Any sauna enthusiasts? (Transitional vs infrared)

[cottagecheesefan]

Getting a sauna, just don’t know if I should get a traditional one with a heater that you can put water on to make steam, or an infrared one. Infrared gets to a lower temperature, but penetrates deeper into tissue/cells. Traditional I feel is better for respiratory health.

I have used traditional ones a lot, but infrared only once before. I felt it was pretty effective, good sweat, despite less head, but still a bit skeptical. Upkeep and/or replacement needs seem comparable, and the cost is similar with the models I am looking at.

anyone have a sauna with insight or a strong preference?

 

[I Am Legion]

I would go traditional. God forbid the infrared malfunctions and shoots you with gamma rays.

 

[liner]

Can't compare, I've never used the infrared before. But I do have a steam shower, which is I guess similar to a heater and pouring water for steam. it's amazing. I use it a lot. A lot of the benefit I think is the steam, so I'd lean towards whichever one can do steam better. A nice thing w a shower system is just run the shower cold when you are done or during.

Just having the hot/steam/whatever, at home and on demand is a great luxury

 

[HARRISON_3]

I use traditional quite often.

IIRC, @Brampton_Boy made a thread about saunas

 

[cottagecheesefan]

I use traditional quite often.

IIRC, @Brampton_Boy made a thread about saunas

my condo building has a traditional one I used to use almost everyday. But i moved to a house and my condo is too far away to use the amenities.

Just found that thread and has some good posts, but nothing about the infrared vs traditional. Watched a few YouTube videos on the difference and all were heavily for infrared, but the videos were also from people selling infrared ones or had a spa with infrared ones, so obviously biased.

Can't compare, I've never used the infrared before. But I do have a steam shower, which is I guess similar to a heater and pouring water for steam. it's amazing. I use it a lot. A lot of the benefit I think is the steam, so I'd lean towards whichever one can do steam better. A nice thing w a shower system is just run the shower cold when you are done or during.

Just having the hot/steam/whatever, at home and on demand is a great luxury

Infrared doesn’t do steam. What I been seeing is infrared is better to detox through sweat, but traditional does have additional benefits due to steam, like opening up nasal passageways, etc.

It sucks most of the info on the internet about their differences is biased A F

thanks for the responses tho

 

[zapataxiv]

traditional
then you can commune with the spirts

make a sweat Lodge

 

[Pittie Petey]

I know a chick named Stacey in Kentucky that knows all about hot tubs

 

[Five Fingered Fresh Fist]

I believe most sauna enthusiasts refer to them as bath houses.

 

[abject]

Getting a sauna, just don’t know if I should get a traditional one with a heater that you can put water on to make steam, or an infrared one. Infrared gets to a lower temperature, but penetrates deeper into tissue/cells. Traditional I feel is better for respiratory health.

I have used traditional ones a lot, but infrared only once before. I felt it was pretty effective, good sweat, despite less head, but still a bit skeptical. Upkeep and/or replacement needs seem comparable, and the cost is similar with the models I am looking at.

anyone have a sauna with insight or a strong preference?

I do cold baths and want to expand into saunas as well. I'll be going the traditional route. For now i have a hot bath for ten-20 minutes at 41 degrees Celcius. When i get a sauna, it will be steam. Infrared doesnt sound to natural to me.

 

[Big Dawg]

It all depends on the ladies that are in there with me.

 

[StoneColdSteveAustin]

@genecop tired inviting me to sauna with him a whole bunch of times but I was busy those days

 

[Brampton_Boy]

Getting a sauna, just don’t know if I should get a traditional one with a heater that you can put water on to make steam, or an infrared one. Infrared gets to a lower temperature, but penetrates deeper into tissue/cells. Traditional I feel is better for respiratory health.

I have used traditional ones a lot, but infrared only once before. I felt it was pretty effective, good sweat, despite less head, but still a bit skeptical. Upkeep and/or replacement needs seem comparable, and the cost is similar with the models I am looking at.

anyone have a sauna with insight or a strong preference?

I purchased an infrared sauna, and it's been great. Traditional steam based saunas require ALOT more upkeep and if you try to go cheap, they are crazy fire hazards. With that being said, I still prefer the sauna at the gym - it can get up to 85c, and I feel like I sweat way more in there, when compared to my in home sauna.

Even at the max temp in my sauna, I can do a thirty minute session without having to take a break. At the gym, I have to leave every 10 minutes, or it feels like I am dying. Admittedly, mine was on the cheaper end - I have something similar to this (https://www.homedepot.ca/product/ra...frared-sauna-with-4-carbon-heaters/1000820847). I imagine if your willing to spend $6K plus, you can get one that checks all the boxes.

Some other anecdotal comments:

*I don't notice a difference in muscle relaxation/body soreness when using an infrared sauna.

*Cleaning an in home sauna is a bitch - if you don't do it at the end of every session, it can grimy pretty fast. That's probably the biggest reason I still use the gym sauna - somebody else does the upkeep and maintenance.

*If you don't already have one, try a personal sauna tent to see if you like the in home experience. I started with a $300 one I purchased from Amazon, and it really helped me decide to go all in and get a proper unit. Keep in mind that this was during the height of the pandemic - I don't know if I would have purchased one if the gyms were open at the time.

 

[pugilistico]

I'm not super into saunas, but it was a cool experience being in traditional saunas at lack cottages (mökki as they call them) in Finland. Using wood from the forest to heat the thing and pouring water on the rocks to make the sauna hot, then going out for a beer break and jumping naked into a freezing cold lake before going back into the sauna. Good times.

 

[aus101]

Can't compare, I've never used the infrared before. But I do have a steam shower, which is I guess similar to a heater and pouring water for steam. it's amazing. I use it a lot. A lot of the benefit I think is the steam, so I'd lean towards whichever one can do steam better. A nice thing w a shower system is just run the shower cold when you are done or during.

Just having the hot/steam/whatever, at home and on demand is a great luxury

I agree standard so TS can dry heat without water or steam it up with water depending upon how he's feeling.

 

[Doomer]

I have a traditional sauna and i like it very much.

 

[mala-lisa]

Getting a sauna, just don’t know if I should get a traditional one with a heater that you can put water on to make steam, or an infrared one. Infrared gets to a lower temperature, but penetrates deeper into tissue/cells. Traditional I feel is better for respiratory health.

I have used traditional ones a lot, but infrared only once before. I felt it was pretty effective, good sweat, despite less head, but still a bit skeptical. Upkeep and/or replacement needs seem comparable, and the cost is similar with the models I am looking at.

anyone have a sauna with insight or a strong preference?

sauna is when i was in 20s i could be in for 1hour non stop but now 40 i had to take break every 20-30 minutes. but it is great

 

[cottagecheesefan]

I purchased an infrared sauna, and it's been great. Traditional steam based saunas require ALOT more upkeep and if you try to go cheap, they are crazy fire hazards. With that being said, I still prefer the sauna at the gym - it can get up to 85c, and I feel like I sweat way more in there, when compared to my in home sauna.

Even at the max temp in my sauna, I can do a thirty minute session without having to take a break. At the gym, I have to leave every 10 minutes, or it feels like I am dying. Admittedly, mine was on the cheaper end - I have something similar to this (https://www.homedepot.ca/product/ra...frared-sauna-with-4-carbon-heaters/1000820847). I imagine if your willing to spend $6K plus, you can get one that checks all the boxes.

Some other anecdotal comments:

*I don't notice a difference in muscle relaxation/body soreness when using an infrared sauna.

*Cleaning an in home sauna is a bitch - if you don't do it at the end of every session, it can grimy pretty fast. That's probably the biggest reason I still use the gym sauna - somebody else does the upkeep and maintenance.

*If you don't already have one, try a personal sauna tent to see if you like the in home experience. I started with a $300 one I purchased from Amazon, and it really helped me decide to go all in and get a proper unit. Keep in mind that this was during the height of the pandemic - I don't know if I would have purchased one if the gyms were open at the time.

Thanks for the post. What do you do to clean it? I called the distributer a number of times for various questions, they told me to just use plain water (without soap/cleaner) to "rinse" it after each use. And what type of electrical connection does yours use?

These are the main two I been looking at. These are also both on wayfair, where I have seen some other models I am interested in. With a 1-2 person, the distributer told me I would be fine with the outlet I have, but with either of these or the other ones (all 3-4 person), I would have an electrician come to hard wire it to the breaker. Still might go back to the 1-2 person size, but I really like to stretch and what not in the sauna.

Infrared:
https://sunraysaunas.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=74

Traditional:
https://sunraysaunas.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=59

I had also been worried about what if like one of the infrared panels breaks, which is one reason I was leaning to traditional. But they told me the infrared panels are easy to replace and its not like the panels will stop being manufactured... which brought me back to debating which to get lol.

 

[cottagecheesefan]

I do cold baths and want to expand into saunas as well. I'll be going the traditional route. For now i have a hot bath for ten-20 minutes at 41 degrees Celcius. When i get a sauna, it will be steam. Infrared doesnt sound to natural to me.

I like it best when I used the sauna for about 30 minutes and then immediately go into shower at the coldest temp. Did that a couple hours before bed, then have some cottage cheese for the slow-digesting protein and tea. Never slept better.