Sauna Buyer's Guide
An infrared sauna is a large investment that will stay with the buyer for years to come. Therefore, finding the best sauna for the best value is an important step. We reccommend buyers carefully compare different models before making the final decision. Many customers have questions on how to compare saunas and what to look for before buying since it's hard to find any independent reviews about infrared saunas in the market.
Evolution Health has done extensive research of different Sauna manufacturers and suppliers. Our number one priority has been quality and customer service. We want to make sure that our customer is happy.
Due to the highly competitive online marketing environment, some stores resort to unethical practices to gain more sales. As a result, customers might end up with less than satisfactory shopping experiences. There are many sauna importers/wholesalers that are only concerned with making the sale and often cut corners. Many companies will suddenly appear online just to sell as many saunas as they can at what they promise is a closeout sale. These companies may offer you wholesale cost but at the expense of quality and customer support. They will try to sell a large quantity of saunas by offering you a too good to be true offer. You will often find it difficult to get support for warranty issues that arise after the sale from many of these companies. Many of these companies soon disapeear leaving you high and dry. We have seen many online sauna suppliers/wholesalers make unreasonable promises about their saunas. We've seen companies that offer lifetime warranty on their CD players and this is often from a company who is already selling below wholesale cost. A lifetime warranty on a CD player is unrealistic and amounts to a false promise. A to good to be true offer should raise a red flag and make you wonder about the integrity of the company and after sales support. We have personally dealt with many of these companies, and have discovered that the most important thing that is lacking in these companies is customer support.
You can rest assured that we will provide you with outstanding customer service and superior after sales support and we will always be upfront about what we can and cannot offer.
Please take that note that many companies try to mislead their customers by stating that they have special Fiber Carbon heaters. Most saunas have the same heater. It comes down to the size of the heating panel and qaulity of the sauna cabin itself. Your ability to solve warranty issues is an important consideration as well.
The difference between the different Infrared Saunas at EvolutionHealth
We offer a wide range of saunas to fit almost any budget.
Our Luxury infrared saunas are the top of the line and have larger fiber carbon heating panel than any of the other saunas. Also, our Luxury saunas are larger. They also have the thickest wood at 3.9 inches and glass at .3 inches thick.
Our family series deluxe saunas are just one step below our luxury line and still have 3x larger fiber carbon heating panels than most other saunas on the market. The wood is 3.1 inches thick and the glass is .2 inches thick.
Both our Luxury and Family series saunas feature floor heating panel and MP3 plug in. Both series are available in Red Cedar.
Our CarbonWave360 infrared saunas are comparable to our Family series saunas in size and surface heat area. The wood and glass is not as thick as in the family series but they do have floor heating panels and an MP3 plug in. In addition, there is an optional DVD/LCD option.
Our affordable line of saunas come in either ceramic heater or fiber carbon and in hemlock or red cedar. They are an economical option to our our luxury an deluxe line of saunas. We have tried several other models on the market in this price range and feel that these units satisfy our requirements of functionality and quality at an affordable price. We also trust the manufacturers and suppliers of these saunas and know that any warranty issues will be promptly resolved. Please note that the finishes on our affordable saunas are not intended to be the same as finishes found in our more expensive saunas, yet they certainly are finished well enough for the reasonable price.
Red Cedar or Hemlock Wood?
Red cedar is an attractive aromatic wood. More expensive than hemlock, Red Cedar is a lightweight but very strong wood. It is decay resistant and resists cracks better than other woods. If you have an allergy or sensitivity to the natural oils found in cedar wood please see our hemlock saunas.
Hemlock wood is able to maintain a higher temperature than other woods. Hemlock planks have good stability, the wood is naturallt resistant to warping and wear. No odor. 100% hypoallergenic and non-toxic.
How to Compare Infrared Saunas
The list below highlights the most important factors to compare before buying a sauna.
Capacity and Dimension
Each model is designed to either fit one, two, three or more people. The most common size is for two people since this model can easily fit anywhere in the house. Make sure to compare the dimension of the sauna rather than the capacity. As a general tip, the minimum width for a 1-person sauna is 35" inches, 42" inches for a 2-person sauna and 63" inches for a 3-person sauna.
Watch out for: Some sauna resellers will advertise a 2-person or 3-person sauna at an unbelievable low price; however, the sauna dimension is far smaller then the recommended size.
Heating Surface Area
Power wattage itself is not sufficient to evaluate a sauna's performance. For example, most 2-person infrared saunas run between 1600-1700 watts. However, a 3,000 square inches heating surface area and a 4,000 square inches heating surface area will give you a completely different heating results. The larger the heating surface, the faster it heats up with more even heat distribution. It is a big plus if the sauna has floor heating panels, which keeps your feet warm.
Type of Heaters
There are a few types of infrared heaters.
- Ceramic heaters are made out of ceramic tubes.
Pros: Low cost; small overall volume.
Cons: High surface temperature (over 300°); uneven heat distribution; hard to replace.
- Mica heaters are made out of mica rocks.
Pros: Even heat distribution; low surface temperature.
Cons: Hard surface and easily cracked; Cracks are not visible to the human eye.
- Carbon heaters are made from carbon fiber glass.
Pros: Even heat distribution; low surface temperature; flexible; used in most medical devices.
Cons: Unknown.
Detailed comparison of Fiber Carbon heaters vs Ceramic Heater
Material Selection
Almost all infrared sauna suppliers claim their saunas are made with 100% Hemlock Fir or Red Cedar. The truth is many saunas are only "covered up" by the claimed wood, while the insides are filled in with low quality wood. In addition, compare the thickness of the wall and the tempered glass because these are the key factors to insulation and heat up time.
Watch out for: Some sauna factories paint the outside of their saunas with different colors (e.g. dark brown, black) to cover up the lower wood quality. Only buy a colored sauna when it is important to match the overall decor and the wood quality is not a deciding factor.
