Looking to buy an infrared sauna? Well, there are many notable differences in infrared saunas today. Some were made in the USA, some in Canada, and most in Asia. There are several types of heaters and several types of woods. Then you can also choose from different options like colored LED lights or even a player!
As a first consideration, could you consider how much this is going to cost me and how you can get the most bang for your buck? Well, like anything else, you get what you pay for. While saunas range in price from about $1,000 to $5,000. Probably a $1,000 sauna is going to have cheap heaters, cheap controls, and be made of very cheap wood. Since a sauna can be a once in a lifetime purchase, you need to do a little homework and not just buy the cheapest sauna out there.
Otherwise, you’ll probably end up buying something else in a few years and then you won’t really have saved any money. anyway.
The first thing to consider is – Are you buying from an honest company? Are they a seller or distributor or are they a factory? If a dealer, do they sell different brands of saunas, or do they specialize in one? The dealer will trade with the factory for years to come if cost ? Is the factory local or somewhere overseas? If you need to ship a new part, what is the shipping cost? These are all questions you should ask yourself before looking at different types of saunas.
What good is a sauna if it doesn’t work and there’s no way to get it fixed? It will end up being a storage closet or worse, taking up space in your garage.
Next, we must consider what type of heater is the right heater. Everyone says they are the best, but how do you know? There are different choices: ceramic, incoloy rods, incoloy rods with aluminum and ceramic coating, and a new one, carbon heaters. To truly understand the differences between heaters, you need to understand the history of the technology and how it has progressed over the years. Several decades after the light of the 70’s, infrared heat was used by doctors and physical-therapist to treat muscle wounds. You might see one or maybe even have a handheld device with a massager and a small red lamp that is an infrared heater. These devices are used directly from this device. After a few minutes the skin overheats and the device must be removed. The heat is near wave or short infrared wave and therefore heats the skin. Shortly after this device was developed, researchers in Japan found that if you used a long or far infrared wave, this would actually penetrate the body and give a higher healing heat. Also, if they were to use it in a sauna, it would be much better to use the heat to shrink it because of its penetrating qualities. This technology came in the form of a single incoloy metal heating rod that was turned up to infrared light.
Then the first production infrared-sauna was made. These heaters were placed in various types of refrigerators and sold throughout Japan. The first American infrared saunas used the same technology. Actual saunas are made here in the USA, but the heaters themselves have gone as far as Japan and Korea since there are no US manufacturers of long infrared water heaters made strictly for sauna use. Since then these metal rod or incoloy heaters have been increased and made larger, shaping them in different shapes, such as the M-Format heater which has a larger surface. These heaters tend to be about 22-33 inches in length and from one to 4 or 5 inches in width. While this technology was original and worked well, the only way to improve it was to make it bigger. Since then one manufacturer has found a way to spread the heat more evenly by adding surface area and a higher emissivity by introducing an incoloy rod with an aluminum coating and a thin ceramic layer over the aluminum. These heaters are quite large in that they are 33 x 5 inches and can pump a really far infrared wave. There are two different types of heaters in infrared saunas. one small ceramic heater is shaped into a convex or concave shape. These heaters were introduced to the infrared sauna market in the early ’90’s. They were not original technology that was developed in Japan, but just regular infrared heaters that are designed to be used in factories to heat various things used in manufacturing. They come in standard sizes, and have factory settings for actual heater cases or holders to their specifications. They are used for shrinking machine casings, paint drying, plastic melting, and many other required heating used in factories. M
Any manufacturers of infrared saunas began to spring up at this time, in Asia and America, and even in Canada, and since they could not catch the original Japanese technology, this was the next best thing. Many companies try to pass these heaters off as “the best” and “the purest”, but that’s simply not the case with “things”. If these heaters were “real” sauna heaters, why aren’t they “sized” for humans? Ceramic heaters have one standard size and that is the standard in the manufacturing industry not the sauna industry. Then there is the coal heater. This is the latest technology used in infrared saunas today. These came out around the year 2000. This technique is not really new, but rather old technology. It was used for many years to heat waterbeds. Waterbeds are “coming out” now and heater manufacturers need to find a way to sell their product. “Alas! the new infrared sauna heater. Although charcoal heaters are not very pleasing to the eye, infrared sauna manufacturers using this technology claim that this is the way to go because these heaters are the best available. The problem is though; the real far infrared heat comes from the heat of the heater.
To sweat. Since these heaters are not intended for people or saunas, they are not really powerful enough. They are powerful enough to heat water to cold. They are also made from layers of sheet fabric, which are not very expensive to make, so saving sauna fabric is money. These are not really effective for you as a patient. Again, you get what you pay for.
Now there is a question about wood. Do you have a preference or are you really sure? The most beautiful and valuable sauna forest is Canadian Western Red Cedar. Few artists use this wood. It is quite expensive, and some manufacturers only use this wood outside the sauna and not inside to . Some will use them internally, not externally. Cedar is a really beautiful wood, and it comes with a nice aromatic quality, so it’s really great to have it outside and inside. Western Canadian red cedar has very few knots and various combinations of light and dark. One thing to look out for in the construction of your sauna is whether it is a match grain or a match match design. Is it crusty or solid? Is it tongue and groove construction? Does the wood have knots or is it plain? Another popular wood is that it is hypoallergenic. Some chemically sensitive people, or people with allergies tend to need this type of wood. The people here are the best wood. People can be of different shades, sometimes even pale in color. The people are the best in mining, which gives it a beautiful beige color. Another wood used in saunas is red wood, not for its beauty, but for its durability outside. The cheaper woods are hemlock, spruce, basswood, and pine. These woods have no significant qualities – sauna manufacturers use them to keep costs down.
The last consideration of buying a sauna, how long is the warranty? What does it cover? Usually all infrared sauna heater products will be covered for at least five years, and some will offer a lifetime warranty. Infrared heaters usually have a long life, so this is not difficult to offer factories. What I really need is the wiring warranty. Like anything else, when it comes to wiring, it’s really quite a lot of unnecessary work. Some companies offer a lifetime warranty on the wiring. Make sure you deal with reputable local companies – or your profit could be worthless.
