Are there any tips for saving on my electric bill when using a sauna?

Yes. I would start by shortening unnecessary preheating, turning the sauna off promptly, and checking your electricity rate before buying anything labeled “energy saving.” My clinical judgment is that a hotter, longer session is not automatically a better session. You can often cut wasted heating time while keeping the part of sauna bathing you actually enjoy.

The evidence needs separating: electricity costs are an engineering calculation; health benefits require clinical research. The 2019 Global Sauna Survey collected 482 valid responses and found reported benefits including relaxation and better sleep. It did not measure electricity savings or establish that longer sessions produce better outcomes. Here is how I would approach the bill without turning a relaxing habit into an expensive optimization project.

1. Calculate the cost of the whole session

Estimated cost = power in kilowatts × hours running × electricity price per kilowatt-hour. Divide watts by 1,000 to get kilowatts. A 1,500-watt appliance is 1.5 kW; running it continuously for one hour uses 1.5 kWh. This distinction matters: kW describes power, while kWh describes the energy you purchase.

The Department of Energy’s Energy Savers guide explains these units and reading electricity charges. Use your current bill, however, rather than the historical prices printed in an older guide.

Count preheating, bathing, and any required drying

Suppose an infrared sauna draws 1.5 kW continuously during 15 minutes of preheating and 30 minutes of use. That is 0.75 hours, or 1.125 kWh. At an illustrative $0.20/kWh, it costs about $0.23 per session. Sixteen sessions add approximately $3.60 to the monthly bill.

That is a worked example, not a promised operating cost. Thermostatic cycling can reduce consumption below the continuous-power calculation. Extra heating, controls, or a manufacturer-required drying cycle can add consumption. Virginia Tech’s appliance-energy guidance explains why rated wattage and actual energy use can differ.

Use the charges that rise when you consume another kWh, including applicable delivery charges. Do not divide a bill containing fixed monthly fees by its kWh and assume the result precisely predicts added sauna costs. Tiered prices and time-of-use rates may require a separate calculation.

2. Compare portable, infrared, and traditional sauna costs fairly

“Portable sauna” describes a format, not one electrical specification. A steam tent, infrared enclosure, and heated blanket can have different ratings and operating patterns. Check the label and manual of your particular unit rather than assuming every portable model uses the same electricity.

The table uses hypothetical ratings and schedules, all at $0.20/kWh and 16 sessions monthly. It assumes continuous rated power throughout the stated time, including warm-up. These are arithmetic comparisons, not measured category averages or equivalent heat exposures.

Illustrative setup	Power	Total powered time	Energy per session	Monthly cost
Heated sauna blanket	0.6 kW	45 minutes	0.45 kWh	$1.44
Portable steam tent	1.0 kW	45 minutes	0.75 kWh	$2.40
Small infrared cabin	1.5 kW	45 minutes	1.125 kWh	$3.60
Traditional electric cabin	6.0 kW	60 minutes	6.0 kWh	$19.20

At $0.40/kWh, every cost doubles. At eight monthly sessions, every monthly cost halves. A cycling heater may use less than shown, while a longer warm-up may push consumption higher. Compare complete sessions at settings you actually enjoy.

My buying judgment: lower wattage alone is a poor reason to replace a working sauna. A smaller heater that runs much longer may deliver little saving. Likewise, a compact infrared unit and a large traditional cabin provide different experiences; their electricity totals do not establish which has greater medical value.

3. Reduce idle heating before changing your routine

Find the necessary warm-up time

Record when your sauna becomes ready under the manufacturer’s instructions. Start from that observation rather than leaving it heating while you finish unrelated chores. Outdoor temperature, construction, and starting conditions affect readiness, so a Minneapolis winter schedule may differ from a summer one.

In its sauna energy FAQ, heater manufacturer Harvia identifies warm-up, temperature, room materials, ventilation, and heater sizing as important variables. This is useful equipment guidance, not independent clinical evidence.

For scale, eliminating 15 minutes of genuinely unnecessary full-power operation on a 1.5 kW unit saves 0.375 kWh: about $0.075 at $0.20/kWh, or $1.20 over 16 sessions. This assumes the removed interval would otherwise have drawn full power. The benefit is real, but modest.

Coordinate users and switch off promptly

If household members already plan to use the sauna, consecutive sessions may avoid a second cold start. Avoid keeping it warm for hours awaiting someone who might use it. Measure the combined heating period to see whether coordination actually reduces consumption.

Set the built-in timer deliberately and finish the heating cycle when appropriate. Complete any drying procedure required by the manual; saving pennies by leaving a damp enclosure poorly maintained is a bad trade. Do not add generic remote switches or smart plugs unless the manufacturer explicitly permits the control arrangement.

4. Preserve comfort through sensible setup and maintenance

Close the door properly and gather your towel and water beforehand to avoid repeated trips. Repair damaged closures using approved parts. Keep designed ventilation openings functional: an intentional air inlet is not a leak to seal. Follow the model’s ventilation requirements rather than copying a different sauna’s arrangement.

For a permanent cabin, insulation is a construction question. Harvia’s Virta heater manual connects room insulation and exposed heat-storing surfaces with heater sizing, and warns that inappropriate wall or ceiling protection can create overheating hazards. Have changes assessed against the actual installation instructions.

For a portable unit, choose a location permitted by its manual, away from avoidable drafts and with the specified clearances. Do not drape household blankets over electrical heaters, controllers, steam equipment, or the enclosure to “trap heat.” Do not move an indoor-only appliance outdoors or improvise insulation around it.

A slightly lower temperature may feel entirely satisfactory. Test one small change without automatically extending the session to compensate, and compare complete-session kWh. There is no universal percentage saving per degree for saunas; household thermostat rules do not transfer directly to a small, intermittently heated enclosure.

My comfort judgment: spend effort removing wasted waiting time before making bathing unpleasant. Sweat volume is not a useful meter of health benefit, and a lower bill does not justify overriding thermal cutoffs or restricting ventilation.

5. Measure savings and decide whether equipment is worth buying

For a compatible plug-in sauna, a plug-in electricity usage monitor with a kWh display can measure a complete cycle. Check voltage, current, continuous-load limits, environmental limits, and whether the sauna manufacturer permits an intermediary device. Keep the monitor outside the hot or wet enclosure. A standard plug-in meter is unsuitable for a hardwired or incompatible 240-volt heater.

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For a hardwired sauna, ask an electrician about circuit-level monitoring. Utility interval data can help reveal timing, but other appliances running simultaneously make it less precise. Never open an electrical panel yourself merely to investigate sauna costs.

Run a simple comparison

1. Measure three normal sessions, including preheating and required drying.
2. Record starting conditions, temperature setting, total time, kWh, and comfort.
3. Change one factor, such as eliminating avoidable preheating.
4. Measure three comparable sessions and compare average energy use.
5. Multiply the difference by your rate and monthly session count.

This is a practical household check, not a laboratory experiment. Weather and different users introduce variation. Nevertheless, it is more informative than trusting an advertisement that does not disclose its test conditions.

Check payback before upgrading. If a $600 improvement saves 0.5 kWh per session across 200 annual sessions at $0.20/kWh, annual savings are $20. Simple payback is 30 years, excluding maintenance and financing. Better comfort may justify the purchase, but electricity savings alone would be a weak argument.

Use cheaper hours if your tariff rewards them

The DOE’s updated Energy Saver guide discusses time-based electricity pricing. If your plan charges $0.35/kWh during peak periods and $0.15 off-peak, shifting a 3 kWh session saves $0.60 without changing the heat exposure.

Those are illustrative rates. Check your utility’s actual schedule, seasonal rules, and other charges. Moving a session to evening does nothing for price on a flat-rate plan. Changing tariffs also affects the rest of the household, so evaluate the whole bill. Off-peak scheduling reduces cost; it does not inherently reduce kWh.

Include costs outside the sauna plug

A meter attached to the sauna does not capture everything the routine adds to your household. A longer hot shower afterward, extra towel drying, or a dehumidifier running after a steam session can also consume energy. In warm weather, heat released indoors may add to air-conditioning demand. These effects depend on the installation and your habits, so avoid assigning them an unsupported fixed percentage.

Keep those habits consistent when comparing sessions. Otherwise, a lower sauna reading can coexist with an unchanged household bill. Conversely, a higher monthly bill does not prove the sauna caused the entire increase: weather, billing-period length, and rate changes can obscure a relatively small appliance load.

Before buying a new unit, ask the seller for measured kWh per complete session, starting room temperature, target setting, warm-up duration, and occupancy. A claim such as “pennies per session” is incomplete without the electricity rate and total running time. If the seller supplies only wattage, you can estimate a scenario, but you still do not have a measured operating cost.

6. Keep health claims separate from the electricity budget

I would not prescribe additional sauna time just because a session is inexpensive. The Global Sauna Survey was cross-sectional and relied on self-reports from people already using saunas. Its findings cannot establish an optimal dose or prove that a particular low-energy device reproduces another sauna’s effects.

Two other papers deserve careful labeling. “How to save money on utility bills” is a 1977 article indexed around nursing-home economics, not evidence for modern portable-sauna savings. The 1999 paper “Criteria for regulating the amount of thermal load in using a sauna” concerns thermal exposure; its indexing does not justify a specific electricity-saving percentage. A PubMed listing is not automatically relevant proof.

My clinical judgment: tolerability matters more than completing a preset time. Dizziness, dehydration, and headache were reported in the survey. Leave if you feel unwell rather than staying to “get your money’s worth.” If you have a condition or take medication affecting heat tolerance or blood pressure, discuss sauna use with your clinician. Energy optimization should never determine your personal heat exposure.

Frequently asked questions

What can I do to reduce my sauna’s electricity usage?

Remove unnecessary preheating, avoid extended idle operation, coordinate household sessions, and maintain the enclosure according to its manual. Measure complete-cycle kWh before and after each change. Moving to cheaper hours saves money only when your tariff varies by time.

How much will my electric bill go up with an infrared sauna?

A hypothetical 1.5 kW sauna running continuously for 45 minutes, 16 times monthly, uses 18 kWh. That adds $3.60 at $0.20/kWh or $7.20 at $0.40/kWh. Your model, warm-up, cycling, and usage determine the actual amount.

How can I calculate my sauna’s energy costs?

Multiply measured session kWh by your applicable electricity rate, then by monthly sessions. Without measurements, use watts divided by 1,000 multiplied by total powered hours as a continuous-power estimate, remembering that heaters may cycle.

Can I reduce sauna energy costs without sacrificing comfort?

Often, yes: start with idle time, door closure, and tariff timing. These may preserve your preferred bathing conditions. Lowering temperature is an optional experiment, not a requirement, and spending heavily on upgrades may never pay back.

How long can a phone be in a sauna?

There is no dependable safe number of minutes. Apple advises against iPhone use in saunas or steam rooms and specifies an operating range of 32–95°F (0–35°C). Leave it outside and use the sauna’s timer. Water resistance does not establish heat resistance.

How do sauna energy costs compare to other home wellness equipment?

Compare energy over the same month. An illustrative 200-watt light panel used for 15 minutes consumes 0.05 kWh; a device averaging 500 watts for 30 minutes consumes 0.25 kWh. A continuously maintained spa or chilled plunge also consumes energy between uses. Measure its full-day total before comparing it with an occasional sauna session. These comparisons describe electricity consumption, not equivalent health benefits.