Tulikivi expands electric sauna heater sales to the US

Finnish stove maker Tulikivi is exporting electric sauna heaters to the United States, where a sauna boom is under way, Yle reports.

“The sauna boom is also happening in the United States. It offers a counterpoint to digital life,” said Tulikivi chief executive Heikki Vauhkonen.

The company has made electric sauna heaters for 15 years and already exports them to the Baltic states and Central Europe. The United States became a new market after Tulikivi’s heaters received the required safety approvals.

Heaters have become a more significant source of work than traditional stoves at the company’s factory in Heinävesi, which employs about 20 people. According to investment research firm Inderes, heaters account for around 10 per cent of Tulikivi’s revenue.

Tulikivi aims to increase heater sales as demand for fireplaces has been uncertain. Its next goal is to enter the Japanese market, where sauna use is also growing. Vauhkonen said the company may try to begin selling heaters there as early as next year.

The soapstone used in the heaters and fireplaces is quarried at Nunnanlahti in Juuka, where Tulikivi is headquartered.