Feature Review
Nootka 8ft Barrel review: is the cedar barrel worth the premium?
Nootka's 8-foot barrel pairs inch-and-a-half cedar with its own 9 kW heater. It's our pick where Nootka's builders assemble it on site.
By Adam Bognar, Editor
The Nootka 8ft Barrel earns its higher price with thick cedar and Nootka's own heater, and most of all with on-site assembly where Nootka offers it. Anyone weighing eight to ten thousand dollars should look past the lifestyle photos, so we checked the wood and the heater, and we priced the total cost against the cheaper barrels sold online. Nootka builds its barrels in-house in British Columbia, and its cedar barrels with matte-black steel roofs show up in backyards and hotel courtyards.
Read our full Nootka Saunas buyer's guide for what each model costs and how to order.
Fairmont, Westin and Four Seasons properties run Nootka barrels
Nootka supplies hotels, and its barrels run at Fairmont, Westin and Four Seasons properties. A hotel sauna gets heavy use every day, so those orders say something about durability, and they put the barrel in front of a lot of guests.
Nootka also builds for the West Coast climate it sells into. Its barrels use kiln-dried Western Red Cedar, and the optional metal roof sheds Pacific Northwest rain. Around Vancouver, Nootka's own builders deliver the barrels and put them together.
Inch-and-a-half cedar holds the barrel's heat
Nootka's 8ft barrel uses Western Red Cedar an inch and a half thick, and its FAQ grades the wood select tight knot and kiln dried. Budget kits show up in thinner stock, and some rivals build in thermally modified hemlock. The thicker wall holds heat and keeps the room even through a long session. Cedar also resists rot and moisture, which matters for a sauna that lives outdoors.
The barrel shape helps too. Its curved walls wrap less air around the benches than square ones would, so the heater has a smaller room to bring up to temperature, and the curve sheds water. Nootka pitches the shape for circulation, saying no corners trap the air, and it rates the 8ft for four on facing benches.
Outside
Nootka grades its Western Red Cedar select tight knot and kiln-dries it, which Nootka says keeps the staves from cracking or warping. At an inch and a half thick the staves hold heat through a long session. Cedar's natural oils keep rot away outdoors.
Cedar moves as the seasons change its moisture. When the staves loosen, you tighten the bands a turn and the joints close up again.
The front wall sits back about a foot, which keeps rain off the door. A cedar seat on each side gives you somewhere to cool off between rounds.
It's cedar with a pane of tempered glass. A full glass door costs $500 more and lets much more daylight in.
Set the temperature and the session length here. The standard panel starts a session on the spot, and the LTE controller, a $375 upgrade, adds Nootka's app so the heat can come on while you're still driving home. Nootka steers outdoor buyers away from Wi-Fi because the signal struggles to reach a sauna across a yard.
Nootka makes it from 24-gauge galvanized aluminum and rates it to last decades under snow and rain. They say it also cuts heat-up time by about 20%.
The 8ft weighs 1,450 pounds and sits on a base 4 feet wide. A level pad of compacted gravel or pavers will carry it.
Nootka's XL rear window adds $510 and uses 10 mm tempered glass. Point that end of the barrel at the best view you have.
Inside
Nootka doesn't say what starting temperature that figure assumes. The heater runs on a 240V, 50A circuit your electrician installs, and Canadian rules cap electric heaters at 194°F. If you'd rather burn wood, the configurator swaps in a Harvia M3 stove.
Each one is 21 inches deep and 75.5 inches long, so most people can lie down on it. They sit 22 inches off the floor.
You look straight out through it from either bench. The glass is 10 mm tempered, rated with the rest of the barrel for snow and wind loads.
The Lights package puts two warm strips under the seats. They light the floor and keep the glare out of your eyes. Nootka bundles them with its controller upgrades, starting at $215.
A circle fills about four-fifths of the square around it, so this barrel holds roughly a fifth less air than a box of the same width and length. That leaves the heater less to warm. Warm-up still depends on the heater's output and the insulation, and on how cold it is outside. Nootka pitches the curve for circulation and says no corners trap the air.
Nootka's essentials kit puts this cedar bucket and ladle in the box with a sand timer. It comes free with a sauna: add the kit to your cart and the SAUNAMONTHLY discount takes it off in the cart.
We built this model from Nootka's drawings and photographs, so small details can differ from the sauna that arrives.
Where to buy
Nootka Saunas Outdoor Saunas
Nootka 8ft Barrel Sauna
“On-site assembly where Nootka offers it makes this thick cedar barrel worth its higher price.”
Nootka 8ft Barrel Sauna. Nootka Saunas photography.
See the specifications and pricePhone preheat costs $375 more on Nootka's heater
The barrel comes standard with Nootka's own 9 kW electric heater and a touchscreen by the door. That panel starts a session on the spot, and Nootka says it can't work with the app or set a session for later in the day. Pay $375 for the LTE or Wi-Fi controller and you can start the preheat from your phone while you're still out. Nootka includes five years of cellular service, then charges $50 a year.
A compact 8-foot room with walls this thick holds its heat, so it stays hot when you ladle water on the stones. A room with thinner walls loses heat faster and can settle at a dry, lukewarm plateau.
If you prefer fire, Nootka's configurator offers a Harvia M3 wood stove instead. There's also a rear-window option that opens the far wall to a view, and if you site the barrel well, that window gives you a reason to linger.
Delivery and installation set Nootka apart from flat-pack kits
For us, the case for the 8ft rests on delivery and installation. Nearly every barrel you can buy online reaches your curb as a freight pallet holding a half-ton of numbered lumber, and you assemble it over a weekend. Redwood and Dundalk ship that way, and so does Almost Heaven.
Nootka's FAQ says one of its own builders brings the sauna to buyers in BC's Lower Mainland and Sea to Sky region and assembles it, typically in five to six hours. Its product pages say it offers on-site assembly in a lot of other cases too, and they quote your options once you enter a zip or postal code. Where Nootka builds it, the most intimidating part of owning a sauna becomes a line item. Everywhere else the barrel arrives as a flat-packed crate, and the price gap has to stand on the cedar and the heater.
What does the Nootka 8ft cost to buy and run?
The 8ft barrel came to roughly $8,200–$10,574 when we priced it, depending on the options you pick. We compared it with Redwood's six-person thermowood barrel, which ships flat-packed at $6,299 with a 6 kW Harvia KIP in the price, so on paper the Nootka runs about $1,900 to $4,300 more.
In practice the extra buys thick cedar over thermowood hemlock and Nootka's 9 kW heater over Redwood's 6 kW. Where Nootka assembles on site, it also buys back the weekend you'd spend building a kit.
Running cost shouldn't worry you. At 9 kW and typical rates, near-daily use lands around $10–15 a month by our math, and you can plug your own numbers into our calculator. The cost we'd budget for is the dedicated 240V circuit, which an electrician installs once.
Where to buy
Barrel Outdoor Sauna - 6 Person. Redwood Outdoors photography.
See the specifications and priceWho should buy the Nootka 8ft?
Buy the Nootka 8ft if you want a durable cedar sauna that will outlast the trend and you value thick wood and Nootka's own heater. It makes the most sense if you live where Nootka's builders assemble it on site and would happily never touch a freight pallet.
Skip it if you're on the tightest budget and don't mind assembling a kit yourself, because a thermowood barrel gets you sweating for less. If you need to seat six-plus, a larger room makes more sense, and we'd stay with Nootka. Its 10ft barrel uses the same cedar build, and Nootka rates it for six on facing benches. The Cube trades the barrel shape for full-height walls and two-tier benches, which make it a social room.
Sauna Monthly readers get Nootka's essentials kit and sealant kit free with the sauna. Add both kits to your cart, and the SAUNAMONTHLY discount takes their price off in the cart. If you order over the phone, ask for the kits and give Nootka the code SAUNAMONTHLY.
Where to buy
Nootka Saunas Outdoor Saunas
Nootka 10ft Barrel Sauna
“This longer barrel keeps the 8ft's cedar build and makes room for six.”
Nootka Saunas Outdoor Saunas
Nootka Cube Sauna
“You buy this inch-and-a-half cedar cube once and pass it down.”
Common questions
- How many people does the Nootka 8ft barrel seat?
- Nootka rates the 8ft barrel for four adults on facing benches. Regular groups of six or more should try a larger cabin or the 10ft.
- Is the Nootka barrel electric or wood-fired?
- The Nootka barrel ships electric as standard, with Nootka's 9 kW heater on a touchscreen controller. Phone preheat takes the LTE or Wi-Fi controller, a $375 option. If you prefer fire, the configurator can swap in a Harvia M3 wood-burning stove.
- What makes it worth more than a cheaper barrel kit?
- Inch-and-a-half Western Red Cedar and Nootka's own 9 kW heater put the Nootka 8ft above cheaper kits, which use thinner or thermally modified stock. Where Nootka offers on-site assembly, its own builders deliver the barrel and put it together in your yard. For a first-time buyer, we'd call skipping the build the headline.
- How much does the Nootka 8ft barrel cost to run?
- Near-daily use of the Nootka 8ft barrel costs roughly $10–15 a month at 9 kW and average electricity rates, by our math. The dedicated 240V circuit an electrician installs is a bigger, one-time cost.
Sources
- 1.Association Between Sauna Bathing and Fatal Cardiovascular and All-Cause Mortality Events. JAMA Internal Medicine, 2015.
- 2.Cardiovascular and Other Health Benefits of Sauna Bathing: A Review of the Evidence. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 2018.
- 3.Electric Power Monthly: Average Price of Electricity to Ultimate Customers. U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2025.
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