I Tried the Cheapest Sauna on Wayfair

This sauna isn’t made of cedar but cheaper hemlock, which means you don’t get the same glorious cedar smell you’d be familiar with from more classic saunas. That said, the Canadian hemlock has a nice woody aroma that has lingered after many months of use; it’s still a calming place to be, aroma-wise, even with all that sweat.

Quick and Painless

Unlike traditional saunas, which can take a long time to preheat, this infrared model is quick and painless. You press the buttons on the built-in thermostat inside the door to decide how hot and for how long you want it to run, and it instantly begins heating. I usually give it at least 20 minutes to warm up the ambient temp of the tiny box.

The included thermostat goes to 149 degrees Fahrenheit, but I’ve only consistently been able to get it to about 145 degrees after 45 minutes of preheating. The timer counts down from 99 minutes, so you can have it preheat and then remain on for however long you want to sit in there. The sauna is lightweight and not well insulated, so I’d keep it inside if I didn’t have it in Portland, Oregon’s mild winter climate.

There are infrared heating panels behind, on the sides, below, and behind your legs for relatively even heating on the body. I found the floor heat can get a bit toasty if you have your feet right above the space beside a slat on the wooden floor, but otherwise I was fully sweating as much and feeling as overheated as I would be after a similar time in a traditional sauna.

It’s nice to sit outside under the covered area, look out at my garden, and sweat it out for a few minutes before heading to my non-gross, non-gym shower. It truly feels like I’m at a spa. And I can pair to the built-in Bluetooth speakers and watch my latest shows or a YouTube meditation.

If you, like me, don’t have regular access to a sauna at the gym anymore and have discovered how much you miss heat exposure time, there aren’t many options as affordable and as easy to set up as this. I’ve even moved it between houses with no issues. (The movers didn’t have to disassemble it, because it’s so light.) How long it will last is a different question, and only time will tell, but it has held up for several months.

You can’t share the experience with friends and loved ones, but that’s fine, as I use my sauna time at the end of the day to wind down from social interactions. If you want to host sauna hangs at your house, you’re better off with a larger model or a traditional sauna, which of course, Wayfair also sells.