Note · Cost
What a custom outdoor sauna costs in Spain, Portugal and Ireland, line by line
The first question anyone asks deserves an answer with numbers. Here are the ranges by size, the nine lines that make up a quote, what changes from country to country and three ways a budget doubles by accident.
Sections on this page
Short answer: a custom glass-front sauna costs indicatively €7,100–9,700 for two seats, €9,700–14,000 for four and €14,000–19,500 for six, with an allowance for delivery to a European address, a Harvia heater and basic installation. A free-standing cabin outdoors then needs a base, a cable and permission, which are priced from your site. The rest of this note is the detail.
The range, by size
| Seats | Cabin (plan) | Heater | Indicative range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1.4 × 1.2 m | Harvia 3.5 kW | €5,300–7,100 |
| 2 | 1.6 × 1.4 m | Harvia 4.5 kW | €7,100–9,700 |
| 4 | 2.0 × 1.8 m | Harvia 6 kW | €9,700–14,000 |
| 6 | 2.4 × 2.2 m | Harvia 8 kW | €14,000–19,500 |
| 8 | 3.0 × 2.4 m | Harvia 10.5 kW | €18,500–26,000 |
| 10 | 3.4 × 2.6 m | Harvia 15 kW | €22,500–31,000 |
| 12 | 4.0 × 2.8 m | Harvia 18 kW | €27,000–37,500 |
Ranges are indicative for autumn 2026, include an allowance for freight and CE paperwork, and exclude VAT. A timber or stone platform for the cabin is €900–1,700, a larger deck is priced from the site, and a pergola €2,200–4,700; low-voltage lighting is €400–700.
Nine lines on every quote
- The cabin and its glass. Timber, insulation, glass, door, benches, lighting.
- The heater and its controls. Harvia, sized by volume with a step up for glass.
- Delivery. Crates to your address; the range carries an allowance and the layout carries the figure.
- Installation. Assembly, heater connection, first firing, temperature test. Up to seven days on site.
- The base. A deck on supports, a stone terrace or a slab, drained and level. Yours or ours, priced either way.
- Electrics. The cable from the board, an RCD, an isolator at the cabin. Your electrician; we list the load.
- Groundworks. Levelling, drainage, any retaining.
- Fees and permits. Whatever your municipality charges for a small building, if it needs one.
- VAT and duties. Added at the rate in force for your country; the quote itemises them.
What changes from country to country
Not our price: the ranges above are the same in every country. What changes is everything around the cabin: the cost of labour and groundworks, the electrician, the municipal fees and the VAT. A few differences are worth knowing before you ask for a quote.
| Country | Where the budget moves | Question to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Spain | municipal licence or declaration, and any municipal fee on the works | does your town hall treat a free-standing cabin as minor works? |
| Portugal | municipal fees, and rules for ‘light works’ in some councils | is a sauna on a deck covered by the council's simplified route? |
| Ireland | planning exemption or application; a long cable run on rural sites | does a sauna qualify as a structure incidental to the house? |
The permits question is the one most often left too late. Outdoor sauna permits compared separates what we could verify from what you must ask.
Three sample budgets
Running costs, in one line
A session block of about seven kilowatt-hours for a 6 kW heater: multiply by your tariff. The sums are in glass sauna insulation and energy.
A worked budget, from first photo to first session
| Line | Example | Indicative |
|---|---|---|
| Cabin | four seats, corner glass, Harvia 6 kW | €9,700–14,000 |
| Deck | a timber platform for the cabin, about 5 m² | €900–1,700 |
| Lighting | low-voltage, at the cabin and the path | €400–700 |
| Pergola | shade for the deck and the glass | €2,200–4,700 |
| Groundworks and electrics | your contractor's and electrician's quotes | priced from your site |
| Permits and VAT | per your municipality and country | itemised in the quote |
The total is the sum of the first four plus whatever your site adds. We would rather you saw the lines than a single number, because the lines are what you can negotiate, phase or leave out.
The cheaper way to begin
Start with a one-seat or two-seat glass cabin and a free-standing ice bath on the existing terrace: no base, no slab, no permit in many places. Add the deck, the pergola and the larger cabin later. Each step reuses the electrics and the plant. See made-to-measure saunas and free-standing ice baths.
How to compare two quotes
A quote is comparable only if it names the same things. Put two side by side and check seven items: seats and plan size, the number and thickness of the glass panes, the heater's make and rating in kilowatts, the timber and its finish, what delivery and installation include, who pays for the base and the cable, and whether VAT is inside the figure. A quote that gives a heater without a rating, or glass without a thickness, has left a decision for later, and later usually costs more. We list all seven in the layout so that you can hold ours against anyone else's.
When the money moves
Our payment schedule is 40 per cent at order, 40 per cent during production and 20 per cent after the signed temperature test on site, so the last instalment follows the proof that the cabin works. To plan the date, count back from the day you want to use it: production takes six to ten weeks, freight is quoted with the layout and assembly takes up to seven days. The permit question, if there is one, runs alongside rather than after.
Three mistakes that double a budget by accident
- Buying the cabin and forgetting the base. A deck, a drain and a cable can cost as much as a small cabin. Draw them first.
- An undersized heater for a glass cabin. It runs flat out, never quite reaches temperature and has to be replaced.
- Assuming the board has room. A 6 kW heater draws about 26 A at 230 V. If the board is full, a new circuit or a new supply is part of the cost.
Each country page ends with a sample range: Spain, Portugal and Ireland.
Can I get a cabin for less than the first line of the table?
A generic kit, yes. A one-seat glass cabin from us starts at €5,300–7,100. The saving in a generic kit can reappear later as a replacement heater or a rebuilt door.
Do the ranges include installation?
Basic installation, yes. Groundworks, the base, local electrics, permits and VAT are not in the range.
Why do you quote ranges?
Because access, groundworks, finish and delivery genuinely move the number. The range is where you stand; the 3D layout fixes the figure.
Further notes
Notes that continue this one
Outdoor sauna permits, country by country
What we could verify on official sources in four countries, and the five questions to put to any town hall.
Read on
What a wall of glass costs in electricity
What a square metre of sauna glass loses, why heaters step up for it and what a session costs to run.
Read on
Cold plunge pools in a Mediterranean summer
Four sources of heat, three chiller classes and the shade and cover that matter more than a bigger machine.
Read on