How we check · Updated Oct 10, 2026
What counts as American-made here?
A product goes on America Saunas when its maker says it builds that product in the United States, or when it comes from an American company, and we can link the page where the maker says so. We then sort it by what it’s built from and name every part that came from abroad, which for most saunas means the heater. The 53 products in our catalog come from 30 makers, and we read each maker’s own pages and manuals on Oct 10, 2026.
Each listing quotes the maker on where it builds and tells you what crossed a border. “Made in USA” only shows up in quotation marks, as a maker’s own words, because the FTC holds that phrase to a bar few saunas clear once you count the wood and the heater.
| What the maker's pages show | What the listing says | Can it be a pick? | In the catalog |
|---|---|---|---|
| Built in the US from American material | Where it's built and what it's built from: “Built in Tower, Minnesota” with “American steel, the maker says” | Yes | 9 |
| Built in the US from imported material, or material the maker doesn't source | Where it's built, plus where the material came from or a note that the maker doesn't say | Yes | 34 |
| An American company that doesn't say where it builds | Where the company is based, with a note that it doesn't say where each model is built | No | 10 |
| Built and based outside the US | Left out. A category with no American option gets one labelled box naming the closest maker | No | 0 |
Counts from our catalog as of Oct 10, 2026. The sorting stays behind the scenes, and every listing shows the maker's own words.
The FTC sets the bar for a Made in USA claim
The Federal Trade Commission’s standard is “all or virtually all.” Final assembly and all significant processing have to happen in the US, and all or virtually all of the parts have to be made and sourced here, so any foreign content is negligible. The FTC’s own example is a watch with an imported movement, the part that keeps the time. You can read the whole standard in its guide for businesses.
The Made in USA Labeling Rule treats “made,” “manufactured” and “built” in the USA as one claim, and the FTC reads flags and maps as implied claims too. That’s why the flag on this site sits in our name and never beside a product. A maker can also make a qualified claim, like “Made in USA of U.S. and imported parts,” and when one does, we quote it whole.
When a maker says “Made in the USA” and names no town or state, the listing quotes it and says no place was given. The Ice Barrel 500 reads that way.
The main material depends on what you're buying
A sauna is mostly wood, so the wood decides where it sits, and for a stove it’s the steel. Everything else that came from abroad still gets named on the product page, in its own line.
| Product | What decides where it sits | Parts we name without sorting on them |
|---|---|---|
| Outdoor and indoor saunas | The wood of the walls, benches and ceiling | Heater, controls, glass, roofing, stones |
| Infrared saunas | The cabinet wood and the emitters | Controls, speakers, glass |
| Wood-burning stoves | The steel or cast-iron body | Door glass, firebrick, stones, chimney parts |
| Electric heaters | The heater body and its elements | Controls, stones |
| Cold plunges | The tub and the chiller | Pumps, filters, covers |
| Accessories | The main material: wood for a bench, wool for a hat | Hardware, liners |
An imported part still gets its own line on the product page, under Imported parts.
An imported heater gets named, and the sauna stays on the list
Most of the electric saunas in our catalog ship with a Finnish heater. Almost Heaven puts a Harvia in the traditional saunas it builds in Renick, West Virginia, and Finlandia’s packages from Portland come with heaters Harvia makes in Finland. A buyer wants to know that, so the listing says it under Imported parts. The heater doesn’t knock the sauna down our list, because we sort saunas on their walls and benches.
Cedar that grew in Canada gets named too
Western red cedar grows on both sides of the border, from British Columbia down through Washington and Oregon. A sauna built in Minnesota from British Columbia cedar is built here from imported wood, and its listing says so.
Only a few makers in our catalog say on their own pages that their wood grew in the US. Sebago Sauna in Maine names Aroostook County white cedar, and Kachemak Cooperage in Alaska builds from Alaskan spruce. Almost Heaven sources its cedar from Northwestern US and Canadian forests without giving the split, and Setri calls the cedar in its barrels imported. When a maker publishes where its wood grew, we update the listing.
American companies that build abroad never get a pick
Some of the best-known sauna brands are American companies that build overseas. Sunlighten, based in Kansas, says on its quality page that it builds its infrared cabins in Vietnam. A brand like that can turn up in a comparison, with where it builds stated plainly, because people search for it by name. It never gets a pick, a ranking slot or a buy button here.
Every origin line says who made the claim
Most origin boxes open with “According to the maker,” and we mean it literally. Each line comes from a page the maker publishes, usually a product page or a manual, and the box links it with the date we read it. When a fact comes from somewhere else, like a newspaper or a university report, the box credits it by name.
A guess never holds an origin line. If we can’t find where a maker builds, its products stay off the list. For the pages that decide where a product sits, we also ask the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine to save a copy, so the evidence survives a redesign.
Our reviews work from documents and owner reports
We read the makers’ manuals and spec sheets alongside published research. Owner reviews on the makers’ own stores fill in what the documents leave out, and each review ends with a line naming what it drew on and when. Store reviews get summed up in our words, and we leave out Amazon’s customer reviews entirely.
We reread every maker at least twice a year
Makers redesign their sites and switch suppliers, and now and then one gets bought. We reread each maker’s pages at least every six months, and sooner when a maker launches a new range or changes hands. Almost Heaven has belonged to Finland’s Harvia since 2019 and now sells cabins built in Romania next to the barrels it builds in West Virginia, so each model carries its own origin line.
Commissions never buy a place
Some buy buttons are affiliate links, and we may earn a commission when you buy through one. A maker can’t pay its way onto the list or up it. A product is here because of where it’s built, and the disclosure page covers the rest.
Questions people ask about the list
- Does America Saunas only list products built in the USA?
- Nearly. Every product America Saunas lists comes from an American company, and nearly all of them are built in the United States by the maker's own account, with the town or state named whenever the maker gives one. Heaters and other parts are often imported, and each listing names them.
- Why doesn't America Saunas call a sauna Made in USA?
- America Saunas prints “Made in USA” only when it quotes a maker. The FTC reserves the unqualified claim for products whose parts are all or virtually all American, and most of the saunas in the America Saunas catalog ship with a Finnish heater or cedar the maker doesn't source to the US.
- Is western red cedar an American wood?
- Western red cedar grows in both countries, from British Columbia south through Washington and Oregon. A sauna's listing on America Saunas says where its cedar grew when the maker says, and says the source isn't stated when the maker doesn't.
- Do makers pay to be listed on America Saunas?
- No. A maker can't pay to be listed or ranked on America Saunas. The site earns a commission on some purchases made through its buy links, and its disclosure page explains how.