In a world that is infinitely customizable, the thing we are asked the most is “what size should my Sauna be?”. The short answer is, don’t short yourself on size. For folks who have grown up using a Sauna, it’s easy to see why you would want a Sauna to be as large as possible, so you can share it with your friends and family!
With that being said, there are plenty of reasons for choosing an ideal Sauna size. For many people, space is of concern. Of course, you cannot build an 8×8 foot Sauna in a space where you’ve only got 24 square feet. If space is of no concern, bigger is typically better, but you can actually build a Sauna that is too large, so be careful with your overall layout of the Sauna.
Before we jump into picking the correct size for your Sauna, let’s talk about cubic feet of your sauna and why it matters.
Cubic Feet Calculator Guide For Sauna
Both electric sauna stoves and wood sauna stoves have recommended cubic feet guidelines for how effectively they can heat a sauna room. Buy a heater that is outside of the recommended cubic feet guidelines and you’ll wonder why you hadn’t gone bigger on your heater. Refer to our heater sizing guide linked above for more information on the size heater you’ll need for your space. Use the guide below for determining the cubic feet in your sauna space. Typically, our recommended sauna ceiling height is 7′.
| Sauna Cubic Feet Calculator | ||||
| Size of Room | Square Footage | 7′ Ceiling Cubic Feet | 7.5′ Ceiling Cubic Feet | 8′ Ceiling Cubic Feet |
| 4’x5′ | 20 | 140 | 150 | 160 |
| 4’x6′ | 24 | 168 | 180 | 192 |
| 4’x7′ | 28 | 196 | 210 | 224 |
| 4’x8′ | 32 | 224 | 240 | 256 |
| 5’x5′ | 25 | 175 | 187.5 | 200 |
| 5’x6′ | 30 | 210 | 225 | 240 |
| 5’x7′ | 35 | 245 | 262.5 | 280 |
| 5’x8′ | 40 | 280 | 300 | 320 |
| 6’x6′ | 36 | 252 | 270 | 288 |
| 6’x7′ | 42 | 294 | 315 | 336 |
| 6’x8′ | 48 | 336 | 360 | 384 |
| 6’x9′ | 54 | 378 | 405 | 432 |
| 6’x10′ | 60 | 420 | 450 | 480 |
| 7’x7′ | 49 | 343 | 367.5 | 392 |
| 7’x8′ | 56 | 392 | 420 | 448 |
| 8’x8′ | 64 | 448 | 480 | 512 |
| 8’x9′ | 72 | 504 | 540 | 576 |
| 8’x10′ | 80 | 560 | 600 | 640 |
| 10’x10′ | 100 | 700 | 750 | 800 |
| 10’x12′ | 120 | 840 | 900 | 960 |
| 11’x12′ | 132 | 924 | 990 | 1056 |
| 12’x12′ | 144 | 1008 | 1080 | 1152 |
| 13’x13′ | 169 | 1183 | 1267.5 | 1352 |
| 14’x14 | 196 | 1372 | 1470 | 1568 |
| 15’x15′ | 225 | 1575 | 1687.5 | 1800 |
What is the perfect Sauna size?
Before you choose a size, think about the number of people that will be using your Sauna at once. If the answer is one to two people, the lowest cost Sauna is going to be smaller in size. If you want to enjoy your sauna with more than 1-2 people, you’ll need a sauna that is bigger. For this reason, it’s challenging to suggest the overall best size for Sauna. This is largely up to the amount of people you will want to share your sauna with and the amount of space you have.
For this reason, we recommend the ideal sauna size ranging anywhere from 36 to 64 square feet with a ceiling height of 7 feet. Of course, within these parameters, there are many different lengths and widths you can choose from. If you’re doing a custom built Sauna, we recommend at least 4 feet in depth. With our Sauna kits, the smallest depth on any traditional Sauna is 4 feet.
Should you choose to use one of our DIY custom sauna kits, there is truly no limit to the size you can build your sauna.
As a rule of thumb, if you’re building your own sauna and can choose any length / widths, try to keep your numbers closer together. If you want a 64 square foot sauna, building in more of a square at 8×8 or even a 9×7 shape is better than a long rectangle. When building in a rectangle (for example a 10×6 shape) the heat distribution is less effective in certain areas of the room. A square room allows for a heater to evenly distribute the heat, allowing everybody in the sauna to enjoy similar temperatures.
There are two reasons for using 4 feet as a standard or smallest depth. The main reason is giving yourself enough space inside the Sauna room itself. While infrared saunas can be as small as 30″, having 4 feet of depth in your room (referring to it as length or width does not matter) will give you enough space to safely move around in the room without touching your heater.
If you are building an outdoor sauna with a wood fired stove, giving yourself more than 4 feet of depth is never a bad idea. Obviously, you’ll be dealing with higher heat created from an actual fire inside the stove and the increased risk of burn is much higher. With more depth or an area to safely navigate about your sauna without coming close to the stove, you’ll be much more at peace and stress free.
Does the shape of a Sauna matter?
The shape of a sauna can have a major impact on heat distribution. Ceilings should be flat and the room itself should be more square than rectangular in nature. This doesn’t mean that you cannot build a sauna in a 4’x8′ shape, it simply means that you should consider the placement of the heater itself for larger rooms that are more rectangular in shape.
If you’re building your Sauna in a building with a vaulted ceiling, framing it in such a way that your ceiling can be flat not only makes a major difference in the quality of heat (since heat rises), but it will save you in wood cost and cutting during the project.
Since the vast majority of saunas are built using tongue and groove material which is higher in cost than wood that has no routered edges, you’ll want to be cognizant of how many pieces you have to cut during the build itself. If you’re using one of our custom cut sauna rooms, the wood will come pre-cut for you. If you’re doing it on your own, the main area where costs start to add up is by not using material efficiently and vaulted ceilings in a sauna are just a bad practice.
Wait, you guys build custom Saunas? Yes! We build custom saunas. Our standard custom cut room sizing is below, but we can build any shape or size you’d like. From consultation, to the CAD drawing process, to cutting every piece of material prior to delivering we sell many custom cut sauna rooms that our clients DIY install themselves.
Our standard sizing for custom cut saunas is listed below:
- 4’x5′
- 4’x6′
- 4’x7′
- 4’x8′
- 5’x5′
- 5’x6′
- 5’x7′
- 5’x8′
- 6’x6′
- 6x’7′
- 6’x8′
- 6’x9′
- 6’x10′
- 7’x7′
- 7’x8′
- 8’x8′
- 8’x10′
- 10’x10′
- 10’x12′
- 11’x12′
- 12’x12′
- 13’x13′
- 14’x14
- 15’x15′
What are the concerns of building my Sauna to big?
The biggest concern with building a sauna that is too large is that you will not be able to provide adequate heat to the Sauna itself. It’s for this reason that the standard ceiling height of a Sauna room is at 7 feet. Anything higher than this makes it harder to build sauna benches that allow you to sit in the ideal heat zone and it’s just unnecessary wasted space. Of course, if your sauna is going into an existing building, the ceiling height may be non-negotiable. While we’d recommend building a drop ceiling or an elevated false floor, this is something we hear quite a bit.
Another concern for building your sauna to big is that you may need to vertically mount your tongue and groove sauna wall boards. The standard size for most sauna wood is 8′, meaning you’ll have to span a space larger than what can be covered with a single board. There are ways around this, but for this reason, many of the saunas we build use a space smaller than 8’x8′.
One of the advantages of building a larger sauna is that it can reduce or eliminate the need for a drain. Of course, if you can easily feature a drain inside your sauna it’s always a good idea to do so.
On that same token, a larger sauna can also feature a shower. In this case however, you should always have a drain inside the sauna.
Taller heights in your sauna can be done, just make sure that you’re buying a sauna stove capable of heating the space. Refer to our Sauna Heater Sizing Guide for more information on choosing the right type of stove for your Sauna.