Amerec
Amerec Designer B 8kW Sauna Heater
Amerec is the American commercial-sauna stalwart — the heaters in a thousand gym saunas — and the Designer B is its residential wall unit, running about $1,400 street for the 8kW with built-in vulcanite rocks and mechanical controls. Like the Harvia KIP, this is a heater for people building their own room, and r/Sauna treats the two as interchangeable answers: buy whichever is cheaper the week you're shopping. Owners like the commercial-duty elements and the dead-simple time/temp knobs; the practical knocks are the same as every wall heater — modest stone capacity means sharper, shorter steam than a pillar heater, and the included vulcanite rocks are serviceable but many owners swap in proper olivine stones. US-based parts and support is a quiet advantage when an element dies in year six and you want a replacement without importing anything.
Specifications
Highlights
Pros
- ✓Commercial-grade elements from the brand that heats gym saunas nationwide
- ✓Built-in controls keep the wiring job simpler than external-control units
- ✓US parts and support network for decade-later element swaps
- ✓8kW comfortably drives rooms up to ~425 cubic feet
- ✓Frequent street-price discounts under $1,400
- ✓Simple mechanical knobs — nothing digital to die in the heat
Cons
- ✗Modest stone capacity yields sharper steam than pillar heaters
- ✗Included vulcanite rocks are mediocre — owners upgrade stones early
- ✗Warranty terms are oddly hard to pin down before purchase
- ✗It's just the heater; room, ventilation, and benches are your problem
- ✗240V/40A wiring adds several hundred dollars via electrician
Compare the Amerec Designer B 8kW Sauna Heater
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If you ask r/Sauna what heater to put in a DIY build, the KIP is the default answer — a stainless Finnish workhorse that shows up in half the home-built saunas posted there. This is the heater, not a sauna: you supply the room (converted closet, shed build, kit cabin) and the KIP supplies proper löyly. Owners love the simplicity — mechanical timer and thermostat on the B version, nothing to break — and the dual-wall shell that stays touchable outside. Real-world notes: the 1-hour run timer is a Finnish safety convention that annoys Americans used to set-and-forget, stone loading matters more than people expect (wash and stack loosely), and you must get the 240V/30A circuit wired properly. At around $1,010 it's the cheapest path to a genuine traditional sauna if you can build the box.
The Cilindro is the heater r/Sauna upgrades to when they stop asking 'which sauna should I buy' and start asking 'how do I get better steam.' The open-grate pillar holds roughly 200 pounds of stone — triple a wall heater — so you can ladle water down the sides for soft, rolling steam or on top for a sharp blast. This $3,084 package from a US Harvia dealer bundles the PC90E, WiFi Xenio controller, and the full stone load, which matters because buying stones separately surprises people. Owners' honest notes: 200 lb of stones means a real floor and a patient first heat-up (the mass takes longer than a KIP), the MyHarvia app occasionally drops offline, and you need genuine 280+ cubic feet — in a small room it's overkill that short-cycles.
Almost Heaven
Almost Heaven Sanctum 6-Person Indoor Sauna (Costco)
The Sanctum is the Almost Heaven indoor room Costco members actually buy — listed around $5,999 and periodically knocked down $1,000 during Costco savings events, which is when the value gets silly. Same Harvia-owned factory as Almost Heaven's direct line, same thick tongue-and-groove construction, but with the thing r/Sauna grudgingly admits matters most for a four-figure freight purchase: Costco's return policy. Shipping-damage stories dominate barrel and kit-sauna forums, and 'Costco will take it back, no questions' is the most repeated reassurance in those threads. The trade-off is configuration lock — you get the bundled heater and layout, no wood or heater upgrades. Members report typical kit-sauna quirks: a panel that needs coaxing, generic instructions, and an electrician bill for the 240V circuit that the listing doesn't mention. Watch the seasonal events; patient members save real money.