How much does a sauna cost in 2026? Full price overview
How much does a sauna cost? The full price overview for 2026
A sauna at home costs €479 or €8,000 – depending on which type you choose. We list all the options, including installation, electricity use and the real cost per session.
How expensive is a sauna for home use? Sauna costs vary greatly by type: a sauna blanket costs under €500, a Finnish sauna cabin easily €4,000 to €8,000. In this article you'll find the complete price overview, plus what you can really expect in terms of installation, electricity costs and payback time compared with visits to a wellness centre.
How much does a home sauna cost? The short answer
Prices for a home sauna vary widely. The cheapest option – an infrared sauna blanket – is available from €479. A complete Finnish sauna cabin with installation can cost up to €8,000 or more. Below are the prices per category at a glance.
Comparison of prices, installation and space requirements for the four most popular sauna options
The 4 sauna options side by side – what do you get for your money?
The most affordable way to enjoy a real sauna at home. At Flamengo we believe a sauna blanket only makes sense if it delivers the same deep infrared heat as a professional cabin. That's why we designed our blanket so its specs can compete with cabins that cost 5 to 10 times as much.
What makes our sauna blanket different:
- FIR technology from Japan – Far Infrared Radiation between 6 and 14 µm, the wavelength range that penetrates deepest into the skin and muscles
- 36,000 carbon-fibre elements – spread across the whole blanket for even 360-degree heat, no "cold spots"
- Radiation intensity 46.73 mW/cm² – comparable to high-end cabins; cheap blankets often reach no more than 15-20 mW/cm²
- Ultra-low EMF – for people who are sensitive to electromagnetic fields or simply want to minimise them
- Iso-cotton insulation core – keeps the heat where it belongs and prevents the electronics from overheating
- CE-certified – tested to European safety standards
The classic home sauna in cabin form. A 1- or 2-person infrared cabin costs between €2,500 and €3,500, a 3-4 person model rises to €5,000 or more. On top of the purchase price come installation costs of €200 to €500 – depending on whether a high-voltage connection has to be installed and how suitable the existing space is.
What you get extra compared with a blanket: more space, sitting rather than lying, sometimes built-in chromotherapy or audio, and the 'cabin feeling'. What you have to give up: space (a fixed spot of at least 1.5 x 1.5 m), higher electricity costs (€1-2 per session), and you can't take the installation with you when you move.
A steam sauna works differently from an infrared sauna: instead of direct heat from the cabin walls, the air is heated and mixed with water to create moist steam. That gives a milder temperature (40-50 °C) with 100% humidity. Lovely for anyone who likes moist heat, but the purchase price and installation costs are higher.
With a steam sauna you need a water drain and ventilation as well as a high-voltage supply. Installation easily rises to €700. Placing it in the bathroom is usually the most practical.
The classic: dry, hot air (80-100 °C) with a wood-fired or electric heater that warms stones. The price depends heavily on the type of wood, the size (1-6 people) and any extras such as a glass wall or interior lighting. For a quality Finnish sauna you can expect €4,000-€6,000 plus €500-€1,500 for installation.
The Finnish sauna has the highest energy costs of all the options – around €1.50-€2 per session. For the true traditional sauna lover it's worth it; for those mainly looking for health benefits, an infrared blanket is often a smarter choice.
Cost per session – at home versus wellness centre
A sauna at home seems like a big investment, but do the maths and you'll often find it pays for itself surprisingly quickly.
With 2 wellness visits a week, a sauna blanket pays for itself after just 7 sessions
Wellness centre average €35-€55 per visit
A day ticket at an average wellness centre in the Netherlands costs €35 to €55. On top of that come travel time (often 30-60 minutes there and back), fuel or public transport costs, and fixed opening hours. With two visits a week that soon adds up to €3,500-€4,500 a year – not counting the time you spend.
Sauna blanket at home
A Flamengo sauna blanket costs from €479. On top of that come electricity costs of around €0.30 per session. With two sessions a week your annual total is: €479 (one-off) + approx. €30 electricity = €509 in the first year, then only €30 a year after that. The sauna blanket pays for itself after 7-10 wellness visits.
Infrared cabin at home
An infrared cabin costing €2,500 (excl. €300 installation) pays for itself after around 55 wellness visits – that's just over 5 months at 2 sessions a week. After that you only pay the electricity costs.
Comparison table – which sauna suits you?
| Situation | Best option | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Limited budget (<€600) | Sauna blanket | Full infrared experience from €479 |
| Small flat | Sauna blanket | No fixed space needed, foldable |
| Rented home | Sauna blanket | No installation, take it with you when you move |
| Recovery / sports recovery | Sauna blanket or cabin | Infrared works deeper on the muscles |
| Sauna rituals with several people | Infrared cabin for 2-4 people | Social experience, relaxing together |
| Traditional sauna lover | Finnish sauna | Dry hot air, pouring water on the stones |
| Lover of moist heat | Steam sauna | Milder temperature, 100% humidity |
The Flamengo approach – why we chose sauna blankets
When we started Flamengo, the sauna market was split into two extremes: expensive (the cabin from €3,000) or impractical (a sauna visit from €40 a time). Both options exclude most people from regular sauna use – while it is precisely regularity that makes the difference for health and recovery.
We see that our customers often value the unique advantages of a blanket over those of a cabin:
- Lie comfortably instead of sitting – much more pleasant for 30 minutes of relaxation
- Your head stays cool – your head is outside the blanket, no hot air burdening your face and breathing
- In your own spot – on the sofa, in bed, in front of the TV, while you read
- Unobtrusive – no space permanently taken up, folds away for storage
- Portable – when you move or go on holiday
- Ready to use quickly – no 30 minutes of preheating like a cabin
That's why we focus on the sauna blanket. Not because a cabin is bad – a good infrared cabin is fantastic – but because for most people a sauna blanket is realistic to fit into daily life. We see it time and again: customers who would never have bought a cabin use their Flamengo sauna blanket 2-3 times a week and see real effects on sleep, recovery and relaxation.
What are the annual electricity costs of a sauna?
| Type of sauna | Electricity per session | At 2x a week |
|---|---|---|
| Sauna blanket | approx. €0.30 | approx. €30 a year |
| Infrared cabin 2-person | €1 - €1.50 | €100 - €150 a year |
| Steam sauna | €1.50 - €2.50 | €150 - €250 a year |
| Finnish sauna (electric) | €1.80 - €3 | €180 - €300 a year |
Based on an electricity rate of €0.32 per kWh. Actual costs vary with your energy contract.
What should you look out for when buying?
With sauna cabins there are regularly extra costs that weren't included in the purchase price:
- • High-voltage connection: €300-€600 for an electrician if you don't yet have 380V
- • Ventilation: mandatory especially for steam saunas – €200-€500
- • Floor and wall protection: heat-resistant materials, especially for Finnish saunas
- • Maintenance: an annual inspection is recommended for electric saunas
- • Replacing sauna stones: for Finnish saunas every 7-15 years, approx. €25 per 20 kg
With a sauna blanket these extra costs don't apply – no installation, no renovation, no annual maintenance. That often makes the total cost picture more favourable than it seems at first glance.
Frequently asked questions about sauna costs
Prices vary widely: an infrared sauna blanket costs from €479, an infrared cabin €2,500-€5,000, a steam sauna €3,000-€6,000 and a Finnish sauna €3,500-€8,000. With cabins, installation costs of €200-€1,500 come on top, depending on the type.
The total cost depends on type, size and installation. For a complete solution including installation: sauna blanket from €479, infrared cabin from €2,700, steam sauna from €3,500 and Finnish sauna from €4,000. The cheapest option remains the sauna blanket – comparable effect, a fraction of the price.
At a wellness centre you pay an average of €35-€55 per visit. At home with a sauna blanket a session costs around €0.30 in electricity. With an infrared cabin €1-€1.50 per session. With regular use (2x a week) a sauna blanket pays for itself after just 7-10 wellness visits.
A sauna blanket uses around 0.9 kWh per 30-minute session – at €0.32 per kWh that comes to about €0.30. An infrared cabin uses 2-3 kWh per hour (€0.65-€1), a Finnish sauna 6-9 kWh per hour (€1.90-€2.90). Annual consumption at 2x a week ranges from €30 for a blanket to €300 for a Finnish sauna.
For health effects – muscle recovery, circulation, relaxation, better sleep – a quality infrared sauna blanket like Flamengo's gives comparable results to a cabin. Many people even find the sauna blanket more pleasant: you lie comfortably instead of sitting, your head stays free of the heat (less taxing for people who don't tolerate hot air well), and you can read, listen or doze off in peace. A cabin gives more of a "sauna feeling" and is more social (a shared experience), but for the pure recovery effect a blanket is equivalent or even more pleasant.
The cheapest real sauna option is an infrared sauna blanket from €479. Be careful with blankets under €300: they often have low radiation strength (15-20 mW/cm² instead of 40+ for cabin quality), poor insulation so heat is lost, higher EMF values, and cheaper materials that wear out faster. The difference isn't just in the price, but in technology, insulation and radiation intensity. For cabins you start at €2,500 for entry-level models – anything below that is usually too small or of low quality.
A good sauna blanket lasts 5-10 years with regular use. An infrared cabin 15-20 years, a Finnish sauna can last 25+ years with good maintenance. Sauna stones in a Finnish sauna need replacing every 7-15 years (approx. €25 per 20 kg).
As a rule, not for private individuals. Only when a doctor prescribes a sauna for medical reasons (e.g. rheumatism, fibromyalgia) is part of it sometimes deductible in the Netherlands as 'specific healthcare costs'. If in doubt, consult your tax adviser. For businesses in the wellness sector, saunas are a business expense.
Conclusion
A sauna at home doesn't have to be a luxury investment. For anyone who wants to enjoy the benefits of infrared regularly, a sauna blanket from €479 is by far the smartest choice: comparable effects to a cabin, no installation, folds away for storage and low electricity costs. Those with more space, budget and a fixed spot can choose a cabin (€2,500-€5,000) or the traditional Finnish version (€4,000-€8,000). The Flamengo sauna blanket proves every day that for less than half a month of wellness subscriptions you can have your own private sauna at home – for years of enjoyment.
