How Should a Dealer Decide Who Supplies the Sauna Heater?

Key Takeaways

• Decide by who holds the heater's proof of purchase, who sizes it for the room, and who serves it locally.

• Harvia's warranty applies only to new products sold by Harvia or its official dealers.

• HUUM's terms have the customer report a defect through its authorised dealers unless HUUM sold the heater directly.

• Both makers want proof that a qualified electrician installed and connected the heater, and transport damage reported within 7 days.

• Per square metre of glass, Harvia's The Wall manual adds 1.2 m³ of room volume and HUUM's DROP manual 1 m³.

• If you supply the heater, the sauna factory needs the exact model before production.

At Wood Architects we assemble and check each sauna at our factory in Klaipėda before it ships. The heaters we fit are Harvia and HUUM. Dealers who hold a heater dealership of their own ask who should supply the heater. Here's how we'd weigh it.

How Should a Dealer Decide Who Supplies the Sauna Heater?

A dealer should decide who supplies the sauna heater by settling three things: who will hold the heater's proof of purchase, who sizes the heater for the room, and who serves it in the customer's country. Harvia's and HUUM's warranty terms both ask for proof of purchase and proof that a qualified electrician installed and connected the heater. Let the sauna factory supply it when you want it fitted and checked with the cabin. Supply it yourself when you already hold that maker's dealership.

The makers' rules below come from Harvia's and HUUM's own documents. Read the current edition for your model.

Who does the heater maker's warranty belong to?

Harvia's limited warranty goes to the first purchaser who bought the product new from Harvia or an authorised Harvia dealer. HUUM's limited warranty applies to new products sold by HUUM, its authorised dealers and their resellers.

Harvia requires valid proof of purchase with a claim. HUUM asks for the receipt or invoice. It has the customer notify HUUM through its authorised dealers, unless the heater was bought from HUUM directly. Harvia takes claims through its online warranty portal, or in writing to Harvia or the seller.

Whoever buys the heater holds the document a claim starts with.

Harvia's period runs from the original purchase by the first customer. HUUM's runs from the purchase by the end-user. Ask in writing which date applies to your order.

What do both warranties ask you to prove?

The two documents share six conditions. Each lands on somebody in the chain.

• Proof of purchase, sent with the claim.

• Proof that a qualified electrician installed and connected the heater.

• Visible defects claimed before installation.

• Transport damage reported within 7 days of delivery at the latest.

• The right size for the room. Damage from wrong sizing is excluded.

• Repairs with the maker's approval and original parts.

The carrier's own deadlines for transport damage are in How Long Do You Have to Claim Damage on Your Sauna Delivery?

The six conditions from the list above, found in both makers' warranty terms.

How do you know the heater suits the room?

Both manuals size a heater by room volume and correct for glass. Harvia's manual for The Wall heaters adds 1.2 m³ for each square metre of non-insulated wall, glass included. HUUM's DROP manual adds 1 m³.

The model's table then gives the range. It's 8 to 14 m³ for Harvia's 9 kW The Wall SW90 and 8 to 13 m³ for HUUM's 8.5 kW DROP 9.

HUUM's DROP manual says the warranty isn't valid if the heater's output doesn't correspond to the calculated room volume.

The DROP manual also asks for a control system, and says it isn't included with the heater.

What does the factory need to know if you fit the heater yourself?

A factory-built cabin arrives with its walls closed. What sits behind the panel is decided before the panel goes on.

Harvia's The Wall manual says to check the wall reinforcements the heater needs before panelling starts. It adds that the wall panel alone mustn't carry the heater. HUUM's DROP manual gives 65 kg for the heater with stones.

Send the exact model with the order. Ask the factory to confirm four things.

• Support inside the wall where the mounting plate goes.

• The cable point, which HUUM measures from the DROP's mounting plate.

• The sensor position. HUUM's UKU 4.2 manual puts its safety sensor directly above the heater.

• Openings for controls. The UKU 4.2 glass panel is made for a wall recess of 65 × 105 × 27 mm.

A later change of model reopens all four, as it does in What Must Be Rechecked When a Sauna Heater Is Replaced After Handover?

Does the customer's electricity supply change the choice?

It changes what you order, whoever supplies the heater. Harvia's table for The Wall SW90 gives 3 × 16 A fuses on 400 V 3N~ and 50 A on 230 V 1N~.

Have the electrician confirm the supply before anyone buys the heater.

Supplies without a neutral are in Will Your Sauna Heater Work on a Norwegian 230 V IT Grid? Zones and temperature ratings are in How Should Your Electrician Wire an Outdoor Sauna Heater?

Who serves the heater in your country?

Harvia's terms name the company behind the warranty by the customer's home region. In Europe that's Harvia Finland Oy for Finland, Northern Europe and the Baltics, and Harvia Austria GmbH for Continental Europe and the United Kingdom.

If you hold the heater maker's dealership, that route is yours. If the factory supplied the heater, ask who answers in your customer's language.

Both makers choose between repair, replacement and refund. Agree who pays for the hours on site before the first claim.

Who starts the heater for the first time, and who signs?

The electrician connects it and gives the proof. Harvia's terms want the heater installed and connected to the network by an authorised, qualified electrician. HUUM's say a licensed, professional electrician. HUUM's UKU 4.2 manual lets only a licensed electrician run its tests, after checking that the heater is installed to the manufacturer's instructions.

With a factory-fitted heater, that electrician is confirming someone else's mounting. Neither maker's terms say whether that meets the installation condition, so ask the heater maker in writing. Ask the factory for a record of what it fitted. The full pack is in What Information Should a Sauna Manufacturer Give an Electrician?

Harvia's The Wall manual warns that the overheat protector can go off below −15 °C in storage or transport. It must be reset before use.

Which documents must reach the end customer?

The manual, in a language the customer reads. In the EU, Article 9(2) of the Low Voltage Directive 2014/35/EU gives distributors a check to make. They verify that electrical equipment comes with instructions and safety information in a language end-users in that Member State easily understand. Ask your market surveillance authority which language counts.

Check the language list on the manual's cover. The Wall manual we read gives its instructions in ten languages and the DROP manual in twelve, and neither list has Dutch or Norwegian.

Harvia adds a third year for a family-use electric heater registered on its website within thirty days of purchase. Decide who registers it.

When does each route make sense?

Neither route is right every time. The split below is our judgement, not a rule from either heater maker.

The factory route suits a dealer with no heater dealership who wants the heater fitted and checked with the cabin. The dealer route suits one who already sells that maker's heaters and services them locally.

Four rows of the table above. The split is our judgement, not a maker's rule.

What should go on the order?

Whichever route you choose, write it down.

• Heater and control unit: [maker, exact model]. Supplied by: [factory / dealer].

• Heater's proof of purchase held by: [name]. Claim route: [dealer, country].

• Room volume: [m³]. Glass: [m²]. Checked against: [manual table].

• Supply: [400 V 3N~ / 230 V 3~ / 230 V 1N~], confirmed by [electrician].

• Use: [private / commercial]. Manual language: [language]. Stones from: [name].

• Connection and tests: [electrician]. Fitting record from: [name].

You don't need all six at once. Find the line on proof of purchase in the heater maker's terms, and write on the next order whose invoice that will be. A heater claim starts with that sheet.

Frequently asked questions

Is the heater warranty valid if the sauna factory bought the heater?

That depends on where the factory bought it. Harvia's terms apply only to new products sold by Harvia or its official dealers. HUUM's cover new products sold by HUUM, its authorised dealers and their resellers. Ask the factory for the proof of purchase.

Can a dealer fit a different heater brand in a factory-built sauna?

Only when the room and the wall suit that exact model. That heater's manual should give the room volume and the safety distances. Send the exact model and its manual to the factory before production, so wall support goes in first.

Does a rental or hotel sauna get the same heater warranty?

No. HUUM's terms give electrical heaters three years in private use and one year in commercial use, and list their heating elements among the exclusions. Harvia's give two years in family use, plus one for a registered electric heater. In commercial use Harvia gives two years, with heating elements at six months.

How long do you have to report a damaged heater?

Seven days at most under both makers' terms. Harvia's want transport or storage damage reported to the seller or carrier immediately, and within seven days of delivery. HUUM's give seven days, or the authorised dealer's reporting time if shorter. Harvia's terms exclude damage caused by transport. HUUM's do when someone other than HUUM carried the heater.

Who should supply the sauna stones?

Whoever supplies the heater should name the stones, because both makers tie them to the warranty. Harvia's terms exclude damage from stones Harvia hasn't recommended or approved. HUUM's DROP manual excludes defects from unsuitable stones and asks for about 55 kg.