Dundalk LeisureCraft Canadian Timber Serenity Barrel Sauna (CTC2245W or CTC2245E, not the MP glass-front version), eastern white cedar, no heater

1. Heat & research 30% of the rating 3 of 5

   A barrel built for a stone heater, with 222 ft³ inside and a 7.5 kW electric size recommended in the maker’s table (three dealers pair 6 kW heaters), but it ships with no heater and the maker states no temperature.

2. Materials 25% of the rating 4 of 5

   Solid eastern white cedar with cedar cradles, aluminum bands and stainless hardware and no glue or finish named, but we found no emissions test and its cedar can trigger asthma in some workers.

3. Safety & EMF 20% of the rating 3 of 5

   No heater is included, so the listing depends on the one you add, and we found no listing for the cabin: Intertek’s directory has no entry for Dundalk or LeisureCraft.

4. Trust 10% of the rating 4 of 5

   A 5-year warranty published as a PDF, no recall or Prop 65 notice found and no detox claims on the pages we read, but its “certified sustainable” wood claim is not backed by a named certificate and its assembly instructions still print a three-year warranty.

5. Value 15% of the rating 4 of 5

   About $1,190 to $1,230 a seat for five at the four dealers ($5,954 to $6,158), plus a heater (our pages list working sets from about $1,900) and an electrician for a hard-wired 240 V circuit.

The rating, 3.5 of 5, is the weighted average of these scores. See how we rank saunas and our standard.

• Finnish Sauna Builders (retailer) (opens in a new tab) approx. $6,158 (marked down from $6,998 on the page). A retailer, not the maker. Listed as the 6 ft 6 in x 6 ft 6 in Serenity with a 1 ft 5 in porch. The listing names no heater.
• SaunaKits.com (retailer) (opens in a new tab) approx. $6,157.50 for either the wood-burning (CTC2245W) or the electric (CTC2245E) version. A retailer, not the maker. Neither version includes a heater, and it shows free shipping. Its spec table gives 5 seats, 222 ft³ and a 6 kW electric heater as the recommended size, where the maker’s table says 7.5 kW. Its text mentions half-moon windows, which belong to the dearer MP version.
• Haven of Heat (retailer) (opens in a new tab) approx. $6,127 (marked down from $7,244.71 on the page). A retailer, not the maker. Lists heaters to pair with it, such as the Harvia KIP 6 kW, as sold separately. Says it is custom-made to order and cannot be cancelled or returned once ordered.
• Home and Heat (retailer) (opens in a new tab) approx. $5,954 (marked down from $6,996 on the page). A retailer, not the maker. Listed as CTC2245W, in stock and ready to ship, with free shipping and 30-day returns; heaters are listed as upgrades. Its warranty text still says three years.

Prices as we saw them on November 3, 2026. They change often. These links carry no tracking code and earn us nothing.

1. Eastern white cedar: the maker calls it Grade-A solid cedar with single-stave bevels and no tenon joints along their length; a dealer gives 1.5 in thick walls
2. Solid cedar cradles under the barrel
3. T6061 marine-grade aluminum bands made in Canada, with stainless steel hardware (maker)
4. A pre-hung door with a wooden frame and 5 mm bronze tempered glass (dealer pages)
5. Two solid cedar benches, a flat removable floor and a front porch with two seats (dealer pages); the MP version with glass windows is a separate, dearer product
6. No roof in the kit; the assembly instructions cover optional asphalt-shingle and metal roofs, and SaunaKits sells a black metal roof for $496.50, all outside the hot room
7. No heater, stones or control in the kit. The maker’s warranty sheet names Harvia KIP, Sauna360 Designer B, Homecraft Revive and HUUM heaters

Does it come with a heater, and is the heater safety-listed?

No. The kit has no heater, stones or control, and dealers sell them separately. The maker’s heater warranty sheet (opens in a new tab) names Harvia KIP, Sauna360 Designer B, Homecraft Revive and HUUM Hive Mini and Drop heaters, with 3 years each excluding elements and rocks. We searched Intertek’s ETL directory for Dundalk and LeisureCraft and found no entry, so the listing is the heater’s. The maker’s size table (opens in a new tab) recommends a 7.5 kW electric heater for the Serenity, while three dealers pair it with 6 kW packages, so ask which size they stand behind. See our sauna heater pages for how we check each one.

Which Serenity is this, and what do W, E and MP mean?

Dealers list this plain Serenity as CTC2245W (wood-burning) and CTC2245E (electric); SaunaKits (opens in a new tab) sells both at one price, so pick the one that matches the heater you plan. The MP version, with glass windows in the front and back, is a different product: Haven of Heat (opens in a new tab) lists it at $7,975. SaunaKits’ text mentions half-moon windows even though its price and code match the plain one, so confirm what you are ordering. Dealers also round the size to 6.5 ft and give 2 to 5 seats; we use the maker’s size table.

Is eastern white cedar a problem for people with asthma?

It can be. In a sawmill that made eastern white cedar shingles, 3 of 42 workers tested (7%), or at least 3 of 80 (3.8%) of current and former workers, had occupational asthma, a rate the authors call comparable to western red cedar (PubMed 7952635 (opens in a new tab)), and a case report found it holds about half the plicatic acid of western red cedar and cross-reacts with it (PubMed 3958393 (opens in a new tab)). Those were sawdust exposures. We found no study of home sauna users, so this is a precaution: if you have asthma or a wood allergy, ask your doctor first.

Is the wood treated, and does it give off fumes?

The maker describes solid cedar and says it can be left unfinished or protected outside with an exterior wood finish; its assembly instructions sell exterior stains in four colors and say never to treat the interior. It names no glue, stain or sealer in the hot room. We found no emissions or odor test, and the kit’s parts list is not public beyond the dealers’ pages.

Do barrel saunas leak or loosen?

The maker’s assembly instructions (opens in a new tab) (a copy hosted by SaunaKits) say some water seepage is expected and normal in an outdoor barrel, mostly at the top and sides, because of the porous wood and the ball-and-socket stave profile, and that it does not harm the sauna and dries when the heater runs. They also say cedar weathers to a silver-grey that is normal, and their warranty page lists tightening the bands as upkeep it does not cover. The current warranty (opens in a new tab) excludes natural weather conditions, wear and improper maintenance. A retailer’s tally of r/Sauna owners of another brand’s barrels (Sauna Marketplace (opens in a new tab), which sells competing saunas) found leaks and gaps among the commonest complaints, so plan for a roof or rain cover if rain blows in.

What does the 5-year warranty cover?

Defects in materials and workmanship under normal residential use for 5 years from delivery, by replacing parts at no charge. It does not cover labor, service or installation, and replacement does not extend the term (warranty PDF (opens in a new tab)). The assembly instructions (dated 11/2024) and Home and Heat’s page still print a three-year, parts-only warranty, so ask for the five-year term in writing.

Is the “certified sustainable” wood claim true?

The maker says its cedar comes from certified sustainable lumber mills in British Columbia and Ontario, and lists the Western Red Cedar Lumber Association and the Ontario Wood Association as memberships. It names no certificate such as FSC or SFI, so we could not check the claim.

What do owners say?

We found no independent owner reports. A search for owner reviews, complaints and Reddit threads returned dealers’ own pages, their blogs and affiliate review sites, which we did not rely on. The maker’s home page shows owner quotes that it chose itself.

• Plain materials, named: solid eastern white cedar, cedar cradles, T6061 aluminum bands and stainless hardware, with no glue or finish named in the hot room.
• A published 5-year warranty and a maker that builds the barrel itself in Ontario.
• Four dealers sell it for $5,954 to $6,158, three of them within $31 of each other, and you pick the heater.
• No detox, weight-loss or calorie claims on the maker’s sauna, collection or warranty pages we read.
• A traditional stone heater is the kind of sauna the Finnish studies on our heat therapy page followed, at about 80 to 100 °C.

• No heater in the price. Add one, a control, stones and an electrician, and check the heater’s own listing. Our heater pages run from about $1,900 to $3,900 for a working set.
• Terms differ by dealer: Haven of Heat says it is custom-made to order and not cancellable or returnable once ordered, while Home and Heat shows it in stock with 30-day returns.
• Seat counts differ by page, from 2 to 5. The maker’s table says 5; plan on 3 or 4 for comfort.
• The warranty replaces parts only, with no labor, leaves out weather and wear, and is printed as three years in the assembly instructions.
• The maker’s table recommends a 7.5 kW electric heater, a size up from the 6 kW packages three dealers pair with it.
• Eastern white cedar is paler and less aromatic than western red, which some people prefer and some do not.
• Ask a doctor first if you have heart disease or are pregnant, and skip alcohol (see our hot baths page).

1. LeisureCraft: Canadian Timber barrel saunas (maker’s product page). Maker’s page. Size table (Serenity: 5 seats, 222 ft³, 7.5 kW electric heater), 5-year warranty and materials; no price (request a quote), seen 2026-11-03. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
2. LeisureCraft: Canadian Timber collection. Maker’s page. Eastern white cedar versus western red cedar, Ontario mills, barrels seat four to six, 5-year warranty. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
3. Canadian Timber Serenity/Tranquility MP barrel sauna: assembly instructions (PDF, 11/2024, hosted by SaunaKits). Maker’s page. Water seepage is normal, never treat the interior, optional roofs, no GFCI breaker, a warranty page that still says three years. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
4. LeisureCraft 5 Year Residential Limited Warranty Policy (PDF). Maker’s page. Parts only, no labor, excludes weather and wear. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
5. LeisureCraft Limited Warranty Policy for electric heaters (PDF). Maker’s page. Lists the heaters it sells and their warranty terms. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
6. Finnish Sauna Builders: Dundalk Serenity barrel sauna. Independent source. $6,158; bronze glass door, aluminum bands with stainless hardware, read 2026-11-03. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
7. SaunaKits.com: Dundalk CT Serenity 5-person barrel sauna. Independent source. $6,157.50 for the wood-burning or electric code, free shipping, spec table with 222 ft³ and 6 kW heater size, read 2026-11-03. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
8. Haven of Heat: Dundalk Serenity barrel sauna CTC2245W. Independent source. $6,127, 1.5 in walls, includes list, heaters sold separately, non-cancellable. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
9. Home and Heat: Dundalk Canadian Timber Serenity CTC2245W. Independent source. $5,954, in stock, free shipping, 30-day returns, three-year warranty text, read 2026-11-03. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
10. Haven of Heat: Dundalk Serenity MP barrel sauna CTC2245MP. Independent source. The MP version with glass windows, $7,975, to tell it apart from the plain Serenity. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
11. Intertek Directory of Listed Products (searched for Dundalk and LeisureCraft). Certifier or regulator listing. No entry for either name on 2026-11-03. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
12. US Consumer Product Safety Commission: recalls with “sauna” in the title. Certifier or regulator listing. No Dundalk or LeisureCraft recall on 2026-11-03. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
13. Government of Canada: recalls and safety alerts, search for sauna. Certifier or regulator listing. Sauna recalls on 2026-11-03 name Tylö, Finnleo and other brands, DIY heater kits and ozone saunas, not Dundalk or LeisureCraft. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
14. California Attorney General: Prop 65 60-day notice search. Certifier or regulator listing. No notice names Dundalk or LeisureCraft (searched 2026-11-03). Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
15. Prevalence of occupational asthma among workers exposed to eastern white cedar (Malo 1994, PubMed 7952635). Independent source. Shingle mill: 3 of 42 workers (7%) had occupational asthma. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
16. Occupational asthma caused by eastern white cedar with plicatic acid as the agent (Cartier 1986, PubMed 3958393). Independent source. About half the plicatic acid of western red cedar; cross-reactivity. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
17. Sauna Marketplace: Almost Heaven barrel sauna reviews (competing retailer). Independent source. A tally of r/Sauna owners of another brand’s barrels; the site sells competing saunas. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)

• Nootka Saunas 8 ft Electric Barrel Sauna A western red cedar barrel with a UL 875 and CSA listed heater included, about $8,974, sold only by the maker.
• Almost Heaven Salem 2 Person Barrel Sauna A smaller US-made cedar barrel with a heater included, from about $4,485.
• Harvia Cilindro PC90 A heater whose model pattern is in Intertek’s UL 875 listing, about $1,920 with stones.

• Heat Therapy Basics Article How regular sauna use and heat exposure affect cardiovascular health, brain function, inflammation, and longevity
• Infrared vs Traditional Article How Finnish sauna, infrared sauna, and steam rooms compare in temperature, mechanisms, and health outcomes
• Hot Baths and Passive Heat Therapy Article What research says about hot baths: better sleep when timed before bed, promising but early heart and mood findings, and who should be careful.