As winter approaches it is now a great time to prepare for some winter activities. A personal home sauna is something that you may want installed prior to the cold weather arriving, they are a great way to relax after a long day of work. The above photos are examples of a personal home sauna that our electricians have personally installed for our clients. While we do not supply the saunas, we are able to provide the electrical connection to hook up the sauna to your panel. Continue reading to learn about the electrical requirements for a personal home sauna.
What will I need in order to get started?
1. A licensed and certified electrician.
One of the first things to do is hire an electrician. Read here on our blog about how to choose the right electrician.
2. A dedicated electrical circuit
Due to the amount of electricity required, your personal home sauna will require a dedicated circuit in order to run properly without tripping the breaker continually. Therefore, your electrician may have to fish in wiring from your electrical panel through your home’s walls to your sauna. A dedicated circuit only brings power to one electrical appliance or receptacle.
3. An electrical permit Legally, if an electrician is doing any regulated work, then a permit will have to be pulled for that work. At Blue Crest Electric our office pulls and closes all the required permits for our client’s electrical projects. For more information about electrical permits, click here.
Sauna Electrical Requirements
Service Upgrade
When you’re thinking about adding load to your panel, something to consider is, do you have enough space for this home sauna on your panel. The incoming service of an average home may be between 100 – 200 Amps. It is always a wise decision to have a load calculation completed, by a licensed electrician, before purchasing a sauna. A load calculation will determine the current distribution of your home’s existing amperage. This will determine if a service upgrade to increase the amperage of your home is necessary. Read more about electrical service upgrades here.
Wiring
The size of your desired home sauna may change the electrical load requirements. Simply put, the larger the sauna the more amperage you will need in order to run it. Larger saunas require anywhere from 220 – 240 Volts, with a dedicated circuit. You will also require either a 30, 40, 50, or even a 60 – Amp breaker, along with the installation of the correctly sized wiring.
Whereas smaller two person saunas may only require 110 – 120 Volts of electricity. In addition, the sauna will require a 15 – 20 Amp breaker and circuit to bring the electricity to the unit. Some smaller saunas have a 3-pronged electrical plug that is able to connect to a regular home outlet. However, in order to prevent the breaker from intermittently tripping an electrician may need to make that outlet a dedicated circuit so that it supplies electricity only to the sauna.
Trenching
If your sauna’s location is a distance from the breaker panel, then you may require trenching to safely bring electricity to the sauna. Putting the wiring underground in a conduit is a safe way to bring power across your home’s yard. The Canadian Electrical Code requires that buried electrical wiring must follow very strict depth and installation guidelines. Prior to any digging contact BC One Call at 1-800-474-6886 to ensure that there are no utility lines buried in the area. We are more than happy to help you book an appointment for one of our electricians to do a load calculation on your home. For any questions about installing a personal home sauna call us at any of the numbers listed on our contact page.