What is the power consumption of a home sauna?
Sauna devotees, who have tested the benefits of the heat cabin on their own bodies, create their own sauna after ample consideration. As a result, they enjoy numerous advantages. On the one hand, they do not depend on the opening hours of a public facility, and on the other hand, they design it according to their individual wishes. However, calculating the electricity consumption of a sauna is also one of the necessary preliminary considerations.
Reasons that cause high electricity consumption
Wellness lovers forget to include the regular electricity consumption of their heat cabin in the fixed costs when they purchase it. The consumption of the sauna heater is not insignificant. An average heater requires between 6 and 8 kilowatts of electricity. Sauna owners who use their wellness oasis for at least two hours a week pay around 200 euros a year for the consumption. However, with good insulation, they have the opportunity to reduce electricity costs.
Sauna heaters are characterized by a considerable consumption of electricity, since they provide a large heating power. Depending on the heat cabin, a temperature that reaches up to 100 degrees Celsius is desirable. Lighting, in turn, does not cause noteworthy costs. Compared to the power consumption of the furnace, the cost of lighting is minimal.
Different factors influence the cost of the sauna. The period of use of the cabin plays a decisive role. Sauna lovers who use their private sauna only once a week have much lower costs compared to those who visit their heat cabin daily. Furthermore, the duration of each sauna session plays an important role.
Operating costs of a sauna heater
Sauna lovers who use their heat cabin twice a week for 40 minutes each time include another 20 minutes in the calculation. This is what the heater needs to provide the desired temperature. Therefore, the total usage time is two hours per week. Furthermore, the electricity consumption of a sauna, whose power is 7 kilowatt-hours, is 14 kilowatts per week. If the price of electricity is 0.30 euros per kWh, this adds up to 4.20 euros. This results in a total of 218.40 euros for 52 weeks per year (as of 2021 Germany). However, those who use their heat oasis daily increase their electricity consumption to over 700 euros per year.
Tips and tricks to reduce electricity consumption
Numerous sauna followers often believe that only the duration of use as well as the frequency of use plays the main role in electricity consumption. Cabins whose insulation leaves much to be desired drive up electricity costs. Those who choose to retrofit will benefit from this effective savings measure.
Insulation matters
Sauna walls should not be thinner than 5.5 centimeters. Only this thickness ensures adequate insulation. Cabins whose walls are below this minimum dimension unnecessarily emit a high proportion of the heat produced to the outside. Leaky areas also waste valuable energy. Effective insulation, however, solves this problem.
Other energy-saving measures
Sauna owners should open the existing ventilation only when the need for it exists. Furthermore, if there are several family members, they should all sauna at the same time. Thus, no unnecessary further costs develop. During the last sauna session, the sauna heater can be turned off. Since the sauna stones are strongly heated, they still give off enough residual heat to guarantee optimal sweating pleasure.
