’s because the cheapest barrels (from Costco, Vidalux and CenturaHeat, for example) come complete with a heater, while many pricier barrels, including all of Finnmark’s and many in thermally modified timber, are sold as a shell so you can choose your own. So “heater included” often means a simpler, cheaper sauna, not a better deal on the same one. Compare like with like by picking a model first, then adding the heater it needs.
The extras, item by item
The heater
If the sauna is sold without one, you’ll need a heater, usually stones, and sometimes a separate controller. Steam & Oak prices several saunas with and without a heater: on those listings a Harvia electric heater of 4.5 kW to 8 kW adds £449 to £600, and a 9 kW Harvia Cilindro adds about £800. Bought on its own, an electric heater in our heater comparison costs from £355. Size it with the heater size calculator.
Delivery
Most retailers deliver free to mainland UK, but almost always to the kerb, on a pallet or in a crate. Remote postcodes, the Highlands and islands and Northern Ireland often cost extra. See retailers compared.
Assembly
Most garden saunas are self-assembly kits. Where a retailer offers to build it, these are the prices they state:
| Retailer | Assembly, as stated |
|---|---|
| Quick-garden | £350 on HELGA barrels; price on request for cabins |
| Steam & Oak | Construction service “starts at £500” |
| Nuovo Luxury | +£800 to +£1,000 on the models where it’s offered |
| Polar Recovery | £1,200 to £2,000 for sauna cubes, depending on location |
| Summerhouse24 | +£1,820 for a cabin, +£2,100 for a barrel |
Check the warranty before you do it yourself: Balance Recovery gives 2 years on its own-brand saunas when professionally installed, but 1 year if self-assembled.
Electrics
An electric heater needs its own circuit, installed and certified by a registered electrician. Steam & Oak’s listings suggest budgeting £400 to £1,200 for a garden supply, and estimate £800 to £1,500 for a 50 A circuit on one 9 kW model. The cost rises with the distance from your consumer unit and falls if you already have a suitable supply. Our electrical supply calculator shows what your heater will draw. Wood and gas heaters avoid the electrical circuit, but a wood stove needs its flue fitted to the maker’s clearances, and a fixed gas installation should be fitted by a Gas Safe registered engineer (by law, all gas engineers must be on the register).
The base
Paving slabs, a concrete pad, a gravel grid or a timber frame. We don’t publish a typical price because it depends too much on your ground and who lays it: get a quote, or price the materials. Installing a garden sauna compares the options.
A worked example: a four-seat barrel
| Item | Figure | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Four-seat barrel, sold without a heater | £5,150 | Median of 36 listings |
| Harvia heater, 6 kW to 8 kW | £480 to £600 | Retailer add-on prices |
| Delivery | £0 | Free to most of mainland UK |
| Assembly | £0 to £2,100 | DIY, or retailer quotes |
| Electrics | £400 to £1,500 | Steam & Oak’s estimates |
| Total, before the base | £6,030 to £9,350 |
The same barrel bought with a basic heater included starts much lower: the median four-seat barrel with a heater is £4,612.
Ways to keep the total down
- Buy with the heater included if you’re happy with the heater the retailer fits.
- Put it closer to the house. A shorter cable run to the sauna usually means less work for the electrician. Check the planning rules for where it can go with our planning permission checker.
- Build it yourself if the retailer’s warranty allows it, with two people and a level base ready before it arrives.
- Choose the size you’ll actually use. Our sauna finder shows every model that fits your space and budget.
What it costs to run
Once it’s built, an 8 kW electric sauna costs about £2.63 a session at the current Ofgem price cap, on our stated assumptions. Twice a week, that’s about £274 a year. Try your own numbers in the running cost calculator.
Embed this calculator
Free to use on your own site, with a credit link: