SaunaLife CL5G

The sauna kit alone, before the heater package and shipping. Build the package that suits you above: each heater package adds the heater, its controls and its stones. Skip the heater only if you already have one that suits this room.

Every Cube ships as natural, unpainted wood. A paint package includes SaunaShield exterior paint, and you or your builder apply it during assembly. Give it at least two coats and let them dry before final assembly, as the painting guide shows. Paint the outside only, and leave the interior, benches and backrests bare. You’ll need your own brushes, and you or your builder do the painting. Read the exterior painting guide.

We don’t install saunas ourselves, but we have installers and electricians we’ve worked with before, and we can recommend them in most areas. Send us your ZIP code and we’ll check who’s near you. You hire them directly.

If nobody we know is close, a handyman, deck builder or general contractor can assemble the kit with our Interactive Build Guide, and a licensed electrician wires the heater.

The CL5G ships by freight to the curb in a flat crate about 6 ft 9 in long, usually on a truck with a liftgate that lowers it to the ground. From there, two people can unpack it and move the pieces to the spot in an hour or two. If your base or electrician won’t be ready, tell us before it ships and we can hold it at the warehouse.

Look the crate over with the driver there. Photograph any damage and have it written on the delivery receipt, then sign and keep your copy. Before you build, check every part against the manual’s parts list, including the small hardware boxes, the door packaging and the bench bundles, because SaunaLife’s warranty doesn’t cover shipping damage you could have spotted before installing. If anything is damaged or missing, photograph it and ask us for the part. We’ll take it up with SaunaLife for you.

Two people can assemble the CL5G in about two full days. Unpack and check every part against the manual’s parts list, and sort the screw packs, before you start. Fit the end walls with the flat edge at the bottom and the slight peak at the top. If the staves don’t sit snug in the bottom corners, the wall is upside down. When you first tighten the stave screws, leave the 1/4 in gap the manual calls for so the shell can still adjust when the outer bands go on. Send us your builder’s question and we’ll talk them through any step.

A solid, level base where water never pools. Compacted gravel, pavers or a concrete pad all work. The CL5G sits on two foundation beams joined by cross members, about 55 × 55 in. The sauna overhangs the frame by about a foot at each side and about 4 in at the front and back. Support the frame along its full length, then check it with a level and measure both diagonals so it’s square before the floor goes on. The kit ships at 1,680 lb before the heater.

It’s built to stand in the open year-round. Its own roof has underlay beneath asphalt shingles, with drip edges to shed water, so it needs no cover. If it goes under a patio roof, install the shingle roof anyway.

With an electric heater, the outside walls don’t get hot, so the sauna can sit within a few inches of a fence or house. Keep the outside vents clear, leave room to reach any power box or controller you mount on the back wall, and leave space to work around every side while you build it. Check your local setback rules.

Any licensed electrician can wire it. Give them the manual for the heater you choose, since it sets the breaker and wire size. The heater is hardwired on a dedicated 240 V circuit, with no plug. At 240 V, an 8 kW heater draws about 33 A and a 9 kW heater 37.5 A. If your heater has a separate power module or contactor, it mounts outside the hot room, usually in a ventilated weatherproof box on the back wall on the heater side or on a nearby post. An outdoor controller needs a weatherproof box too. Those boxes aren’t part of the sauna kit; your electrician supplies them. Some heater manuals want the power unit or control panel indoors or under cover, so check yours first.

Plan where the cable enters the sauna before the floor goes in. The LED lights run on 120 V, and their driver goes in a weatherproof enclosure. With Xenio or UKU Wi-Fi control, they can also be wired to the controller’s light output so they switch with the sauna.

Where your heater’s manual puts it, since the heater sets the spot, not the sauna. For example, Saunum’s AIR sensor goes 2 in below the ceiling, never above the heater and at least 20 in from vents, windows and the door. Harvia’s Virta sensor goes on the wall above the heater, 4 in below the ceiling. HUUM’s UKU kits differ by generation, so follow the manual in your box. Run the sensor cable before the benches and trim close off the wall. If your layout won’t allow the manual’s spot, photograph it and ask us.

The remote needs no battery. Mount it inside near the door or on the wall opposite the heater, no higher than 30 in above the floor and at least 36 in from the heater, or keep it handheld. The light driver plugs into a 120 V outlet in a dry spot at least 3 ft from the heater, in a weatherproof box if it’s outside. Keep the light strips at least 20 in from the sides of the heater and never above it.

The remote comes paired. To pair it again, hold the button on the driver for 3 seconds until its light flashes slowly, then press the remote. The driver’s light goes off when they’re paired. If the lights stay dark, check the polarity of the wires into the driver before anything else, then ask us.

With the shingles. The manual points to them, and they’re usually printed on the shingle packaging, so keep the wrappers until the roof is finished. Lay out a row or two before you nail, and check that each course covers the nails of the one below.

The black J and H screws hold the door and exterior trim. Count them before you start the trim, and pre-drill near the narrow trim edges so the boards don’t split. If you’re short, photograph what you have and ask us.

Yes. We count the glass when we size the heater for this room, so it heats up on cold days too. Plan on about 45 minutes to an hour to preheat, and longer on very cold days. A full preheat warms the benches and walls as well as the air, which helps keep your feet warm.

Yes. Choose a Wi-Fi control package above to start and adjust the sauna from the app, with the wall controller still on site. A heater with built-in controls has no Wi-Fi and can’t add it later, so choose Wi-Fi now if you want it. Before you build, check that your Wi-Fi reaches the spot where the sauna will stand. HUUM’s UKU Wi-Fi joins 2.4 GHz networks only.

The front is tempered bronze glass. It’s darker than clear glass, but it isn’t privacy glass. In daylight, the tint and reflections make it hard to see in. After dark with the lights on, people outside can see in, so face the glass toward your yard or view rather than a neighbor’s window.

Yes. The floor is flat and made from the same thick thermally modified spruce as the walls, with two drains built in. You don’t need a floor kit or a floor grid. If you’d like a slatted floor on top, we can supply matching Thermo-Aspen.

Yes. Decide before you build: turn the back wall so its inside faces out, with the peak still at the top, and mirror the benches. Our own build is mirrored this way.

Yes. It stands 6 ft 10¾ in tall outside and needs room to work around every side while you build it.

No. Thermally modified spruce needs no vapor barrier or preservative. Left bare, the outside fades to a silver-gray. To keep its color, choose a paint package or use a water-based penetrating sealer such as HempShield on the outside. A gallon is plenty, and you’d recoat every 2 to 3 years. Keep exterior finishes out of the interior, since they can leave an odor when the sauna heats up. Oil on the benches is optional.

No. Every CL5G heater package is electric. Find the right fit shows the Cube that takes a wood stove.

The wooden guard that comes with the kit fits the Harvia KIP. The HUUM DROP doesn’t fit inside it, so leave it out with the DROP or build one that meets the heater manual’s clearances. The Spirit package comes with Harvia’s HSP3M safety rail and the extra heater board it mounts on.

SaunaLife covers the sauna kit for five years from delivery, for the original buyer’s home use. The warranty doesn’t cover normal wear, natural weathering of the wood, installation or labor. Heaters and other components carry their own warranties. Read the SaunaLife warranty.