Comparison
Nootka vs. Almost Heaven: which cedar sauna should you buy?
Almost Heaven's barrels cost thousands less at Select Saunas, and its Blackwater cube takes a wood stove. We priced both makers whole to show what Nootka's higher prices buy.
By Adam Bognar, Editor
For the most sauna per dollar, buy Almost Heaven. Select Saunas sells its 8-foot Princeton for $6,252 with an 8 kW Harvia and free shipping, about $2,000 under Nootka's 8ft. Pay Nootka's higher price if its builders cover your area and you'd value the headroom, the metal roof and the cheap phone control. For a cube, set Almost Heaven's Blackwater against Nootka's, since the Blackwater takes a wood stove at no extra cost. We read both makers' stores, manuals, delivery pages and warranties, along with Select's listings. Almost Heaven has built saunas in West Virginia since 1977 and has belonged to Harvia since 2019. Nootka builds in Squamish, British Columbia.
Our Nootka Saunas buyer's guide prices every Nootka build, delivery included.
Which sauna should you buy?
Match the sizes first. The Princeton covers the same ground as Nootka's 8ft, the Shenandoah lines up with the 10ft and the Blackwater is Almost Heaven's answer to the Cube. Then check whether Nootka's builders reach you, because outside its areas both makers' barrels arrive flat-packed.
Select Saunas undercuts Almost Heaven's own store on the barrels by a wide margin, so we've used Select's prices where it sells the model. It doesn't sell the Blackwater, and that row shows Almost Heaven's sale price.
| Sauna | Price with heater | Outside size | Seats, by the maker | Wall | Heater | Weak spot |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nootka 8ft | $8,200 | 94 × 78 in | 4 | 1.5 in Western Red Cedar | Nootka 9 kW, touchscreen | Roof costs $774 more |
| Almost Heaven Princeton | $6,252 at Select Saunas | 94 × 78 in | 6 | 1⅜ in cedar | Harvia KIP 8 kW with dials | No roof; a rain jacket costs $446 |
| Almost Heaven Pinnacle | $5,303 at Select Saunas | 71 × 78 in | 4 | 1⅜ in cedar | Harvia KIP 6 kW with dials | About two feet shorter than Nootka's 8ft |
| Nootka 10ft | $9,300 | 118 × 78 in | 6 | 1.5 in Western Red Cedar | Nootka 9 kW, or a Harvia M3 wood stove | Ships in 4–5 weeks to most areas |
| Almost Heaven Shenandoah | $7,455 at Select Saunas | 119 × 82⅜ in | 6 in the hot room, plus a changing room | 1⅜ in cedar | Harvia KIP 8 kW with dials; M3 sold separately | Arrives on a flatbed with no liftgate |
| Nootka Cube | $13,250 | 94 × 80 in | 5 on two tiers | 1.5 in Western Red Cedar | Nootka 9 kW | Electric only |
| Almost Heaven Blackwater | $11,268 on sale; $14,085 list | 84⅜ × 71 in | 4 on two tiers | 1⅜ in cedar | Harvia 9 kW with Wi-Fi, or an M3 wood stove at the same price | 8–12 weeks to ship unless you take the Quick Ship version |
Prices from Nootka's US store, Select Saunas and Almost Heaven's store on Oct 8, 2026, before delivery, when Almost Heaven had the Blackwater 20% off. Sizes are length by width from Nootka's blueprints and Almost Heaven's specifications. Seats are each maker's own counts, and Almost Heaven's spec block rates the Blackwater for four to six. Nootka sizes come from its blueprints; its product-page drawings, which our 3D models follow, show the barrels 80 in across and the Cube 77 in wide.
What does each 8-foot barrel cost with a roof and assembly?
Build the two up to the same job and Almost Heaven still costs less. The Princeton has no roof, and Almost Heaven sells a canvas rain jacket for its 8-foot barrels at $446. Select ships the barrel free to your curb on one pallet, under its shipping policy. To have it built, Almost Heaven's installation partner, Pure Install, starts at $1,400.
Nootka's 8ft needs its $774 metal roof to keep the rain out, and its builders charge $950 to put it up in most of the US regions they cover. By our math that's $9,924 for the Nootka against about $8,100 for the Princeton, both standing and covered. Add phone control and the gap closes to about $900, because Nootka's LTE controller costs $375 and Almost Heaven's Wi-Fi heater upgrade costs $1,284 at its own store.
The electrician is extra on both. Our permits and wiring guide budgets $600 to $2,500 for the circuit.
| Nootka 8ft | Almost Heaven Princeton | |
|---|---|---|
| Barrel with heater and stones | $8,200 | $6,252 at Select Saunas |
| Roof | Metal roof, $774 | Canvas rain jacket, $446 |
| Delivery | Included in the assembly visit | Free curbside freight from Select |
| Assembly | Nootka's builder, $950 in most US areas | Pure Install, from $1,400 |
| Total once built and covered | $9,924 | From $8,098 |
| Phone control | LTE controller, $375 | Wi-Fi heater upgrade, $1,284 |
| Total with phone control | $10,299 | From $9,382 |
Prices from Nootka's US store, Select Saunas and Almost Heaven's store on Oct 8, 2026. The rain jacket and the Wi-Fi upgrade are Almost Heaven's own-store prices, and Pure Install's figure is its starting price. Nootka's assembly price comes from the rate table behind its delivery checker and varies by area. Neither total includes the electrician.
The Princeton matches the 8ft's footprint, and the Nootka stands taller
By the two makers' figures, both barrels take up about 94 by 78 inches of yard, going by Nootka's blueprints. Inside, the Nootka is the roomier of the two. Nootka's Redwood comparison gives its barrel 78 inches of headroom, and Almost Heaven's Princeton page gives the Princeton a little over 69, which puts about nine more inches between your head and the ceiling.
The walls are closer than the prices suggest. Almost Heaven mills its barrel staves from North American cedar an inch and three-eighths thick, with a ball-and-socket joint along each edge. Nootka's staves are kiln-dried Western Red Cedar at 1.5 inches, an eighth of an inch more.
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.
Almost Heaven sells its barrels without a roof
An Almost Heaven barrel is bare cedar on top. Its barrel manual says a little water may seep between the staves and won't harm the sauna, and it points you to the canvas rain jacket, which doesn't fit a barrel with a chimney.
Nootka's metal roof costs more and does more by Nootka's account. Nootka says it's what makes the barrel fully rainproof, and it credits the roof with heating the barrel about a fifth faster.
Phone control costs less than a third as much at Nootka
Both makers sell the base barrel with a heater you start at the sauna. Nootka's touchscreen can't schedule a session, its product page says, and Almost Heaven's Harvia KIP has dials with a delay timer that runs up to eight hours. To start either from your phone, Nootka charges $375 for its LTE controller, its first five years of cellular data included, and Almost Heaven charges $1,284 for its Wi-Fi heater package.
The heat-up claims sit far apart. Nootka says its 9 kW heater takes the barrel to 194°F (90°C) in 10 to 15 minutes, and Almost Heaven's FAQ says its saunas reach 165°F in 30 to 40 minutes and 185°F in under an hour. Neither maker gives the starting temperature, so read them as claims. The Princeton's 8 kW KIP needs a 40-amp circuit, and Nootka's heater a 50-amp breaker that isn't a GFCI.
Only Almost Heaven's cube takes a wood stove
Nootka's Cube is electric only, because its product page says the two-tier benches leave too little floor for a stove. Almost Heaven's Blackwater sells with a Harvia M3 at the same price as its 9 kW Wi-Fi heater, and the stove needs a protective sheath and a cut through the roof. The Blackwater seats four on two tiers and comes with a metal roof kit.
On the barrels it runs the other way. Nootka offers the M3 on both barrels for $300 over the electric heater. Almost Heaven offers wood only on its seven-foot-wide barrels, such as the Shenandoah, and charges $3,570 for the kit at its own store.
The Blackwater's weak spot is the wait. Almost Heaven quotes 8 to 12 weeks, unless you take the Quick Ship version with the Virta heater, which ships in days.
Where to buy
Nootka Saunas Outdoor Saunas
Nootka Cube Sauna
“You buy this inch-and-a-half cedar cube once and pass it down.”
Nootka Cube Sauna. Nootka Saunas photography.
See the specifications and priceAlmost Heaven's installers reach further, and Nootka's cost less
Pure Install works across the US, from $1,400 a job, so an Almost Heaven barrel can arrive built almost anywhere. Nootka's builders cover a list of metro areas and regions, and in most of its US areas they charge $950 for a barrel.
Delivery depends on where you buy. Select ships Almost Heaven's barrels free in the contiguous US, while Almost Heaven's own store charges a flat $699 to $1,499 under its shipping policy and sends the 8-foot barrels on flatbeds you unload yourself. Almost Heaven quotes 6 to 12 weeks to ship, and Nootka four to five weeks to most of its areas.
Almost Heaven's warranty runs for life, and rot is left out
Almost Heaven's warranty covers its sauna rooms for life against manufacturing defects, for the first owner and in the contiguous US. Its FAQ leaves wear and tear, rot and discoloration out of that cover. Its Harvia heaters get a year on the elements and five years on the other parts.
Nootka covers the structure for five years, and from year three that means rot clean through a board, glass that fails and rust on the roof. Its own heater gets two years, with the elements excluded.
Who should buy which?
Buy the Nootka 8ft if Nootka's builders cover your area, you want phone control for $375 or you'd value the extra headroom and the metal roof. Its weak spot is price, at about $1,800 more than a Princeton built by Pure Install.
Buy Almost Heaven's Princeton if you'll put it together yourself or want an installer outside Nootka's areas. At Select Saunas it's the most barrel per dollar in this comparison, and its rooms carry a lifetime warranty against defects. Its weak spot is the roof, since a canvas jacket is all Almost Heaven offers. The Pinnacle seats four for $5,303 if the yard is smaller, though its benches run about a foot shorter than the Nootka's.
For a cube you'll heat with wood, buy the Blackwater. If electric suits you, Nootka's Cube seats five, comes with its roof and big window and ships sooner. Its weak spot is the heat-up, slower than Nootka quotes for its barrels.
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.”
Almost Heaven Outdoor Saunas
Almost Heaven Princeton 6-Person Barrel Sauna
Almost Heaven Outdoor Saunas
Almost Heaven Pinnacle 4-Person Barrel Sauna
Nootka 8ft Barrel Sauna. Nootka Saunas photography.
See the specifications and priceHow we compared them
We read Nootka's and Almost Heaven's US stores, specifications, manuals, delivery and installation pages and written warranties on Oct 8, 2026, along with Select Saunas' listings and shipping policy. Almost Heaven's delivery prices are its cart quotes at six US ZIP codes, and Nootka's assembly prices come from the price list behind its online delivery check. Sauna Monthly earns a commission on Nootka sales and on Almost Heaven saunas bought through Select Saunas.
Common questions
- Is Nootka better than Almost Heaven?
- Nootka's 8ft barrel has more headroom, a metal roof option and cheaper phone control than Almost Heaven's Princeton, and Nootka's builders assemble it in its own areas. Almost Heaven's Princeton costs about $1,800 less built by its installer and carries a lifetime warranty against defects. For a wood-fired cube, Almost Heaven's Blackwater beats Nootka's electric-only Cube.
- Which is cheaper, Nootka or Almost Heaven?
- Almost Heaven is cheaper, especially through Select Saunas. Select sells the 8-foot Princeton for $6,252 with an 8 kW Harvia heater and free shipping, and Nootka's 8ft costs $8,200 with its heater. Built and roofed, the Nootka comes to about $9,900 and the Princeton to about $8,100 before tax.
- Can you put a wood stove in a Nootka or Almost Heaven cube sauna?
- Only in the Almost Heaven one. Almost Heaven's Blackwater cube takes a Harvia M3 wood stove at the same price as its electric heater. Nootka's Cube is electric only, because Nootka says the two-tier benches leave too little floor for a stove.
- Do Almost Heaven barrel saunas come with a roof?
- No. Almost Heaven barrel saunas come bare, and Almost Heaven's manual says a little water may seep between the staves without harming the sauna. Almost Heaven sells a canvas rain jacket, $446 for its 8-foot barrels, and Nootka sells a metal roof for $774.
Sources
- 1.Warranty. Nootka Saunas, 2026.
- 2.Frequently Asked Questions. Nootka Saunas, 2026.
- 3.Warranty. Almost Heaven Saunas, 2026.
- 4.Frequently Asked Questions. Almost Heaven Saunas, 2026.
We review from makers’ documentation, owner reports and published research. How we choose products and write reviews.
