A traditional sauna is normally run somewhere around 70 to 90 degrees Celsius. Many people settle near 80. Start lower if you are new to it and work up to a temperature that feels good. From a cold start, most home saunas take somewhere in the range of 30 to 45 minutes to reach that heat, longer for a large or outdoor room on a cold day.
There is no single correct number. Traditional saunas usually sit between 70 and 90 degrees Celsius, and personal taste varies inside that band. Newcomers often prefer the lower end, while regulars run hotter. Procraft heaters have an integrated thermostat that heats up to 110 degrees Celsius, so you have plenty of range to find your spot and hold it.
The thermostat reading is only part of the story. Ladle water over the rocks and the same temperature feels noticeably hotter for a minute, because the humidity carries the heat to your skin faster. That is why two saunas at the same reading can feel very different. You control it with the ladle.
A well-built, correctly sized indoor sauna generally reaches temperature in about 30 to 45 minutes from cold. Several things push that longer.
The built-in 3-hour timer on every Procraft heater lets you start the warm-up and come back when the room is ready.
Procraft builds Western red cedar saunas and makes four CSA-approved electric sauna heaters, from 4.5kW to 9kW. See the heaters, read about Western red cedar, or learn how our installations work.
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