Infrared Sauna Heaters

Carbon heaters are hyped as “state-of-the-art” and better than ceramics. But what is the truth?

The key factor in assessing FIR heaters and FIR sauna designs is: how much IR energy is delivered to the body? Ceramics are greatly superior to carbon in this critical function.

Claims are made that carbon heaters provide more FIR than ceramics since they are larger. That visually seems logical but is false. If similar electric power as in a ceramic-heated sauna is delivered to larger “carbon” surfaces, it is diluted. This is precisely what occurs and results in very weak heaters that emit much less FIR than ceramics do.

“Carbon heaters” are made of plastic with a cloth cover in front of it or glued-on. If the cover is polyester and it absorbs or blocks most of the emissions, it is really a “polyester heater”. Claims of carbon’s superior characteristics (or ceramic if it’s used) are purely hype. If any carbon that’s used is encased in plastic and then covered – it has nothing to do with the FIR output!

All saunas, even the traditional type, provide a mix of hot air and infrared energy to trigger sweating. It is proportional – the greater the FIR exposure, the lower the required air temperature. With Heavenly Heat, the infrared level is very high so the air temperature can be very mild. This is an important quality of good FIR saunas. With weak FIR heaters, like the plastic carbon types, the air temperature must be raised to higher levels to be effective, defeating a main reason for using infrared heaters in the first place.