Ember Complete — Portable Gas Sauna Tent with Cedar Bench

Steam & Oak is the first UK retail partner for FinSteam. A genuine Finnish sauna, sauna-ready in under 20 minutes — no fire, no smoke, no ash, no chimney. The Ember Complete adds a folding cedar bench so you sit up in the full 90–100°C heat, exactly as a sauna is meant to be enjoyed.

Save vs buying the tent, heater, bench and stones separately.

Why gas

• Sauna-ready in under 20 minutes — light it, leave it, step in.
• No smoke, ash or chimney sweeping.
• Even, controllable heat and about ~£2-£3 a session to run.
• No electrician — runs on a standard propane bottle.
• Built-in safety — oxygen-depletion cut-off, flame supervision, piezo ignition; bottle stays outside.

Honest trade-off: LPG fuel, occasional bottle swaps, mandatory ventilation (built in). All of the sauna, none of the faff.

The bench

A folding Western Red Cedar bench — naturally moisture-resistant, low heat conductivity so it won't scald, with the classic cedar aroma. Folds flat for storage and transport. Want a spare or replacement? The cedar bench is also sold separately.

What's included

• Fritid X sauna tent (black, two doors, connectable)
• Botnia 81 gas heater (8.1 kW)
• Orbis stone cage (holds the sauna stones)
• Folding Western Red Cedar bench (~120 cm)
• 40 kg sauna stones
• UK propane regulator + 1.2 m hose
• Install & safety guide
• 12-month warranty
• Free UK delivery

How the gas heat works — sauna-ready in under 20 minutes

Electric and wood heaters warm the room indirectly: they heat a big mass of stones first, which slowly warms the air — 30 to 45 minutes of waiting or fire-tending. A FinSteam gas heater is flueless and heats directly: it burns gas cleanly and puts the hot air and water vapour straight into the cabin, while the stones still heat for löyly. Nothing is stored first, nothing is lost up a chimney — so it's sauna-ready in under 20 minutes, on a dial. It also carries a soft, natural humidity from the moment it lights.

Full explainer: how a gas sauna heater works. Weighing up fuels? Wood-fired vs gas vs electric.

Heat-up time is typical tent set-up (manufacturer guidance); varies with sauna size, insulation and ventilation.

The science behind it — FinSteam's engineering framework

Direct Thermal Flow™. Heat from combustion reaches the sauna air, the stones and the structure simultaneously, from the first minute — instead of being stored in a stone mass first and released slowly. Same physics as any sauna; a fundamentally different engineering configuration.

Humidity Balance™. Clean LPG combustion continuously releases gentle water vapour into the cabin, so the sauna starts with a pleasant base humidity instead of the harsh dry heat before the first ladle. Löyly works exactly as normal — this sits underneath it, it doesn't replace it.

Sauna Climate Engineering™. Heat, moisture, thermal storage, airflow and ventilation managed as one coordinated system — not one number on a dial.

Why the kW number misleads

An independent, FINAS-accredited energy laboratory (Kymenlaakso University of Applied Sciences, Finland) tested seven wood-fired sauna heaters rated ~20 kW: measured heat output was just 57–72% of the nameplate figure, with 28–43% of the heat going straight up the chimney. A FinSteam heater is flueless — there is no chimney to lose heat up, so virtually all combustion heat, including the latent heat carried in the water vapour, stays inside the sauna. That's why an 8.1 kW FinSteam outperforms its label — you can't compare nameplate kW across heater types.

An 11 kg cylinder runs ≈ 18 hours at continuous full power — and real sessions use less, because full power is mainly for heat-up.

Lab study source: TM Rakennusmaailma / Kymenlaakso UAS study of wood-fired heaters; FinSteam was not part of that test. FinSteam's trademarked engineering framework · EU Type Examination Certificate A01/002220 (AENOR) · EN 449 · Independently tested by Applus+ Laboratories.

No electrician. No chimney. Off-grid.

It runs on a standard propane bottle, so there's no electrician, no dedicated circuit and no Part P sign-off — the £800–£1,500 line item that catches out electric-sauna buyers. No chimney means no smoke and no problem in a smoke-control area. Propane keeps working through a British winter, so it's a genuine year-round, go-anywhere sauna. Running cost is about £2-£3 a session - nearer £3 on a portable 6 kg gas bottle, or £2-£2.50 on an economy 13 kg bottle. That's roughly level with an electric sauna: you choose gas for what it removes - the electrician, the wiring and the wait - not to cut your energy bill.

The safety engineering

Gas in an enclosed space deserves serious engineering. Every FinSteam heater has an Oxygen Depletion Sensor (ODS) that shuts the gas off automatically if oxygen drops too low, flame supervision that cuts the gas the instant the flame is lost, and push-button piezo ignition. The cylinder always stays outside — only the hose enters — and correct ventilation is part of every install. EU type-examination certified under the Gas Appliance Regulation (2016/426).

Heater specification

• Power 8.1 kW; gas use ~0.59 kg/h; heat-up under 20 minutes (typical)
• Standard propane bottle, UK 37 mbar regulator included
• Oxygen-depletion cut-off, flame supervision, piezo ignition
• Clearances 200 mm sides / 1000 mm ceiling
• EU type-examined (A01/002220, AENOR nº 0099), CE marked

Compare the range

Gas value range: Ember Base · Ember Complete. Premium (Aurora heater, 60-min timer): NOIR L · NOIR XL · NOIR XXL. Commercial: NOIR Dome. Prefer the fire ritual? See our wood-fired saunas.

Fit & safety

Outdoor use only, on firm level ground. Keep ventilation openings clear while the heater runs. Keep the bench clear of the heater's 200 mm clearance. Full guide included.