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How we verify prices and specs

Where every number comes from, how we check it, and what we do when a retailer doesn't say.

Prices checked 30 September 2026

This page explains exactly how the numbers on outdoorsauna.uk are gathered and checked, so you can decide how far to trust them. The short version: every figure comes from the retailer’s own product page, we never fill a gap with a guess, and we re-check a random sample independently before each edition.

What we list

In: garden and outdoor saunas, including sauna tents, that a UK retailer sells to UK customers with a price on the page. That covers barrels, cubes, pods, cabins, outdoor-rated infrared saunas and tents. Where a model comes in several sizes, each size is a separate row.

Out: indoor-only saunas, portable steam pods and tents for indoor use, hot tubs and cold plunges on their own, accessories and spare parts. We also leave out listings with no price shown, a “from” price not tied to a configuration, a product that turns out not to be a sauna, or a supply that isn’t suitable for UK mains as described. Every exclusion is recorded in the changelog.

This edition: 489 saunas from 23 retailers, plus 74 heater listings from 6 retailers.

Where the numbers come from

For each listing we read the retailer’s product page, or the structured product data the page is built from, and record only what it states: price, seats, external dimensions, height, heater and its output, timber, and the retailer’s own words on supply, heat-up, warranty, delivery and lead time. Retailer-wide terms (delivery, returns, finance) come from their policy pages. The date we read each page is stored with the row.

We use software to collect and organise the listings, including AI-assisted extraction from the pages. That makes a dataset this size possible, but it’s also why the checks below matter: every figure has to trace back to the retailer’s page.

Planning, building regulations, electrics, smoke control and energy prices come from official sources (GOV.UK, the Planning Portal, gov.wales, mygov.scot, nidirect, Ofgem and the IET), linked beneath the section that uses them.

How we check it

Before publishing, a separate check re-reads a random sample of listings live and compares every populated field. For this edition, 48 listings were re-checked:

  • All 47 prices that could be compared matched the live page (within 1%).
  • 5 listings had a real error, and we fixed or removed each one: a garden room that isn’t a sauna, a page with no price, and three listings from one retailer where the heater was recorded as included when it isn’t (we then corrected all six of that retailer’s listings with the same error).
  • 16 listings were missing specs that the retailer’s page does give; we added the ones we could confirm.

We also spot-check the planning, electrical, smoke control and energy price statements against their sources.

“Not recorded”

If a retailer doesn’t state a figure, or we couldn’t confirm it, the table says “Not recorded” and the downloadable data leaves it empty. We don’t estimate seats, sizes or heights, and we don’t assume a heater is included. A model with a missing figure can still appear in the tables, but it can’t be chosen as one of our picks.

Prices

  • Prices include VAT and are for the base configuration of each size, as shown on the day we checked.
  • Where a heater or timber option changes the price, we record the base price and describe the options in the notes.
  • “Was” prices are the retailer’s own claim and we don’t verify them. Our price index reports them as a sign of how common discounts are, not as real savings.
  • A few heater retailers don’t state whether their prices include VAT; we say so beside those prices.

Sauna types

We group saunas by shape, because retailers use the words differently. Barrel: a round cylinder on its side. Cube: barrel-style construction with a squared-off profile. Pod: a rounded oval, cocoon or ellipse. Cabin: a building with square walls and a pitched, pent or flat roof. Infrared: a cabin heated by infrared panels. Tent: a portable fabric sauna. Saunas sold with a hot tub or cold tub are grouped separately.

Heights and the planning chips

Each table shows the stated external height with a coloured chip: green for 2.5 m or lower, amber for taller, grey where it isn’t stated. 2.5 m is the limit for an outbuilding within 2 m of a boundary under permitted development in England and Wales (1 m in Scotland). The chip shows the retailer’s figure for the sauna alone, before your base, and it isn’t a planning check or planning advice: see installing a garden sauna and our important information.

Running costs

The running cost calculator uses the Ofgem price cap unit rate for Direct Debit customers, and our stated assumptions: a traditional heater runs flat out for a 45-minute heat-up, then is on half the time during a 60-minute session; infrared panels warm up for 15 minutes and stay on for a 45-minute session. These are assumptions, not measurements, and you can change every one. We update the default rate each time the cap changes.

How we choose our picks

Our best garden saunas and the shortlists on each type page are chosen by rules, printed under every pick, such as “lowest price among barrel saunas with 4+ seats and a heater included”. Only models with full specs published are eligible. A model can win only once, and the same model at two retailers counts as one. We haven’t tested these saunas in person, and we say so. Whether a retailer pays us commission plays no part: the rules don’t know.

If we review a sauna we’ve actually used, it will say so clearly, with our own photos.

Images

The scene photographs on this site (gardens, interiors, details) are AI-generated illustrations, labelled “Illustration” wherever they appear, with a machine-readable marker in the file’s metadata. They show the kind of sauna being discussed, not any specific product. They never appear on retailer or heater-brand pages. Where we show a specific product, the image will come from the retailer or maker.

Some links to retailers are affiliate links: if you buy after clicking, the retailer may pay us a commission, at no cost to you. That’s how the site pays for itself. It doesn’t affect which saunas we list, how we sort them, or which we pick. More on who we are and how we’re paid.

Updates and corrections

We re-check every listing and publish a new edition each quarter, and we update running costs when the Ofgem cap changes. Every change is in the changelog, and the full dataset is free to download. If you find an error, email hello@outdoorsauna.uk with the product link and we’ll check it.