What’s happening in the Australian Home Sauna market at the moment?
Here at Sauna King, we’ve noticed an increase in interest in custom-built saunas for both indoors and outdoors.
COVID has made people think about a home sauna
COVID has introduced a lot of changes into our lives, not the least of which is we are spending more time at home, either during lock downs or simply avoiding being in public areas unless really need to.
Public Saunas are less attractive
Even if you understand the benefits of spending time in a sauna, you are less likely to be interested in sitting in close quarters with other people in a public sauna.
More leisure time spent at home
Travel restrictions have meant that we arent venturing to other interesting locations, and so are spending more leisure time at home. These people also look to add value to their homes by installing an indoor or outdoor sauna that they can enjoy in private and away from populated areas.
Our Government is also coaxing the building industry to restart, and through the funding they are providing to new home builders, we are seeing more people consider including installing a sauna in their new home.
Should you DIY your sauna ?
Currently, there are difficulties in importing a Sauna kit because of COVID impacts on shipping, increased global demand and reduced manufacturer staff.
This has particularly impacted the quality made traditional heated saunas. Even when available, these sauna kits are now getting so expensive that a custom-built Sauna is not too much different in pricing when you consider the assembly time of a kit which can be close to a thousand dollars.
International competition for saunas
Australia is quite a small market and It seems at present that the main manufacturers in China (where most Infrared saunas are made) are favouring their larger customers in other countries
Delivery times are now blowing out for orders, only to then be coupled with extra shipping costs due to world demand on container movements.
Sauna Cedar Wood in Scarce Supply
Prices are rising on imported Sauna products very quickly, especially those utilising cedar wood which has gone scarce and subsequently expensive.
Here at Sauna King, we are developing new models to adjust to these times to make our quality Infrared saunas affordable with Cedar inside and Hemlock outside so that our customers still get that aromatic forest smell when they use their sauna; to give the true Scandinavian experience!
If you are considering a sauna for your home, please contact Ian on our website enquiry page.