Payback calculator
How many months before a sauna earns back what it cost you? Put in your own numbers and see the payback time.
We don't fill in a booking or nightly rate figure for you. We don't know your market, and nobody can promise what a sauna adds to a listing. The calculator only does the arithmetic.
Your numbers
Pick a model to fill in its price and freight, or type your own. Nothing is filled in for the extra per night: that number is yours.
What you enter
- Model (optional): pick a sauna and the calculator fills in its price and freight. You can still change both.
- Sauna and heater price: the price of the sauna, plus the heater package if it needs one.
- Freight: the freight shown on the product page.
- Install: electrician, base, assembly: your quotes for the circuit, the base and putting it together.
- Booked nights a year: how many nights the property is booked in a year, from your own calendar.
- Your expected extra per booked night: what you expect the sauna to add to each booked night, in dollars.
- Running cost per booked night (optional): power or firewood, and any cleaning time you pay for.
How it works it out
Payback time in months = (price + freight + install) ÷ ((extra per night − running cost per night) × booked nights a year) × 12, rounded up to a whole month.
If the running cost is as large as the extra, or larger, it shows "No payback at these numbers" rather than a misleading figure.
Where to get your numbers
- Extra per booked night: compare your rate with similar listings near you that have a sauna and ones that don't, look at what you charge for other add-ons, and ask a co-host or property manager who knows your area. Try a low figure and a high one.
- Booked nights a year: last year's calendar, or your projection if the property is new.
- Install: get a quote from a licensed electrician and from whoever builds the base.
- Running cost: for an electric heater, the heater's kW × the hours it's on per stay × your price per kWh. The heater cycles once it's up to temperature, so this gives you a top figure. Wood: what a stay's firewood costs you.
What it leaves out
Sales tax, financing costs, insurance changes, permit fees, repairs, and any change in how often you get booked. If those matter to you, add them to the install line or the running cost.