Long Life Saunas looks fantastic!

The next logical step was to call Long Life Saunas and ask some questions. So I did and here is what I found out. It's a small company and I spoke directly to the owner. He also told me that if I ordered a sauna, it would actually be him making most or all of the sauna! That was pretty cool and not typical. All of their saunas are made in the US, and in Vermont, to be specific. All are made to order so there would be a wait if I decided to order. But, my order would get very specific attention to detail. The owner told me this is how he has avoided ever sending out a broken product and having never had a product returned for malfunction. 

I thought he was very nice and very helpful on the phone. There was no pressure to buy anything. So now I am deciding if I should get one, and if so whether to get the Eco Sauna, which is the photo in the last  post, or the nice wood cabin sauna. I've got some thinking to do.

Here is the wood cabin near infrared sauna from their website http://www.nearinfraredsauna.com. I've got some thinking to do!

Fourth Near Infrared Sauna Review

Next I found this sauna. It's from Long Life Saunas at http://www.nearinfraredsauna.com

This one is very interesting. First, the web site is chock full of good information about near infrared, health conditions, and how to use a sauna. They have variety of saunas and great testimonials. 


The sauna itself is really unusual and definitely has my interest. It's made of untreated, non-toxic real wood. The walls are reflective so the infrared bounces around, instead of being absorbed into the wall, or leaking though  a canvas wall. It comes with a stool. Here is a picture of the heater:

After reading the site, I'd say this is the best one for several reasons;

-Established company, has a warranty and a money back trial period

-Product is handmade in Vermont and built to order. That means attention to detail and Vermont quality.

-It's a real brick and mortar company, with a real street address. 

-This sauna has more heat than the others. It has 4 heat lamps, but has a smaller volume. It says it operates at 130F and preheats in 15 minutes.

-Good testimonials

-Made with local,sustainably harvested wood from Vermont

-Lightweight

-Available in 1 or 2 person

-Available with optional full spectrum SAD lights. 

Cost:  $1199 with free shipping in the US, $1399 with SAD lights.

They also make fancy wood saunas:

http://www.nearinfraredsauna.com/Wood_Cabin_Sauna.html

Very nice!

Has anyone tried this unit? What do you think?

Third Near Infrared Sauna Choice...

Here is the next near infrared sauna I found. It's made in California and sold through a nutrition site.





It looks similar to Dr. Wilson's. There are no dimensions given but it looks to be 4x4 x 6 ft tall.


Pros:  4 lamps means more heat, more sweating and hotter temps. More Detox. Nice looking Stool. Reasonable price. Nice testimonial of their sauna with nutritional program.


Cons: PVC frame. I don't want PVC offgassing in my sauna. Lamps look like clamp lamps from hardware store. The website has little info about the saunas or how to even get one.


Price:  $910 with stool, plus shipping and handling. Probably about $1000-$1050 to get to my house on the east coast.


Overall, seems like a better unit than some others, but I would go with Cedarbrook's model because of the wood frame.


Anyone ever use this sauna? What do you think?

Second near infrared sauna choice....

Next I found this:

It's called the "Turbo Sauna" and it is designed to convert a bathtub/shower area into a near infrared sauna. It comes with the heater shown, and a kit to hang a canvas to make a ceiling over your shower door. It has a fan built in and a sensor to prevent over heating. Although, if the bulbs weren't recessed into the housing, they wouldn't need the fan or the sensor.


It seems very straight forward. The site is nice. Here are some pics of the installation in a tub with the hanging canvas.


   





Price: $699 plus shipping. 


My questions about this sauna are (1) It looks like the housing is stained plywood. The site doesn't say but I am, pretty sure the shelf it sits on is made  plywood. (2) How big a shower is this rated for. 


Has anyone out there tried this one? What do you think?

First Near Infrared Sauna Review

Okay, so here is the first one I found. It's from Cedarbrook Saunas in Washington State. It's a tent sauna, similar to Dr. Wilson's but with a wooden frame. It has a canvas cover and looks kid of cool. It measures 42 inches x 40 inches which leads to wonder if it is big enough to a safe distance from the bulbs. Dr. Wilson recommends having at least 48 inches from the heater. It's 72 inches tall.

Here is the heater which looks nice too. 

Other features:


Operating temp:   115F
Time to preheat:   30 minutes
Cost:  $930 + Shippping + Stool ($45)
Clearly Made in  the USA, which I like. 


Price to ship to my house:  $98 (East Coast)
Total Cost to me with Stool: $1073


This looks nice and the company looks nice too. 


If you have ever used a tent sauna or this particular sauna, please leave a comment as to how you like it and what you think of it. My question about it is how well does canvas hold the heat since it is porous. 

Near Infrared Sauna Review

After searching and reading about near infrared saunas, I found a nutrition and wholistically oriented doctor to be the main advocate for near infrared sauna therapy. His name is Dr. Larry Wilson and you can find him at http://www.drlwilson.com. His website is not very polished, but the volume of information, articles and credentials is very, very impressive. He has helped tens of thousands of people with nutrition programs to heal tons of different diseases. He says that near infrared saunas are essential for detox and for working with today's health challenges. 


Here is the most important piece, in my opinion. Dr. Wilson is NOT a paid representative for any sauna company and is not promoting any particular brand. Take note! Any time you see a doctor, like Dr Oz, promoting a brand, you know its a paid endorsement and thus a conflict of interest.  It gives Dr. Wilson more credibility.


Dr. Wilson has a book about near infrared saunas. He also makes a model. When I saw it, i realized immediately why near infrared saunas are not commercialized the way far infrared is. The reason is this: they are very easy to build. All they are is heat lamps, that you can buy online easily, and some kind of small enclosure. 


His sauna is not pretty and it looks like it's build by a doctor, as opposed to a builder, but it works. It gets hot, you sweat, and you get the near infrared. Take a look.



   
It's a simple plan that works brilliantly. And, the research on infrared light all suggests that near infrared has all kinds of benefits above and beyond far infrared.  He sells this model for $489. Plus, he has links to where you can buy other near infrared saunas. He seems uninterested in making a profit and more interested in health. I like that!


If I wanted to try and build his sauna, I think my husband could handle it. Maybe....:)  But, I wouldn't know where to get carbon far infrared heaters or how to install them. Since near infrared is a type of light bulb, it should reasonable to do. 


Now I'm going to investigate the links on Dr. Wilson's site to other near infrared saunas and see what I can find. Stay tuned. 

What's the deal with near infrared saunas?

I have long been aware of the healing power of infrared saunas and am especially interested in detoxification and a healthy lifestyle. I began this year to look into purchasing an infrared sauna and it quickly became much more of an ordeal than I had anticipated. What I didn't know is that infrared saunas come in 2 types: "Near Infrared" and "Far Infrared." So, I've spent a lot of time investigating and have some reviews of both types.


First I looked at far infrared. There are tons of sites selling far infrared saunas. I found it a little funny that so many of them look the same. There isn't much diversity in style. I learned that about 90% of them come from 3 or 4 factories in China. In fact, I found only 2 companies that build their far infrared saunas in the US. Cedrus Saunas, which makes several lines, and Clearlight. Everything else is made abroad, as far as I can tell.


Here are a few links to the factories abroad. You can see what I mean. I think this is main reason that far infrared is so much more widely known than near infrared. The market is flooded with imports and there are tons of sites selling them because it's cheap and easy to me a middleman internet business.

www.goldenphoenixsauna.com

www.josensauna.com

http://www.sunnyspringsauna.com

www.royalsaunas.com.cn

Which brings me to the other infrared sauna: near infrared. The first thing I learned is that almost no one makes near infrared saunas. I have a theory why and I give that theory in a bit. But, it's has nothing to do with their effectiveness.

Near infrared saunas have a totally different heater type and set-up. They use infrared heat lamps and you have to sit far away from them because they are very hot. This means that the sauna designs look very different. In far infrared, you can sit right next to the heater. 

I began to investigate....

After talking to the companies, I realized that I couldn't get a straight answer from them. After all, they all say that their product is the best. So I went to the science sites and did some digging about the properties of far infrared and near infrared. Here is what I found.

1. Far infrared is a long wavelength. In the electromagnetic scale, it is next to microwaves. Some doctors think it might be unsafe over time and damage the tissues, like microwaves. There are also EMF concerns.

2. Far infrared penetrates mildly into the body and is good for delivering heat.

3. I found no independent verification of far infrared's healing power as stated by the sauna makers.

4. Sauna makers claim that far infrared heaters should give off far infrared rays that are the same frequency as the heat coming off the human body. Our bodies give off heat with a wavelength of about 7 microns. So, the sauna makers  try to make their heaters give off heat at 7 microns. They call it "bio-resonance." 

Here is my question: aren't the things that come off the body considered waste? Isn't heat just a byproduct of cellular metabolism that we are getting rid of? Consider the other things that come off the body: urine, feces, sweat, skin cells, and carbon dioxide. I don't think anyone considers them therapeutic. So, I don't get the thinking or logic behind the claim. Why give the body more of what it's trying to excrete? Seems counter intuitive.

Then to near infrared....


1. Near infrared is a short wavelength and is next to the visible spectrum on the electromagnetic scale.


2. Near infrared penetrates deeply into the body, as far as 23 cm according to NASA. I tend to trust NASA research because it has nothing to do with selling products.


3. Near infrared causes cells to improve, increase and enhance their metabolism. We actually have a light receptor, called a chromophore, in every cell that responds to near infrared light. NASA showed that near infrared improved skin regneration, wound healing, collagen synthesis and cell metabolism. NASA found no such properties with far infrared.


4. Near infrared reduces inflammation and pain. It is FDA approved for both. Far infrared is not. 




So, if they both deliver the heat and both make you sweat hard to detoxify, I think near infrared sounds better. Now I am going to call around and see what I can find from the near infrared sauna makers. Stay tuned!