Is a Sauna or Steam Room Better? Answering Your Burning Questions
Sauna or steam room: for most homes, the sauna wins
A sauna is a ready-made timber cabin that gives you hot, dry heat or soft steam when you throw water on the stones. A steam room is a tiled wet room, built in with a drain and a steam generator, and held at a gentler 45 to 50°C.1
Here is how they compare, what each one takes to put in, and how to get both kinds of heat from one home sauna.
Sauna and steam room side by side
The big differences are the temperature, the moisture in the air and what the room is made of.
| Traditional sauna | Steam room | |
|---|---|---|
| Temperature | About 50 to 100°C, you choose2 | 45 to 50°C1 |
| The air | Dry, with bursts of steam when you throw water | Full of steam from a generator |
| Inside | Timber walls and benches | Tiles and waterproofing, with no wood inside1 |
| What you need | A ready-made cabin and a heater supply | A built-in wet room with a drain, a water feed and a steam generator1 |
| Where it goes | The garden or a room indoors | Inside the house, beside a wet room1 |
What each one takes to put in
A sauna arrives as a cabin you assemble, then a qualified electrician connects the heater. A steam room is built into the house: Harvia's guidance calls for waterproofing throughout, tiles fixed with heat-rated adhesive, a ceiling sloped at 15° or more so drips run off, a floor drain, and a steam generator close by on a cold water supply.1
Steam room
Sauna
How to get steam in a sauna
Hot and dry
Run the heater high and keep the water light. Harvia describes 80 to 100°C as hot, with dry air and a sharp burst of steam when water hits the stones.2 You set the temperature on the heater's control, and the Wi-Fi heaters on our saunas let you do it from your phone.
Choosing the right one for you
If you want a heat room you can buy, put up and enjoy straight away, choose a traditional sauna: you get dry heat and steam in one, indoors or in the garden. Our guide to choosing a home sauna compares every model by heat, size and power.
Hekla Traditional 160
An indoor sauna room for two or three with a glass front and a Harvia heater, which you can run soft and steamy, from £4,899 with a heater.
Outdoor Living Cube Sauna
A garden sauna for four or five with a glass front and a Harvia heater, so you can run it hot and dry or soft and steamy, from £4,999 with a heater.
Questions about saunas and steam rooms
Quick answers on heat, steam and which suits a home.
Is a sauna or a steam room better for a home?
For most homes a sauna is the easier choice. It arrives as a ready-made timber cabin for the garden or a room indoors, and you can make steam in it by throwing water on the stones. A steam room is a tiled, waterproofed room built in with a drain and a steam generator.
Is a steam room hotter than a sauna?
No. Harvia gives 45 to 50°C as the ideal temperature for a steam room. A traditional sauna runs from about 50 to 60°C for soft, humid heat up to 80 to 100°C for hot, dry heat.
Can you get steam in a sauna?
Yes. Throwing water on the hot stones of a traditional sauna heater makes a burst of steam. Harvia says that at lower sauna temperatures of 50 to 60°C you can use plenty of water for humid, soft heat.
Does an infrared sauna make steam?
No. An infrared sauna warms you with heat panels and has no stones, so it stays dry. For steam, choose a traditional sauna with a Harvia heater.
Sources
- Harvia, How to build a steam room?, accessed October 2026.
- Harvia, What is the correct sauna temperature?, Harvia support, accessed October 2026.
- Harvia, Hot and dry vs. a gentle and steamy sauna?, accessed October 2026.
Paul Margerison
Managing Director & Founder, Outdoor Living
Steam rooms and saunas are often talked about as rivals, but a good sauna gives you both kinds of heat. This guide shows the difference so you can pick the one that fits your home.