Although both types of sauna have electrical heating elements, that’s where the similarity ends. In the traditional heater, these elements are hidden inside the cabinet, where they heat the air as well as a mass of special stones. This allows for a nice consistent heat and the Finnish custom of “loyly”, which is the sprinkling of water on the stones and which can change the environment in the sauna dramatically.

The “infrared” heaters have exposed heating elements, so that the heat radiates directly onto the bather in sort of a one sided fashion. Most important, these “infrared” heaters have a much lower capacity, so the complaint we hear most often about them is that they fail to attain the heat typical for a genuine sauna, especially on the part of the bather’s body that’s turned away from the heater.

Obviously, you also sacrifice the ability to sprinkle water on the heater, and we’re not even certain that it’s actually healthy to expose one’s self to such direct radiation, or how enjoyable such an experience would be, compared to the traditional sauna.

We can, however, tell you that the traditional Scandinavian style saunas are centuries old (they used to heat them with wood, before the advent of electricity), and their safety and therapeutic efficacy is well established.

The Chinese are spreading some pretty wild claims about their infrared saunas, and they’re also spreading falsehoods about the traditional Scandinavian style saunas.

The U.S. market is flooded with these cheap saunas from the PRC, and one fellow sauna vendor confided to me that he had received a shipment of these Chinese infrared saunas, and that they were all underwired - the gauge of wire was too small to carry the load - making them a real fire risk.

As with tainted toothpaste, poisonous pet food and lead painted children’s toys, some of these saunas are downright hazardous! But you don’t have to take my word for it. How about the Electrical Safety Authority in Ontario, Canada? See…

http://www.ofm.gov.on.ca/english/Fire%20Safety%20&%20Public%20Education/Recalls/2006/Saunas.asp

Canadian Government Recalls Chinese Saunas

Our biggest issue is with the false claims being made for these saunas. They give all sauna vendors a bad name. Several vendors we’ve seen make wild weight loss claims - 600 to 800 calories burned from sitting in one! One site we saw claimed that 30 minutes in their sauna burns nearly as many calories as running a marathon!

Come on. Use your common sense!

Unfortunately, weight loss claims for any type of sauna are just hype (sorry folks!). Your body just loses water, and it’s dangerous to lose weight through dehydration (are you listening wrestlers and jockeys?). See what a real doctor has to say about it at…

http://www.weight-loss-professional.com/infrared-radiant-heat.html

…the list of misrepresentations goes on and on.

Take whatever you read with a grain of salt, and use your common sense when evaluating claims. Always check the country of origin when comparing sauna offers.

http://www.almostheaven.net/aho/heavsaun.htm
Almost Heaven Group