Cheap saunas do not necessarily mean that they are made cheaply. You may well be able to pick up a top quality sauna on an auction site like Ebay for example, which might be cheap but will be excellent value for money. Good luck to you if you can find one like that, because that would be a real bargain.

If a sauna is made from inferior materials, then it is cheap in terms of price and cheap in terms of quality, and quite possible dangerous to boot.

The Electrical Safety Authority (ESA) in Canada have investigated and found fault with a number of cheap imported saunas. Amongst other things they discovered heaters running very hot and smoking in one of these devices. In addition, there were potential electric shock and fire hazards associated with the use of these saunas.

These tests were carried out on certain imported cheap saunas, and whilst not necessarily indicative of all inexpensive saunas, it does suggest that great caution be taken when looking into buying one of the cheaper models on the market, especially if the sauna is imported.

Generally speaking, the best saunas are made from cedar wood. Certainly historically, this has been the case. It would pay you to try and ascertain which wood the sauna is made from before you buy it, and if it is not cedar, to make some enquiries from independent sources as to the suitability of the material in question for the intended purpose. There are a number of reasons why cedar wood is used for the manufacture of saunas, two of those reasons are that cedar wood smells good and gives you a good experience. Normally a "non-aromatic? cedar is used in sauna construction that is very subtle and satisfying to the senses. Cedar wood can be easily sanded inside the sauna to remove any stains caused by perspiration and to bring back the fresh cedar smell, so maintenance is relatively easy.

So if you are tempted to buy a cheap sauna, then you need to think very carefully and do some research into the materials from which the sauna is made. Will it stand up to the stresses that it will be put under in terms of the rapid and continual temperature changes or not?

Many other sauna manufacturers produce saunas made from hemlock, spruce, fir or other low cost, low quality woods and sell them as "hypoallergenic" wood. The real reason they are using these woods is that they cost less by the board foot as compared to cedar. The hypoallergenic only lasts a few sessions until the mould and bacteria starts to grow unchecked on the moist, warm white wood. Then the only way to clean the sauna is with harsh chemicals which you won't want to breathe while sitting in your sauna. There is absolutely no reason not to treat yourself to the quality and luxury of cedar wood in your sauna.