- 13 A plug
- A normal household socket. Supplies up to about 3 kW, enough for small infrared cabins and plunge chillers.
- Dedicated circuit
- A new cable from your fuse board for one appliance. Needed by most sauna heaters. Fitted by a registered electrician.
- Three-phase
- A much bigger electricity supply, found in some larger homes and most businesses. Some 9 kW heaters need it, or a 50 amp supply. Most homes have neither, so check first.
- kW
- Kilowatts: the heater's power. More kW heats a bigger room faster and costs more per hour.
- Thermowood
- Timber heat-treated to resist rot and moisture without chemicals. Usually costs more than plain spruce.
- Löyly
- The burst of steam when you pour water on the hot stones of a traditional sauna.
- Infrared sauna
- Heats you with infrared panels rather than hot air. Runs cooler, about 60°C.
- Full spectrum
- An infrared sauna with three kinds of infrared heater panel (near, mid and far). Sellers charge more for it.
- Chiller
- A fridge unit that cools and usually filters cold plunge water.
- Ozone or UV filtration
- Built into some chillers: ozone gas or ultraviolet light kills germs in the water, so you change it less often.
- Ready-to-use cost
- Our total: the price, plus a heater if not included, the electrics it needs and a base.
- Permitted development
- Building work that doesn't need a planning application, within set limits.
- Part P
- The part of the Building Regulations covering electrical work in homes in England.
- Smoke control area
- An area, covering most towns and cities in England, where you can only burn wood in a stove the government has approved.
- kWh
- Kilowatt hour: one unit on your electricity bill. A 6 kW heater on for one hour uses 6 kWh.
- RCD
- Residual current device: a safety switch that cuts the power in a split second if something goes wrong. Outdoor sockets should have one.
- Fuse board
- The box of switches where electricity comes into your home (also called a consumer unit). A sauna circuit starts here.
- Flat-pack
- Delivered as panels to put together yourself, like flat-pack furniture but bigger. Usually two people for one or two days.
- Spruce, hemlock and cedar
- Woods used for saunas. Spruce is the cheapest. Hemlock and cedar resist damp better and cost more.
- Was-price
- The higher price the seller shows crossed out. We show the seller's own figure; check it was charged for a fair time before treating it as a saving.
- Score
- Our mark out of 10 from the published specs and price, against products of the same type. It never depends on what a seller pays us.
- Total over 5 years
- The ready-to-use cost plus five years of electricity and upkeep.
- Ice bath
- Another name for a cold plunge: a tub of cold water to sit in.
- Barrel sauna
- A round sauna, like a barrel on its side, built from long curved planks (staves). The most common garden shape.
- m³ (cubic metres)
- The volume of the hot room: length × width × height in metres. Heaters are sized by it.