Took it off the pallet with help from a couple of blokes up the road, onto the pavers, which were not as level as I'd thought so there was some packing underneath with offcuts. Filled it from the laundry tap with a hose out the window, took the better part of an hour, and it was cold by morning.

Was paying by the session for the infrared room at a gym in the city and half the time the slot was booked out anyway. This lives in the shed out the back now. Dry heat off the stove is a different animal, the gym room never got anywhere near it. Should have done it two winters ago.

My partner wanted one for about a year and I kept saying it was that kind of money for a bath. What changed my mind was using it at his brother's place over a hot weekend in November. I use the warm setting more than the cold, which he finds hilarious. Still think it's a lot. No regrets though.

Posting this because I could not find a straight answer anywhere before we bought. Sparky ran a dedicated circuit from the board out to the pergola, about twelve metres, and the invoice came to $620 including the isolator at the sauna end. He was here roughly three hours. Our board had spare capacity, which I gather is the thing that decides the number. Budget for it properly and there's no drama.

Carried it down the side of the house with a mate, sat it on the pavers, filled it with the hose and plugged it into the outdoor point. Cooling by lunchtime. The app was the annoying part, it kept dropping off my mesh wifi and took a few goes before it stuck. Fine ever since. Wouldn't do the lifting alone.

The build is solid and the timber smells great once it's warm. My gripe is the wait. From cold it's the better part of an hour before the stove has it where I want it, closer to fifty five minutes in winter here, and Ballarat gets properly cold. So it isn't a spur of the moment thing, you have to plan around it. That's why the infrared gets used on weeknights. Still in there four or five times a week.

Ran a chest freezer out the back for a couple of years with a pond pump zip tied to the lid. It worked, sort of. Had to defrost it when the ice built up on the walls, the water went green if I didn't stay on top of it, and I never really trusted the wiring out there when it rained. Wife hated it. So we bit the bullet. This turned up, we wheeled it into position (get someone to help, it is genuinely heavy before there's a drop of water in it), filled it off the garden hose and that was about it. Sits cold and stays cold. No ice runs, no defrosting. What I didn't expect was how much more I actually use it now there's no faffing about first.

My husband put a deposit down before we'd properly talked about it, which went down about as well as you'd expect. I left it alone for a good while. Now I'm the one in there most nights and he's the one complaining it's occupied. Sitting in the courtyard afterwards on a cold night is my favourite part of the day.