Sauna Energy Consumption and Costs

May 22

2 min read

What Does It Actually Cost to Run a Sauna?

It's one of the first questions we hear from homeowners in central Ohio: "A sauna sounds great — but isn't it going to double my electric bill?"

It's a fair question, and the honest answer surprises most people. A sauna session costs about the same as drying a one or two loads of laundry in an electric clothes dryer. Here's the math behind it.

The three numbers you need

Figuring out the cost of any particular sauna session comes down to three things:

How much power the heater uses — measured in kilowatts (kW)
How long you run it — measured in hours
What you pay for electricity — measured in cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh)

Multiply the first two together, then multiply the product by the third, and you have your cost answer.

Running the numbers

Let's use a typical residential setup:

A 6.0 kW sauna heater, appropriate for a 170 - 300 cubic ft sauna (3-5 person capacity).
A one-hour session — plenty of time to heat up and cycle for a long sauna session.

Power multiplied by time gives you the energy used:

6.0 kW × 1 hour = 6.0 kWh per session

Now we just need the price of electricity. Here in Columbus, the all-in residential rate — generation plus AEP delivery charges — runs right around 17.5 cents per kWh in 2026.

6.0 kWh × $0.175 ≈ $1.05 per session

That's it. A full one-hour sauna session costs roughly a dollar.

Electrical Appliance Comps

Six kilowatt-hours is easier to picture when you stack it against things you already run at home:

Drying two loads in a 3.0kW electric clothes dryer
Running a 1,500-watt space heater for four hours
3-ton Central Air Conditioner running for 2 hours

In other words, an hour in your sauna draws about what you'd use drying laundry on a Sunday afternoon — and that costs you about a dollar.

What that looks like over time

How often you use it	Cost per month	Cost per year
Three times a week	~$13	~$160
Every day	~$32	~$385

Even daily use — a hot sauna 365 days a year — lands under what many households spend on streaming subscriptions.

A note on honest numbers

You'll sometimes see lower electricity rates advertised in Ohio's deregulated market — figures like 9 or 10 cents per kWh. Those are supply-only rates. Every home still pays a provider like AEP's delivery charge on top. That means the all-in cost lands closer to 17–18 cents per kWh. We use the all-in number here because it's closer to what actually shows up on your bill. Here's Ohio's public resource for checking today's rates: https://energychoice.ohio.gov/

The bottom line

A sauna isn't the energy hog people imagine. For about the cost of two loads of laundry, you get a private wellness ritual in your own backyard — no membership, no drive, no waiting.

If you've been holding off because you were worried about the running cost, then fear no more; it's only about a dollar a session.