Infrared vs Traditional Sauna – Which Is Actually Better?
This is the definitive guide to help you decide between infrared sauna vs traditional saunas.
Traditional saunas have been the only real option on the market for buyers looking to take advantage of the health benefits at home. But installation has always been a major hurdle that has caused many people to baulk.
But with the rise of the more convenient, infrared saunas, perhaps there is finally an easy option for regular homes. But how do these two sauna options really stack up? Let’s dive in.
Infrared Sauna vs Traditional Sauna: Key Takeaways
How Do Infrared Saunas Differ From Traditional Saunas?
While the two types of saunas aim to do the same thing, there are key differences between how they work.
Traditional Saunas
Heating Method: Traditional saunas will heat the ambient air within it. This can be done through a number of methods including wood fires, hot stones or stoves.
Experience: The room itself is incredibly hot, reaching temperatures as high as 90°C. This overbearing heat will cause you to sweat. It can be an incredibly therapeutic experience for some, though it can also be uncomfortably hot for others.
How It Affects Your Body: The heat from the air warms your body from the outside in, raising your skin temperature and eventually causing your core temperature to rise as well. This leads to increased sweating and can help with relaxation, detoxification through sweating, and muscle relaxation.
Infrared Saunas
Heating Method: Infrared saunas use infrared heaters to emit infrared light, which is absorbed by the body’s tissues and experienced as radiant heat.
Experience: The temperature inside an infrared sauna is lower compared to traditional saunas, usually around. Despite the lower air temperature, you’ll still sweat a lot because the infrared heat is directly warming your body.
How It Affects Your Body: The infrared heat penetrates your skin and heats your body from the inside out. This can lead to deep tissue warming, and activating heat stress proteins which offers unique health benefits such as improved circulation, and more efficient release of toxins through sweat.
Why Choose An Infrared Sauna?
Infrared saunas are a great option if you are working with smaller spaces and budgets. You don’t need them to be custom built for tens of thousands of pounds, in fact SunStream Saunas are extremely simple to put together and incredibly cheap to run.
These saunas also operate at a much lower temperature, making them super comfortable to spend time in, which is an area many older customers have had issues with in traditional saunas.
One area that traditional saunas have typically been better in is the breadth of research around them. They are a better known quantity at this point as infrared saunas are much newer.
However, the scientific landscape has changed as more and more literature showing the benefits of infrared saunas is produced, including the activation of heat shock proteins.
Why Choose A Traditional Sauna?
A traditional sauna is going to give you the traditional experience that you’ve probably come to expect. A very hot environment that will get you sweating and deliver a number of health benefits such as detoxification and improved heart health.
These saunas are typically quite large which also means it works really well if you want to share it with guests.
The problem many people have with traditional saunas is the reality that they aren’t the most convenient. They are typically very expensive, large and require expert labour to put together. They also require a lot of power to run.
The experience can also be quite tough if you aren’t used to a sauna. These traditional saunas get very hot and we’ve had several customers tell us that this discomfort is a major reason why they end up switching to an infrared sauna.
Final Thoughts
Both infrared and traditional saunas are wonderful products with a ton of health benefits attributed to them. And while a traditional sauna is a fantastic option for those used to them and can accommodate them, for the average person, an infrared sauna is a much better option. It’s cheaper, simpler to run and much more comfortable to be in.
If you ask the average person (and we have), in the battle of infrared sauna vs traditional, infrared is the clear winner; get in touch with us today to pick the perfect fit for your home!