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Are you thinking of buying a ready-made cabin but aren't sure whether it should be suitable for year-round use? Would you like to know what a year-round cabin means in terms of its structure?
In brief: A year-round-ready prefabricated cabin is a building delivered ready to use, in which it is pleasant and safe to spend time in winter too. The contents of a cabin package can vary considerably depending on the manufacturer, so the buyer should stay alert. For occasional winter use, an actual winter package may not even be needed.
In this article:
- We bust the most common myths and misconceptions about year-round ready-made cabins.
- You take a quick test to find out whether or not you need a winter package.
- You will find examples of how year-round suitability affects the price of a cabin.
- You'll find a clear list of what the winter-ready package includes when you buy from Ehta
What does a year-round ready-made cabin mean?
A cabin suitable for year-round use means that the building's structures, insulation, windows, doors, heating and other technical solutions have been designed for cold conditions too. ‘Suitable for year-round use’ is not a standardised term, so every manufacturer has to state what it means for them.
A ready-made cabin suitable for year-round use usually refers to a cabin bought as a turnkey package, or even delivered fully built onto its foundations. Ehta ready-made cabins are made at our Perho factory in Central Ostrobothnia and delivered ready to use all over Finland.
Winter use should be taken into account right from the design stage. A summer cabin that has been fitted with heating afterwards is a poor solution in terms of energy efficiency and comfort.
The most important structural solutions for a cabin suitable for winter use:
- adequate insulation of the roof/ceiling structure and floor structure
- a log structure / wall structure suited to the intended use
- well-insulated windows and doors
- a well-functioning heating system
- appropriate ventilation
- water and drainage solutions designed for winter conditions (if the building has a water supply and drain)
Myth 1 – “Suitable for year-round use” means the same for every manufacturer
The building regulations contain no energy-efficiency provisions or certificate requirements for a holiday building of less than 50 m² (Finlex 50/2013). So a year-round ready-made cabin rarely means exactly the same thing from one manufacturer to another. The challenge for the buyer is that two cabin quotes that look alike on the surface can include very different levels of equipment.
In practice: If you don’t study the quotes carefully or fully understand what they include, you may end up paying for nothing – or, on the other hand, chasing a low price and choosing a package that is expensive to run or doesn’t even meet your needs.
At Ehta, we believe that the term “winter-ready” does not describe the quality of the cottage, but rather refers to a package that has been designed – drawing on our experience of 1 600 prefabricated cottages – to be particularly well suited to winter use.
Someone using a year-round cabin keeps a background heat on at the cabin all year round and uses it actively in winter too.
Myth 2 – A thicker log is always better
The thicker the log, the better insulated the cabin. However, good-quality insulation of the roof/ceiling and floor structures improves the cabin’s insulation even more than the log itself. Window and door solutions also play a part.
A very commonly used floor-structure insulation is, for example, XPS board sold under the brand name Finnfoam i.e. polystyrene insulation. Even better thermal insulation is provided by the newer, eco-friendly PIR board, which Ehta also uses in all its ready-made cabins (in year-round cabins, the board is 50% thicker).
In the roof/ceiling structure, various types of blown-in wool are commonly used. Ehta uses mineral wool insulation in the roof/ceiling structure as standard, but winter packages also include a PIR board.
When choosing log thickness and insulation, the most important thing is to know how the cabin will be used and choose the best solution for your own needs:
- If the cabin is kept warm all winter, a thicker log (e.g. 134 mm laminated log) and extra insulation pay off for the simple reason that the annual savings in heating energy are significant.
- If the cabin is heated only when needed, the benefit of a thicker log is small. And on shorter visits, massive walls don't even have time to warm up properly before it's time to leave.
Logs also differ. Laminated log insulates particularly well, as it hardly cracks or warps at all. That is why, for example, 134 mm laminated log is better suited to winter use than a corresponding solid or planed log.
Myth 3 – Year-round suitability adds major costs to a cabin project
Year-round suitability does add to the cost, but it is usually only around 10-15% of the cabin’s total price (depending on the cabin’s other optional extras). If the cabin is used actively all year round, the money spent on insulation and logs will pay for itself over the years in lower heating costs.
In addition, certain extras (e.g. underfloor heating) require background heating to be kept on, which makes good insulation even more important.
When comparing ready-made cabin prices, the key question is not “how much does year-round suitability cost?”, but “what is included in the price and what will I have to get separately?” That way, the prices of different suppliers become comparable.
So make sure you check at least:
- what the package and service as a whole include and what they don't
- how thick the log is
- what kind of insulation goes into the roof/ceiling and floor structures.
At Ehta, all buildings are made of laminated log, which is optimal in terms of heat retention, and the roof/ceiling and floor structures are well insulated. That is why Ehta's basic package is well suited to active use in 3 seasons as well as occasional winter use.
If you use your cabin a lot in winter, we recommend the winter package, in which the roof/ceiling and floor insulation is reinforced and the log is also thicker, 134 mm laminated log.
How year-round suitability affects the price – examples of Ehta buildings from 2026
Winter-equipped | Basic package | How winter equipment affects the price | |
Cabin 30 | 37 191 € | 31 200 € | 5 991 € |
Sauna Cabin 20 | 32 446 € | 27 800 € | 4 646 € |
Did you know that even the time of purchase can sometimes affect the total price of a building? At Ehta, you get a 5% discount when you order a ready-made cabin as a winter delivery. 🤩
Myth 4 – You can order a year-round cabin at any time
True. Fully ready-to-use year-round cabins can be delivered onto their foundations all year round.
In our experience, the spring and summer delivery calendar always fills up very quickly. So buyers who plan ahead are more likely to get the delivery time they want.
Winter delivery , on the other hand, is an excellent choice for anyone who wants to save on their cabin purchase.
If the cabin is delivered in winter or early spring (winter delivery), it is a good idea to have the foundations ready the previous autumn. Building the foundations before the ground freezes avoids the problems and extra costs caused by ground frost.
Myth 5 – A year-round cabin needs different foundations
Not true. The choice of foundation depends only on:
- the soil beneath the cabin
- the cabin’s location (local snow load and frost depth)
- your own preferences.
By far the most common, reliable and popular method is a pier foundation, which works very well for a year-round cabin.
Also a ground screw foundation is also growing in popularity and is particularly suitable for ground that does not contain large stones.
Would you like to know more about foundation options for ready-made cabins and how foundations are built?
Myth 6 – A year-round cabin needs a building permit
Year-round suitability, insulation thickness or even fireplaces do not determine whether a building requires a permit or not.
The need for a building permit depends only on:
- the size of the cabin,
- its intended use,
- its location.
A year-round cabin does not need a building permit if it is under 30 square metres in size and is not intended for permanent residential use.
Intended use , on the other hand, is an amusing detail of the building legislation that has also attracted a lot of attention on social media With Ehta's building permit video series. A building is considered to be intended for residential use, if it has a fixed cooking point (hob/oven).
Location usually affects building permit matters through shoreline building regulations and municipal rules, which are sometimes very strict. So it is always a good idea to check building permit matters with your local municipality's building control.
A year-round ready-made cabin or not? Which group do you belong to – a two-minute check
Don't pay for winter features you don't need! Take a look at the following usage profiles – do you recognise yours? You'll get a recommendation for the package that suits you best, plus examples of the price level.
Usage profile | Recommendation | Price |
You spend time at the cabin often, or for long periods, in winter too. You want background heat at the cabin all year round. You want easy comfort at the cabin. | Winter package with 134 mm laminated log and extra insulation in the roof/ceiling and floor structures + convection fireplace | Cabin 30*: from €37,191 Sauna Cabin 20*: from €32,446 + convection fireplace: €3,400 |
The cabin is mainly used in the other seasons, but occasionally in winter too. Winter visits are usually short. | Basic package with 90 mm laminated log and, as an extra, additional insulation in the roof/ceiling and floor structures + convection fireplace | Cabin 30*: from €32,493 Sauna Cabin 20*: from €28,586 + convection fireplace: €3,400 |
The cabin is used mainly in summer, or to some extent in autumn and spring too. There is no winter use. | Basic package (+ convection fireplace) | Cabin 30*: from €31,200 Sauna Cabin 20*: from €27,800 + convection fireplace: €3,400 |
*The example cabins are named according to their square footage, so Cabin 30 means a cabin with an area of 30 square metres.
Note! The price examples are starting prices, as ready-made cabins can be ordered with very different optional extras. All our models can be customised. You'll find examples of customisation options, extras and their prices in, for example, the following article:
Ehta winter-habitable prefabricated cottage
An Ehta winter-habitable ready-made cabin is an interior-ready structure, designed with the experience of over 1 600 log buildings to be particularly well suited for winter use.
The Ehta winter-insulated cabin package is designed for you who:
- use your cabin regularly in winter too
- want extra comfort at the cabin in winter too (e.g. washing facilities with a shower).
The Ehta choice for a winter-habitable cabin
Log | Non-settling, non-warping 134 mm laminated log 90 mm laminated log in Ehta's basic package |
Floor structure | Eco-friendly polyurethane insulation (FF-PIR) 150 mm, which insulates at least as well as 225 mm thick Finnfoam insulation. FF-PIR 100 mm in Ehta's basic package |
Roof/ceiling structure | 100 mm mineral wool + 50 mm FF-PIR as standard 100 mm mineral wool in Ehta's basic package |
For occasional winter use we usually recommend a lighter log, for example. We never sell the winter package automatically; instead, we offer options and recommend the solution that best meets the customer's needs.
