Sauna keeps changing, and that’s normal

With sauna, we love tradition. The smell of cedar. The crackle of wood. The splash of water on hot rocks. We talk about authenticity a lot—and that’s a good thing. It’s part of what keeps sauna real. But every so often, it’s worth stepping back and remembering something simple:

A lot of the stuff we treat as “the way it’s always been”… hasn’t always been that way.

Sometimes the things we’re defending were brand-new not too long ago.

The business of sauna, through its products, keeps shifting, quietly, steadily, in ways we eventually accept as normal.

“The thing we are trying to protect from change was itself a product of change not that long ago.”

-Ryan Holiday, 2025

Protected elements: soon to be the new normal (that wasn’t always normal)

There was a time when electric sauna heaters were seen as a big compromise from wood-fired. Too clean, too easy, not authentic enough. Fast-forward a bit, and electric heaters became the default in gyms, condos, and public saunas across North America.

Now electric is evolving again.

Protected elements are the future: better steam, longer life, no packing rocks one by one around the coils like a Tetris game. We don’t have to be a health club maintenance supervisor to know what a drag it must be to wrestle with replacing burned-out elements. (No wonder the “do not throw water” signs!). Moreover, those that feel the clean steam from water not scorching off elements, know it.

Electric is now considered “traditional” by many. But it wasn’t that long ago when electric was the big “change.” And we get to move on from there.

Flat-Pack Saunas: accessibility is a feature

A handcrafted sauna built by a skilled builder is a beautiful thing. But the sauna boom of the last few years didn’t happen because everyone hired a custom carpenter.

It happened because people had options.

Flat-pack saunas—once dismissed as flimsy or “not real”—brought the experience to regular folks. For many people, in defense of the $2,800 sauna, this is how they get started. They dipped a toe into the holy trinity of good sauna (heat, steam, ventilation) , and many of them later level up. Or some move on to the next biohacking trend.

Today, entry-level saunas are a normal part of the landscape. A starting point, not an end point.

Just like kit saunas in Finland decades ago… which, at the time, were considered a pretty big departure from “the real thing.”

WiFi controllers: from overpriced add-on to standard issue

When WiFi controllers first showed up, many sauna traditionalists weren’t having it. Turning your sauna on from your phone? Too complicated. Too far from the ritual. Too far from the roots.

But the real problem wasn’t the tech. It is the $1,774 price tag for something that’s free and built-in on ovens and other household appliances.

Now, with more companies (led by North American manufacturers!) starting to offer reasonably priced, integrated controls, those high prices will fade. A remote start isn’t a gimmick—it’s just convenience. Like preheating your oven before you get home.

And yes: let’s remember the companies that tried to turn a basic control feature into a four-figure upsell. Screenshot it. Call BS. This was margin stacking dressed up as innovation.

Reasonably priced WiFi control is simply the next step in a chain of changes—not that long ago.