| The prevalence of saunas in Finland is mainly because it has been a part of the Finnish way of life for thousands of years, not an exotic luxury in the way it might be perceived in some other countries. Municipal facilities (swimming halls with saunas etc) are charged, probably about 4 euros per visit, with discounts for students and elderly. The saunas people have in their homes these days are typically electric. Electricity prices are roughly the same, perhaps a bit less than UK - an hour of sauna with 4kw stove would probably cost around 0.5 euros in electricity. Some apartment blocks have shared saunas you can book for free, some have small saunas in each apartment. In detached houses you typically get a bit larger saunas. In general access to saunas is widely available for everyone regardless of socioeconomic status, and there is less economic inequality in general compared to the UK. Heating is a separate topic but I'll reply briefly - majority of housing in Finland is heated with district heating, rather than individual gas boilers in each house, like in the UK. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_heating#Finland As a result, heating tends to be cheaper for consumers compared to the UK. Also, Finnish housing tends to be much better insulated than housing in the UK (because of colder winters). Outside cities, where population is sparse, people heat their houses with electricity/wood/oil/geothermal - with many new builds now opting for geothermal. |
See http://energia.fi/files/799/Lu_Kostama_Mikkeli.pdf slide 10.
And saunas are heated with electricity in towns, although a few old public facilities still run on wood stoves, as well as private saunas of those who like the "pure" feeling (such as myself).