This page used to be a list of reasons to choose us. That is not what someone comparing manufacturers needs, so we have rewritten it as the checklist we would want a client to run us through. It applies to any supplier, including this one.
If you are trying to decide between named brands rather than evaluate a supplier, start with our honest comparison of the major sauna brands — who owns whom, and what each is actually good at.
First, decide which of three things you are buying
Most bad sauna procurement starts here, because the three are priced and warranted completely differently.
- A prefabricated cabin. A boxed product in a standard size, factory-assembled, one warranty covering the whole thing. Fastest, lowest execution risk, no flexibility on dimensions.
- A custom-built room. Made to the space, matched to the surrounding architecture, any geometry. Quality depends entirely on who builds it, because there is no factory QC behind it.
- A heater and controls only. You or your contractor build the room; the manufacturer supplies the appliance. Common on projects where a joinery package already exists.
A supplier who does not ask which of these you want within the first two questions is selling, not specifying.
The twelve questions
1. Is the heater sized against the real room, or the catalogue?
Roughly 1 kW per cubic metre for a well-insulated cabin, then add substantially for exposed glass, stone walls and uninsulated surfaces. Catalogue maximums assume a fully insulated timber box. An undersized heater running permanently at full output is the single most common failure we are called in to fix.
2. Is it rated for continuous duty?
A hotel sauna runs twelve to sixteen hours a day. Domestic-rated heaters and contactors do not survive that regardless of brand. Ask for the duty rating in writing, not the marketing category.
3. Where is the nearest stocked spare part?
Elements, contactors, sensors and door hinges are consumables on a commercial sauna. In the Gulf and Africa this question eliminates several otherwise-excellent European brands, because a four-week wait for an element means a room out of service for a month.
4. What timber, and how is it graded?
Ask for the species and the grade, not just “Nordic spruce”. Knot-free clear grades cost more and behave better; the visual difference at handover is obvious and the movement over five years is not. Thermally modified timber and abachi/ayous behave differently again — each has a place, and a supplier should be able to say why they proposed one.
5. What is the ventilation design?
Not a product question, and it determines whether the room is pleasant more than the heater does. There should be a supply low near the heater and an extract diagonally opposite, with a stated air-change rate. If the answer is a shrug or “we leave a gap under the door”, keep looking.
6. Who is responsible for the interfaces?
Waterproofing, floor falls, drainage, the electrical supply, the door threshold and the junction with adjoining finishes. On most disputed sauna projects the cabin is fine and one of these interfaces is not. Get the scope split written down before contract.
7. What certification comes with it?
CE marking on the heater and controls as a minimum, plus a declaration of conformity you can hand to a consultant. For hotel work in the Gulf you will also be asked for material approvals, fire performance data for the linings, and often an authority submittal package. Ask whether the supplier has produced one before.
8. What is the warranty, and on what exactly?
Separate the heater warranty (usually the appliance manufacturer’s) from the cabin warranty (the builder’s) from the labour. A “two-year warranty” that covers only the heater on a custom room leaves the expensive part uncovered.
9. What are the real lead times, split by stage?
Design and approvals, manufacturing, shipping, site installation, commissioning. A single headline number hides where the risk is. Shipping to the Middle East and Africa is where most programmes slip.
10. Who installs it, and who pays for their travel?
Factory installation crews, local subcontractors and “supply only” are three different prices. On international projects, flights, visas and accommodation for the installation team are a real line item and are frequently left ambiguous.
11. Can they show a comparable completed project?
Not a rendering — a photograph of a handed-over room of similar size, use and climate, ideally with a reference you can call. A supplier with fifty domestic cabins behind them is not evidence for a 400 m² hotel spa.
12. What does the payment schedule say about their confidence?
A schedule weighted heavily to the front loads all the risk onto you. Our own standard is 20% on order, 20% on drawing approval, 55% before dispatch and 5% after commissioning — the last tranche exists precisely so there is money on the table when the snag list is written. Any structure with a meaningful retention after commissioning is a reasonable one.
Red flags
- A quotation with no kW rating, no timber species and no scope split.
- Heater sizing that matches the catalogue maximum rather than the room volume.
- No answer on ventilation.
- A price that is a single lump with no breakdown between cabin, heater, controls, glass and installation.
- Photographs that are all renders.
- Willingness to skip drawing approval to save two weeks. Those two weeks are where errors get caught.
Where we fit, honestly
We have manufactured saunas, steam rooms and hammams since 1987, mostly for hotels, spas and developers across the Gulf, Africa and Europe. We are a custom manufacturer, and we use Harvia and EOS heaters inside the rooms we build — so the appliance you get is the same appliance those brands sell.
That means for a single standard-size domestic sauna, a good prefabricated cabin will beat us on value and we will say so. Where the checklist above starts favouring us is on rooms that cannot be bought off a shelf: non-standard geometry, custom cabins, multi-unit hospitality, and projects where the sauna has to be coordinated with MEP, waterproofing and a main contractor’s programme.
Run the twelve questions past us. If the answers do not stack up against another supplier’s, use the other supplier.
Frequently asked questions
How do I compare sauna manufacturer quotes fairly?
Normalise them first: same kW, same timber grade, same glass area, same scope split for installation and interfaces. Most quote differences that look like price differences are scope differences.
What size sauna heater do I need?
About 1 kW per cubic metre of cabin volume, plus an allowance for glass and stone. A 9 kW heater suits a typical 8–9 m³ room. Size against the actual room, never the catalogue maximum.
Is a custom sauna better than a prefabricated one?
Not inherently. Prefabricated is better when the space is standard — lower risk, one warranty. Custom is better when the room is not standard or has to match adjoining architecture.
What certification should a commercial sauna have?
CE marking on the heater and control system with a declaration of conformity, fire performance data for the linings, and — for most Gulf hotel projects — a material approval and authority submittal package.
Which sauna brand should I specify?
Depends on the layer. See our brand comparison: Harvia for serviceability, EOS for commercial duty, Klafs for a signature luxury room, Huum for design, Saunum for air quality.
