According to one embodiment, a sanitary washing apparatus includes: a nozzle including a jetting port and configured to squirt water from the jetting port to wash a user's body; a flow channel configured to guide water supplied from a water supply source to the jetting port; an electrolytic cell provided midway along the flow channel and being operable to produce sterilizing water; a heating device provided on the flow channel on upstream side of the electrolytic cell; a nozzle cleaning device configured to clean or sterilize the nozzle with the water heated by the heating device or the sterilizing water produced by the electrolytic cell; and a controller configured to perform control for stopping energization of the heating device or reducing an amount of energization of the heating device when energizing the electrolytic cell.