The brand guide
Nootka Saunas review: which one to buy
Nootka builds its barrels and the Cube from inch-and-a-half Western Red Cedar in British Columbia, and in some areas its own builders assemble them on site. We priced all three and compared what each one gets you.
Sauna Monthly verdict
“Most buyers should order the 8ft barrel.”
All three come out of the same shop in inch-and-a-half cedar on a 9 kW heater, so the choice comes down to seats and shape. The 8ft seats four and runs $8,200 to $10,574 depending on the options you pick. Six on the benches means the 10ft. The Cube costs about $5,000 more than the 8ft and earns it with full-height walls and two bench tiers. Where Nootka offers on-site assembly, its own builders bring the sauna to the yard and put it together, and for a first sauna that service is the part of the price that matters most.
The Nootka lineup
Barrel · seats four
Nootka 8ft Barrel Sauna
“On-site assembly where Nootka offers it makes this thick cedar barrel worth its higher price.”
Barrel · seats six
Nootka 10ft Barrel Sauna
“This longer barrel keeps the 8ft's cedar build and makes room for six.”
Cube · seats five
Nootka Cube Sauna
“You buy this inch-and-a-half cedar cube once and pass it down.”
Free kits worth $320 CAD come with any sauna: add the essentials kit and the sealant kit to your cart, and the SAUNAMONTHLY discount takes them off in the cart. Ordering by phone? Ask for the kits and give them the same code.
Which Nootka fits you?
Pick how you’ll use it and the right model and options come up, ready to price. Shopping more widely? Our sauna finder checks every brand we cover.
Nootka 8ft barrel$9,349How many, most of the time?
How do you want to heat it?
Barrel or cube?
Rain or snow where you live?
Nice to have
Your NootkaSeats four
Nootka 8ft barrel
$9,349 as configured
- Four fit on facing benches, and Nootka quotes 10 to 15 minutes to heat.
- The metal roof keeps the rain out, and Nootka says it heats about a fifth faster.
- LTE starts it from your phone, five years of data included.
Price your Nootka
Pick a model and its options, and the builder adds them up at Nootka’s own prices. It also lists the costs that never reach Nootka’s invoice.
Every option at Nootka’s own prices
Your build at Nootka
- 8ft barrel with Nootka's 9 kW heater$8,200
- Essentials and sealant kits
$230Free
Nootka’s page opens with these options picked. Add both kits to the cart and enter SAUNAMONTHLY, and the kits come off. We earn a commission when you buy through this link, and you pay the same price.
- What Nootka says this build does
- Nootka rates it for 4 people and quotes 10–15 minutes to heat.
- What it costs to run
- About $9 a month in power by our math, for five 30-minute sessions a week at 16¢ a kWh. Try your own rate.
- What Nootka doesn’t charge for
- An electrician runs the 240V circuit, which we'd budget at $600 to $2,500. You also supply the level base, which can be compacted gravel or pavers under the sauna’s cradles. Read the owner’s guide.
Prices from Nootka’s US store on Oct 8, 2026, before tax. Delivery prices come from the rate table behind Nootka’s delivery checker, and checkout has the final word.
Explore in 3D
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.
Nootka saunas in the wild. Nootka Saunas photography.
Why they’re worth a look
- Inch-and-a-half Western Red Cedar. The walls are inch-and-a-half cedar that Nootka grades select tight knot and kiln-dries. Many cheaper kits use thinner stock or thermally modified hemlock. Cedar holds heat and shrugs off outdoor moisture.
- Delivered and installed. Where Nootka offers on-site assembly, its own builder brings the sauna and puts it together, which Nootka's FAQ says takes five to six hours. The hardest part of owning one becomes a line on the invoice, and you keep your weekend.
- Nootka's own heater. Nootka says its 9 kW heater brings a barrel to 194°F in 10 to 15 minutes. Add the $375 LTE or Wi-Fi controller and you can start it from your phone on the drive home.
- Hospitality-proven. Fairmont, Westin and Four Seasons properties run Nootka barrels for their guests, and a hotel sauna gets heavy use every day.
Read before you buy
01Feature Review
Is the Nootka 8ft Barrel worth it?
We price it with the heater and installation, and explain what sets it apart from cheaper kits.
02Owner's Guide
What to do before delivery day
We read Nootka's manuals for what to arrange before delivery and how to care for the cedar after.
03Comparison
Nootka or Redwood?
We set Nootka's cedar against Redwood's thermowood and priced what the gap buys.
04Comparison
Nootka or Almost Heaven?
Almost Heaven's barrels cost thousands less at Select Saunas. We priced both makers whole.
05Comparison
Barrel vs. cube: which shape?
Nootka builds both shapes from the same cedar on a 9 kW heater. This is how to pick one.
06The Numbers
What it costs to run
Put a 9 kW heater and your electricity rate into the calculator and see what each session costs.
07Buyer's Guide
Sizing the heater
Why the 9 kW pairs with the barrel, and how stone mass decides your löyly.
08Buying Logistics
Delivery & assembly
What freight delivery involves, and how Nootka's on-site assembly changes the math where it's offered.
09Buying Logistics
Buying with HSA/FSA
Pre-tax dollars go furthest on a $10k purchase. We explain how a Letter of Medical Necessity works and what to expect.
Common questions
- Where are Nootka saunas made?
- Nootka builds them in-house in British Columbia, Canada, from select tight-knot Western Red Cedar. Its FAQ says Nootka's own builders deliver and assemble them in BC's Lower Mainland and Sea to Sky region, and a freight carrier brings a flat-packed crate everywhere else in North America. Nootka's product pages say it offers on-site assembly in a lot of other cases too, so enter your zip or postal code there to see your options.
- How much do Nootka saunas cost?
- Roughly $8,200–$10,574 for the 8ft barrel, $9,300–$11,674 for the 10ft barrel and $13,250–$14,340 for the Cube in US dollars, depending on the options you pick. Every price includes a heater, and phone control is a $375 controller upgrade.
- Does Nootka deliver and assemble its saunas?
- Yes, in its assembly areas, which cover much of BC, five other Canadian regions and 13 US regions. A Nootka builder assembles a barrel in five to six hours, for $950 in most of those US regions, and your electrician connects the heater afterward. Everywhere else a freight carrier delivers the sauna flat-packed in a crate, and you build it. Our owner's guide lists every area and price.
- Is there a Nootka discount or coupon code?
- Yes. Sauna Monthly readers get the Sauna Essentials Kit and the Exterior Sealant Kit, worth $320 CAD, free with a sauna. Add both kits to your cart with the sauna, and the SAUNAMONTHLY discount takes their price off in the cart. If you order by phone, ask for the kits and give Nootka the code SAUNAMONTHLY so they credit the kits and the referral.
- Are Nootka saunas worth it versus cheaper barrels?
- Yes, for buyers who value inch-and-a-half cedar and Nootka's own 9 kW heater, and most of all where Nootka's own builders assemble the sauna on site. If you're on the tightest budget and don't mind assembling a kit yourself, a thermowood barrel gets you sweating for less.
Reader perk
Your Nootka order comes with $320 CAD in free kits
Nootka Saunas gives Sauna Monthly readers these free with any sauna:
- Sauna Essentials Kit ($150 CAD): a cedar bucket and ladle, plus a 15-minute sand timer.
- Exterior Sealant Kit ($170 CAD): 2.5 L of OSMO exterior sealant with a wide brush.
They don’t ship on their own. Add both kits to your cart with the sauna, and this discount takes their price off in the cart. Ordering by phone? Ask for the kits and give them the same code:
We may earn a commission when you buy through these links, and you pay the same price. Referral credit needs the link or the code at the time of order and can’t be applied afterward.
Heaters and controllers
Nootka sells its smart heater and controller on their own, so you can fit them to a sauna you already have.
Independent coverage. Sauna Monthly is a Nootka affiliate and may earn a commission on purchases made through our links. Our disclosure explains how that works. Nootka did not review or approve this page.