Cedar Saunas

Is cedar a good wood for a sauna?

Cedar is the wood each maker in this collection builds with, and two of them say what it does: Dundalk LeisureCraft says the Canadian cedar of its Canadian Timber barrels resists rot, decay and insects and is made for the outdoors, and True North says its thick-cut cedar naturally resists rot, insects and decay while retaining heat.

Which cedar a sauna here is built from depends on its maker:

• Dundalk LeisureCraft: Eastern White Cedar. Dundalk builds every Canadian Timber model here from Eastern White Cedar and says its products are built in Canada; its pages for these Canadian Timber outdoor saunas add that they are crafted from 100% Canadian wood, locally sourced.
• True North: white or red cedar. True North builds its saunas in white cedar or red cedar and hand-crafts them in Ontario, Canada, from solid Canadian cedar.
• SunRay: western red cedar or cedar. SunRay builds its barrels and its two outdoor cabins here from western red cedar, lists its indoor infrared cabins in western red cedar or Canadian red cedar, and names Canadian cedar or simply cedar for its indoor traditional cabins.
• Finnmark: red cedar inside, aspen outside. Finnmark builds its FD saunas with a clear A-grade Canadian Western Red Cedar interior and a Thermal Plus™ aspen exterior.

Choose a cedar sauna by the cedar you want on show: for white cedar, start with Dundalk LeisureCraft or True North; for red cedar outdoors, start with SunRay's barrels and outdoor cabins or True North; and if you want cedar outside as well as inside, rule out the five Finnmark models, whose exterior is aspen. How cedar sits among the other sauna woods is set out in how sauna wood types compare.

Cedar saunas compared by maker and line

Narrow a cedar sauna down by where it goes and how it heats:

• Outdoors with wood heat: start with True North or Dundalk LeisureCraft, whose models make up all 20 saunas here with a wood-burning package: every True North model and all but two of the Dundalk models.
• Outdoors with the heater in the box: choose SunRay's barrels or its Seneca and Denali cabins, which come with a Harvia electric heater and have no heater package to pick.
• Indoors with a sauna heater: choose SunRay's indoor traditional cabins, each sold with a Harvia electric heater, or Finnmark's two Trinity hybrids, which pair infrared heaters with a Harvia heater and sauna stones.
• Indoors with infrared only: choose SunRay's carbon far-infrared cabins or Finnmark's three full spectrum models, which heat with infrared heaters only.
• Six to eight people: start with True North, whose two longest barrels, Schooner and both pods are the saunas listed for eight here; Dundalk LeisureCraft's largest listings are for six.

Outdoor cedar sauna or indoor cabin: placement, base and power checklist

• Cedar sauna placement. Dundalk LeisureCraft and True North sell every model here as an outdoor sauna, and Dundalk says its outdoor saunas are designed for year-round use, including Canadian winters, and asks owners to clear excessive snow from the roof and keep snow off the vents. Finnmark makes its FD saunas for indoor use; outdoors, one needs Finnmark's outdoor cover, an awning or overhang and sturdy, dry, level ground, and its manuals say placing one outside without the cover voids the warranty.
• Base for an outdoor cedar sauna. For its Canadian Timber models, Dundalk recommends a solid base, level but sloped slightly toward the back for drainage, on a concrete pad, a wood deck, crushed stone or patio stones and paver blocks. SunRay's barrel manual asks for a sturdy level surface such as a concrete pad, a wood deck or other solid surface, and its Traditional Outdoor Series manual names a concrete pad, a wood deck or pavers; both say never directly on the ground.
• Power for a cedar sauna with an electric heater. A cedar sauna heated by an electric sauna heater needs its circuit planned before delivery. SunRay compares the supply for each of its traditional saunas to an electric dryer's, a dedicated 220–240 V circuit; Dundalk's Georgian spec sheet puts that cabin at 240 V and 30–50 A, depending on the heater; and Finnmark lists the FD-5's Harvia heater at 240 V and 18.8 A and marks it "Electrician Required". Your licensed electrician sizes the breaker and wire from the manual that ships with the heater and your local code.
• Power for an infrared cedar cabin. SunRay's infrared cabins and Finnmark's full spectrum models need an outlet they share with nothing else. SunRay lists its indoor infrared cabins for a 110–120 V supply, and its manual says not to plug any other appliance into the sauna's outlet; Finnmark's manuals ask for a dedicated 15 A circuit for each of its full spectrum models, at 120 V for the one- and two-person cabins and 240 V for the FD-3. Your licensed electrician sizes the breaker and wire from the sauna's manual and your local code.

For the backyard, choose from the Dundalk LeisureCraft, True North and SunRay outdoor lines, and rule out SunRay's indoor cabins and, without an awning or overhang, the Finnmark models. For a room with a 120 V supply, consider SunRay's infrared cabins, which SunRay lists for 110–120 V, and Finnmark's one- and two-person models, which Finnmark lists at 120 V.

Cedar sauna kits: delivery and assembly

Every sauna in this collection is a cedar sauna kit assembled on site, and the four makers pack and build their kits differently.

• Delivery. A Dundalk LeisureCraft kit arrives in a crate 6 to 14 feet long. Dundalk says unloading the crate is the buyer's job and a crate longer than 92 inches comes without a lift gate, and suggests a forklift lifting from the end of the crate with fork extensions, or a rented tilt tow truck to collect the sauna from the local terminal. Topture's page for the Georgian Cabin Sauna w/ Changeroom lists a 144-inch crate. The MiniPOD's crate, 84 inches on its Topture page, stays under that 92-inch limit. SunRay ships its panels in cardboard boxes on a wooden pallet and says the boxes fit through any door 24 inches or wider. Raise site-access questions before you order.
• Assembly. SunRay's pre-built panels lock together with two people and a Phillips screwdriver or a drill with a Phillips bit. Dundalk's assembly instructions call for two people or a helper, depending on the model. True North publishes no crew size and pitches each kit as a "Weekend Build": basic tools and a couple of days. Finnmark's manuals require at least two physically able people and state "Professional installation required".

To build a cedar sauna yourself, start with SunRay, which says its kits need no special tools and no contractor; for a Finnmark FD sauna, budget for an installer.

Cedar sauna prices

Cedar sauna prices in this collection run from SunRay's indoor cabins, which fill most of the lower end, to True North's long barrels and pods, which fill most of the upper end. At Topture, every cedar sauna in this collection ships free to an address within the contiguous United States; plan any base for an outdoor model and any new electrical circuit as costs of their own.

Topture is an authorized Dundalk LeisureCraft, True North, SunRay Saunas and Finnmark Designs retailer, and its full-value freight protection insures every freight shipment: write any damage on the Bill of Lading at delivery, and the broken parts are replaced. How Topture handles financing and warranty questions for any home sauna is explained in the buying section of the home saunas page.

Next steps for a cedar sauna: one maker's range, the sauna finder or expert help

Three routes take a cedar sauna shortlist further:

• To compare one maker's whole range, browse Dundalk LeisureCraft, True North saunas, SunRay saunas or Finnmark Designs.
• Still weighing outdoor against indoor, or a heater with stones against infrared: the 60-second sauna finder narrows the choice.
• For a crate that needs unloading, a base or a circuit, Topture's Lifetime Expert Support can answer before you order.

Reviewed October 2026