Choosing between a wood-burning and an electric heater is one of the first decisions you need to make when planning a garden sauna. For larger saunas – such as R-APPO, a spacious sauna with an integrated shower area for 4–6 people – the choice of heater is even more important, as it determines whether the interior will heat up properly. In this guide, we present both options using the R-APPO as an example, explain electrical connections as simply as possible, and answer the question of what a shower in a garden sauna practically entails.
R-APPO – Garden Sauna with Shower for 4–6 People
R-APPO is one of our largest garden saunas, Finnish-made, with a separate, integrated shower area under the same roof – after the sauna, you don't need to go inside to cool down and rinse off. Prices start from 36,900 PLN. This sauna is suitable for both private gardens and SPA facilities or guesthouses, where several people use it at once.
With such interior volume (a sauna for 4–6 people is typically 5–7 m² for the cabin alone), a small electric heater simply won't cope – it will take too long to heat up or won't reach a comfortable temperature when users frequently open the door. That's why we recommend two specific solutions for R-APPO.
Wood-Burning or Electric 9 kW Sauna Heater?
For R-APPO, we recommend one of two heaters – both fully sufficient for this volume:
- Harvia Legend 240 – a wood-burning heater, complete with a chimney.
- Harvia Spirit SP90 WiFi – a 9 kW electric heater, app-controlled (SMART).
Wood-Burning Heater – Harvia Legend 240
A wood-burning heater is a choice for those who treat sauna as a ritual – crackling fire, the scent of wood, and no dependence on electrical installation (the heater doesn't need electricity to heat the stones; only cabin lighting, if any, requires 230V power). Lighting and maintaining the temperature takes longer than with an electric version, but for many, this part of the preparation is the most enjoyable. We sell the Harvia Legend 240 complete with a chimney, so there's no need to select anything separately.
Electric Heater – Harvia Spirit SP90 WiFi 9 kW
An electric heater offers convenience: you turn on the sauna from your phone before even leaving home, set the temperature and timer, and WiFi allows remote control. For R-APPO, it's important to remember that only a 9 kW heater will evenly heat such a large cabin – smaller, popular 6 kW or 6.8 kW heaters will struggle in this volume, especially when several people use the sauna simultaneously and the door opens more frequently.
Connecting the Sauna to Electricity – What You Need to Know About 3 Phases
If you opt for a 9 kW electric heater, there's one thing you need to sort out before the sauna arrives: a heater of this power requires a three-phase 400 V supply. It sounds technical, but in practice, it boils down to one thing – the appropriate cable must reach the sauna's distribution box.
What to know before you call an electrician:
- You need a 5-core cable (three phase conductors L1, L2, L3, neutral conductor N, and protective conductor PE) routed from the main household distribution board to the sauna's location in the garden – most often underground, in appropriate conduit.
- If you already have another three-phase appliance in your home (e.g., an induction hob, workshop, garage), it's sometimes possible to split the power from the same circuit – an electrician on-site will determine this.
- The circuit must have appropriate residual current device (RCD) protection dedicated to the sauna.
- Connection must always be performed by a qualified electrician – this is not a DIY installation.
In other words: before ordering a sauna with a 9 kW heater, arrange for an electrician to check if a three-phase cable can be routed from the distribution board to the garden location where the sauna will stand. This is the only thing that needs to be taken care of in advance – we will handle the rest (the heater installation itself) with the installation instructions.
If the topic of a three-phase connection sounds too troublesome, choosing a wood-burning heater (Harvia Legend 240) completely eliminates it – no additional installation is needed for heating the stones themselves.
Sauna with Shower – Easier Than You Think
R-APPO has an integrated shower area, but its connection is much simpler than it might seem. The simplest and most commonly chosen option is connection via a standard garden hose – a nearby garden tap is sufficient, without needing a plumber or rigid water installation. Drainage is freely routed to the ground or to a floor drain.
For those who want a permanent solution (e.g., for frequent, year-round use), a dedicated, fixed water connection can, of course, be planned – but to start, especially seasonally, a garden hose can get the sauna shower running on the same day the sauna is set up in the garden.
Sauna and Health – What Science Says
Regular sauna use is not just a pleasure – more and more research points to its association with health benefits. A large, long-term cohort study by Finnish scientists (Laukkanen et al., JAMA Internal Medicine, 2015) showed that more frequent sauna use was associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular mortality and all-cause mortality in the studied group of men observed for nearly 21 years. This is an observational study – it shows an association, not a direct cause-and-effect relationship – but it is one of the most frequently cited in the context of the health aspects of saunas. Full study description: jamanetwork.com.
Summary
For R-APPO, as one of the larger saunas in our offer, we recommend either the Harvia Legend 240 wood-burning heater (simplicity, no electrical installation requirements) or the Harvia Spirit SP90 WiFi 9 kW electric heater (convenience and phone control – requires three-phase power, which should be arranged with an electrician in advance). You can connect the sauna shower most simply with a garden hose, without involving a plumber.
See the full offer in the SAUNADO garden sauna collection or write to us at sales@saunado.eu – we will help you choose the model and heater for your garden.