Near-infrared saunas
Have you ever thought about having your very own sauna at home? Do you crave that lovely feeling of being in a sauna, but don’t want to drive all the way out to the health club? If this is you, then a near-infrared sauna could be the perfect product for you!
Not only is a near-infrared sauna a great place to relax, but it also offers a range of health benefits. In this article, we’ll take you through these fantastic benefits and showcase some of the best saunas available on the market today.
Best Near Infrared Saunas
There are loads of great saunas around these days, but the ones below are our absolute favorites. They’re all made by some of the most reputable brands in the sauna industry and are all built to a very high standard.
1) Maxxus Saunas Seattle
The Seattle model from Maxxus Saunas is our first recommendation. This product has 6 heating elements built into the sides which provide an impressive level of heat when they’re cranked up. The Seattle is designed to big enough for 2 people to relax inside.
This option also comes with a couple of cool extra features, such as interior speakers to play your favorite music. This makes the space even more relaxing and will encourage you to get loads of use out of it.
2) DYNAMIC SAUNAS Barcelona
DYNAMIC SAUNAS have been making fantastic heat therapy items for years. The Barcelona is no different, built to an incredibly high standard using sustainably farmed Canadian Hemlock wood.
With the Barcelona, DYNAMIC SAUNAS have focussed heavily on keeping EMF to an absolute minimum. This ensures that this product is safe for use for long periods of time and you’ll only ever be getting positive benefits from using it.
Amazingly, this product comes with a built-in DVD player! This means you can kick back with your favorite films whilst relaxing in your sauna.
3) RELAX Infrared
Our next option is this product from RELAX, which is one of the most unique saunas we’ve seen. It’s not built out of wood and you use it by actually climbing inside and zipping the material around yourself.
This may sound odd, but it is definitely a valid alternative to a traditional wooden product. It is also much cheaper than a full-size sauna, so could be the perfect choice if you’re working on a tighter budget.
4) Maxxus Canadian
Here we have another Maxxus product, this time their Canadian model. The product is named after the high-quality Canadian Hemlock wood that is used in its construction. Getting a well-built sauna is the best way to guarantee a fantastic therapy experience.
This Maxxus product is one of the largest saunas on the list, hoarding an impressive 9 heating panels that put out powerful infrared wavelengths. Despite this heat output, EMF is kept very low.
5) DYNAMIC SAUNAS Lugano
The Lugano model is very similar to the Barcelona that we looked at earlier in this list, but the Lugano has room for an extra third person. This is an excellent choice if you’re looking for a sauna for the whole family.
The Lugano has some interesting extra features such as LED lighting and interior speakers. They all work together to produce an extremely calming and relaxing space.
6) JNH Lifestyles Joyous
Another great choice is the Joyous from JNH Lifestyles. This option is built out of some of the highest quality Hemlock wood that we have seen. JNH ensure that their wood is never treated or stained so that no harmful chemicals can be released when the sauna’s in use.
The impressive output of over 1500 watts is more than enough to reach those beneficial temperatures.
7) Radiant Saunas Infrared
Our penultimate offering is this product by Radiant Saunas. Radiant has a reputation of being one of the friendliest names in the business, whilst also constructing some top quality saunas.
This particular model is packed with cool features such as chromotherapy lighting, built-in speakers, and an oxygen ionizer, to really help you get the most out of every single session.
8) Dynamic Alicante
Last but not least is the Alicante model from DYNAMIC SAUNAS. The interior of this product is tall and spacious which makes it one of the best options on this list if you want to fully stretch out and relax.
Regular sauna use with the Alicante is bound to bring you some fantastic benefits including immune defense boosts, heart rate improvements, and anti-aging effects.
Near-Infrared Buying Guide
When you first start looking into the world of personal infrared saunas, it can all seem a little overwhelming. Luckily for you, we’ve put together this simple buyer’s guide that should make everything a little clearer.
In it, we explain some of the terms sauna manufacturers love to use in their marketing and what they actually mean. We also go through all of the things you should be looking out for when you are choosing the perfect near-infrared product for you.
What is near-infrared?
Near-infrared is exactly what its name suggests. It is a type of light that is similar to infrared but is slightly closer to visible light when it comes to wavelength. Near-infrared has a variety of uses, particularly in the medical arena, and it is the perfect choice to power a personal sauna.
This is the case for a couple of reasons. Firstly, near-infrared can penetrate the skin very easily, allowing the sauna to effectively transfer heat to someone who is sat inside. This means the sauna uses less power than saunas powered by other means and is cheaper to run.
Additionally, a sauna that uses near-infrared can offer a range of unique health benefits to the user. This includes lowering blood pressure, encouraging collagen production, and aiding muscle recovery. There are loads more benefits, which we’ll discuss later on it this buying guide.
What makes a great near infrared sauna?
There are a few things to look out for when deciding on which near-infrared sauna to go for. Finding the perfect one for you doesn’t have to be difficult and hopefully, after reading this buyer’s guide, you’ll be in a great place to go out and buy.
Heat Output
The first thing to consider is the heat output. Although most of the near-infrared saunas we showed you on this list have similar outputs, this is not always the case. Whenever you’re looking at a sauna, you need to make sure that it has the power required to get hot enough to provide great health effects.
The most effective temperature for a near-infrared light therapy session is between 120F and 130F. The first thing to check before anything else is that the sauna is powerful enough to get up to these temperatures.
Lots of infrared saunas will be able to get to around 140F or even 150F, but it is rare that users would crank the temperature up this high for a regular session.
EMF Levels
The next thing to check is the EMF output of the sauna. EMF stands for electromagnetic fields. Everyone encounters EMFs constantly throughout their daily lives but it is best to try and limit your exposure to them as much as possible.
Long exposures to powerful electromagnetic fields have been linked to some cancers and diseases. This is why you want to ensure any sauna you buy is actively working to minimize the amount of EMFs that it is outputting.
The best saunas will keep these electromagnetic fields to an absolute minimum and are completely safe to use.
Wood Type
The wood type used in the construction of the sauna is also something to look out for. Different wood types have different levels of heat retention and susceptibility to expansion or bending. The best woods for saunas will keep warmth inside the sauna and resist bending in humid environments.
One of the most popular sauna woods is Canadian Hemlock. This wood is extremely resistant to moisture and also manages to prevent heat from leaking out of the sauna. Although Canadian Hemlock absorbs heat well, it doesn’t get too hot to the point where you can’t even sit on it.
The best part about Canadian Hemlock is that it is a very sustainable wood, and is generally farmed very responsibly around the world. This drastically reduces the impact on the environment and makes a near-infrared sauna built from it an even more attractive proposition.
Build Quality
When you buy any product, you always try and work out how good the build quality of it is. Just because a sauna is a relatively expensive purchase, you should definitely still take the time to read customer reviews and get a grasp of how well built the product is.
We recommend checking out customer reviews first as this is the most reliable way to get a true picture of how a product performs. Customers are often more honest about their experiences than the manufacturers themselves.
Having said that, all of the saunas that we featured in our list earlier in this article are all built to a very high standard and are unlikely to ever let you down.
Bonus features
The final things to consider when choosing your personal near infrared sauna are those extra features that can really take your sauna experience to the next level. Some manufacturers have come up with some truly innovative features that any owner would absolutely love.
These include things like built-in Bluetooth speakers, LED lights, or even a TV screen! We strongly believe that heat therapy is most effective when the user is as relaxed as possible and we welcome any feature that is going to help with this.
If you want to see more cool features built into saunas then be sure to check out our list of the best near-infrared products above. Lots of them have interesting features that we absolutely love, and we know you will too.
Sauna therapy health benefits
Infrared heat can offer some unique positive health effects. The increase in body temperature inside an infrared sauna has a range of knock-on effects that help with blood circulation, injury recovery, and detoxification of heavy metals.
In this section, we’ll take you through some of the biggest benefits of regular infrared light therapy and let you know what it can do for your health. Many of the advantages
Lower blood pressure
The first impact of using a near or FAR infrared sauna is that it can lead to lower blood pressure. Studies have shown that both systolic and diastolic blood pressure were reduced in those who regularly underwent heat sessions.
Low blood pressure is associated with a healthy heart and reduces the chances of strokes, heart attacks, and kidney disease. To get some of these fantastic benefits, all you have to do is hop into a relaxing sauna when you’ve got the time – sounds perfect, right?
Boost the body’s defenses
It has also been widely reported that using an infrared sauna can also boost the immune system. Since your body temperature is raised, your defense system is put to work, without the risk of any actual infection. This trains your body’s defenses to be stronger in the future.
Having a strong immune defense increases the resistance against colds and flu. It also helps combat exhaustion and can increase athletic performance. This is one of the reasons why top athletes make use of saunas as part of their post-exercise recovery processes.
Encourages weight loss
A near or FAR infrared sauna can encourage the loss of weight. This is again down to the sauna’s ability to raise the core temperature of the user, burning calories and gently working their cardiovascular system.
Obviously, you won’t be able to lose much weight just from a sauna session, but when you combine it with regular exercise, you’ll really start to see some gains. An infrared light session after exercise is the perfect way to compound the progress you’ve made and burn some extra calories.
The sweat produced inside the hot room also releases toxins and flushes out the user’s systems. This process of detoxification is probably one of the main reasons people decide to buy an infrared product.
Better blood circulation
When the temperature of the body increases, this causes the blood vessels to dilate. This means that blood can move around the body more efficiently towards the muscles.
This is why many athletes use these products during their recovery sessions. Increasing blood flow to the muscles is one of the best ways to stimulate their repair and growth.
This process can also train the body to circulate blood more freely in the long term. This can have a big impact on general health and wellbeing.
Pain relief and wound healing
Various studies have shown that saunas can help with pain relief. Whether you’ve picked up an injury during exercise or have recurring pain, a regular therapy session could be exactly what you need to start to alleviate it.
These sessions can also provide relief for problems with the joints. The heat increase can take the pressure off the joints and increase flexibility. This can vastly improve a person’s quality of life and is yet another reason why we promote near-infrared light saunas so enthusiastically.
FAQs
Over the years, we’ve been asked thousands of questions about saunas. We’ve answered a couple of the most common ones below to hopefully help you out.
If you’ve still got more questions, be sure to have a look at our buying guide further up in this article – it tells you everything you need to know about choosing the perfect product.
What’s the difference between Near and FAR infrared saunas?
These two types are actually very similar. The only difference is that they use slightly different light waves to generate their heat. A FAR product only uses FAR infrared light to produce heat, whereas a near-infrared sauna uses light that is closer to visible light.
The truth is that these slight differences don’t really matter. In reality, both of these types will offer very similar benefits.
If you have the chance to try out both types before you buy, then definitely do that. You might find you prefer the feeling of one product over the other.
Is a near-infrared sauna therapy safe?
Many people ask us whether or not FAR infrared and near-infrared products are safe for regular use. Our answer is always the same – if you buy a well-built product with all the correct safety measures, then they are absolutely safe.
The most important thing to look out for whether you’re buying a FAR infrared or a near-infrared product is that the manufacturer has taken active steps to reduce the EMF (electromagnetic field) output. Most manufacturers do try to ensure this is the case and manage to keep the EMF levels to an absolute minimum.
