Ripavi

Two Ripavi Finnish saunas, $36,900 and $49,900. These are the two most expensive things we sell, by a margin of roughly $14,000 over the next unit in the catalogue.

What that money is not buying

It is not buying features. Neither of these has chromotherapy, red light or Bluetooth, and plenty of $4,000 infrared cabins do. It is buying size, joinery and a wood-burning Finnish build — the Sointu seats eight — made to a standard that is closer to a garden building than to a flat-packed cabin.

Who should look at these

Almost nobody shopping for a home sauna. If you want heat, a traditional sauna starts at $4,940 and will reach the same temperatures. If you want features, infrared saunas start at $1,999. Ripavi makes sense when the sauna is a permanent structure you are commissioning rather than a product you are buying, and the finish has to justify itself for twenty years.

Delivery

Free shipping to the lower 48, no minimum, and it stops at the curb — the crate is left at the end of your driveway. Getting it inside is a $600 white-glove upgrade. Getting it inside and assembled is $1,800, which covers everything except electrical work: we recommend you hire a local electrician for that, because the wiring has to meet your local code and pass local inspection. Service fees are non-refundable: if the sauna goes back, the installation does not.