MOOSSE

The comparison

Barrel sauna or sauna tent?

A barrel sauna is a round wooden sauna barrel that stays in the garden. A sauna tent you set up when you use it. Both wood-fired, both real sauna heat. The difference is in weight, price and how often you want to use it.
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MOOSSE sauna tent on a small beach by the lake

Point by point

Sauna barrel or sauna tent, side by side.

Barrel sauna
MOOSSE sauna tent
Price
From about €2,300, wood-fired often from €4,900
€1,349 – €1,599
Weight
700 – 1,000 kg
14 kg tent, 23 kg stove
Ground
Flat and load-bearing: strip foundations, tiles or a concrete slab
Flat, non-flammable under the stove
Placement
Delivery and installation, often with help
Yourself, in 5 minutes
Heat-up
About 30 min to around 80 °C (wood-fired)
About 30 min to up to 100 °C
People
2 to 6, depending on length
2 to 5
Electricity
Not with a wood stove, yes with electric
No, just wood
Permit
A structure: often permit-free in the back garden, within the rules
As a rule not needed
Upkeep
Check and treat the wood every year
Rinse and store dry
Take it along
No
Yes, in two carry bags
Ready to use
Always standing ready
Set up when you use it

Amounts and weights for barrel saunas are indicative and based on the usual offering in the Netherlands. They differ per model and supplier.

The real difference

Why those 800 kilos matter

The weight of a barrel sauna is not a detail, it decides almost everything. It needs ground that does not subside, usually concrete strips or a concrete slab. It is delivered by lorry and often put in place with help. And once it stands, it stays.

That weight has an advantage too. The thick wooden wall holds the heat for a long time and a barrel sauna feels solid and quiet. Anyone with a fixed spot who wants to fit that spot out for years gets something beautiful in return.

A sauna tent weighs 14 kilos, the stove 23. You set it up in five minutes, fire it in about half an hour to up to 100 °C and fold it up afterwards. That makes it suitable for a small garden, a rented house and any spot you can carry it to.

Which one suits you

Four situations, four answers.

Barrel

You want to go three times a week, without preparation

Barrel sauna. It always stands ready, so you only have to light the stove. You set a sauna tent up first, and the more often you go, the more that counts.

Sauna tent

You rent your home or are about to move

Sauna tent. You do not simply take an 800 kilo barrel sauna with you, and your landlord may have an opinion about it too. A sauna tent moves house in the boot of a car.

Sauna tent

You also want to take it to the campsite or the water

Sauna tent. That is exactly what it is made for: two carry bags, no electricity needed, and anywhere you may use a flat spot and make a fire.

Barrel

You want an eye-catcher that always stands in the garden

Barrel sauna. A round wooden sauna barrel is a beautiful thing to look at, even when you are not using it. A sauna tent is a tool that goes back in the shed afterwards.

Fair is fair

When a barrel sauna is the better choice

We sell sauna tents, but for some people a barrel sauna is simply the better buy. If you go often, have a fixed spot and the budget is there, a sauna that always stands ready is hard to beat.

If you mostly doubt the budget, also look at a second-hand sauna. And if you want to know what a fixed sauna costs in total, including ground work and electrics, that is on our page about outdoor saunas.

If you want real wood-fired heat without a foundation, without a delivery by lorry and with the option of taking it along, a sauna tent is what you are looking for.

One more thing

Questions about barrel saunas and sauna tents

A compact barrel sauna starts around €2,300. Wood-fired models for 2 to 4 people usually cost from €4,900, and larger or more luxurious versions run up to €7,700 and more. On top of that come a load-bearing surface, delivery and, with an electric heater, the installation of electrics.

A barrel sauna usually weighs between 700 and 1,000 kilos, depending on the length, the type of wood and the heater. That is why it needs a flat, load-bearing surface and is often placed with help. The MOOSSE sauna tent weighs 14 kilos, the stove 23 kilos.

A barrel sauna is a structure. In the Netherlands that is often allowed in the back garden without a permit, but only within the rules for outbuildings, such as the maximum height and the distance to the property boundary, and within your municipality's zoning plan. A sauna tent you put up and take down again, and as a rule it does not fall under the permit requirement. If in doubt, check the Omgevingsloket, the national permit desk.

Both burn wood and both reach around 80 to 100 °C. The MOOSSE sauna tent reaches up to 100 °C after about 30 minutes of firing. The difference is in holding the heat: the thick wooden wall of a barrel sauna stays warm longer, while a tent cools down faster if you do not add wood.

Yes, used barrel saunas regularly turn up on Marktplaats and 2dehands, the Dutch and Belgian classifieds sites. Mainly look out for rot at the bottom, loose staves, the condition of the stove and transport: at 700 to 1,000 kilos you need a trailer or a crane. Our page about second-hand saunas sets out the checklist.

All frequently asked questions →

Further reading

Outdoor sauna

What a fixed outdoor sauna costs, and what the alternative costs.

Read

Second-hand sauna

What to check on a used sauna, and when new is the smarter buy.

Read

Garden sauna

Four kinds of garden sauna side by side: price, space and effort.

Read

The same heat, without the 800 kilos.

Wood-fired, up to 100°C, complete from €1,349. At your door within 5 working days.

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