We explain the differences between infrared and traditional saunas in the web site, but I want to add some personal thoughts on infrared.

Let me start by saying that I am a traditional sauna advocate, so I am admittedly biased. Almost Heaven Saunas manufactures the traditional dry/wet sauna because we feel they are the best, plain and simple. We offer infrared sauna kits – which are not saunas at all, but rather therapy rooms – because some customers insist on them. That is fine, and the infrared “saunas” we offer are of a very good quality, and for some people the infrared experience is exactly the right thing; a targeted heat therapy at a lower temperature. Some people do not like or can not tolerate hot temperatures, and for them the infrared may be the best solution.

However, in my experience, most people inquiring about infrared saunas think they are asking about the real thing, which is why the most common question I receive from infrared owners of all brands of infrareds is, “why won’t it get hotter?” Much of the infrared health information you find on the web is not true and has simply been copied from the traditional sauna story. Most of the claimed health benefits from infrared – such as aerobic benefits, weight lost, increased circulation, etc. – are the direct results of higher temperatures. Yet if the temperatue is low in an infrared room, how are these effects as beneficial as in a traditional sauna which gets much hotter? The answer? They are not.

The benefits of infrared have to do with sore joints and muscles and low-temperature therapy for those who can not tolerate high temperatures. Those looking for all of the health benefits resulting from increased body temperature are best suited considering a traditional, real sauna, and the best sauna available is an Almost Heaven Sauna, plain and simple.

I’m often asked the operational costs of an Almost Heaven Sauna, and people are sometimes skeptical when I tell them the cost is negligible. In both my own experience and in conversations with happy sauna owners, it truly is a cost that is not noticed on the electric bill. For the skeptics, perhaps the following comparison will help. People purchase hot tubs and are typically told that the operational costs will be “a dollar per day,” on a yearly average. Of course, this is a difficult figure to establish since operational costs are based on many factors such as outside temperature, frequency of use, efficiency of the spa, etc. However, for our purposes we will use this figure. A spa typically uses a 6kw (6000 watt) heater, and coincidentally, a sauna typically uses a 6kw heater as well. A spa is designed to operate all of the time, so if there are 720 hours in a month; it costs a little over .04 cents per hour to run the hot tub. Of course, the spa isn’t operating all of the time, so let’s say it is only running 25% of the time; that would mean about .16 cents per hour of operational time. Applying the same math to a one sauna would mean that it would cost .16 cents to enjoy that relaxing and healthful one-hour sauna session. Obviously, there are many variables for both spas and saunas, and my point is not to state a specific operating cost, but this does hopefully explain why using your sauna several times per week is hardly noticeable on the typical electric bill.