Summary
Choosing between an infrared and traditional sauna comes down to how you want to experience heat and what fits your lifestyle. Traditional saunas create an intense, enveloping heat experience at 70-100°C, providing a dramatic cardiovascular workout and an authentic Finnish atmosphere. Infrared saunas operate at comfortable temperatures of 45-60°C, utilising light waves to warm your body directly, making them ideal for longer sessions, easier home installation, and those who find extreme heat overwhelming. While both deliver health benefits, infrared saunas offer superior practicality, affordability, and comfort for regular home use – key factors that actually determine whether you'll maintain a consistent wellness routine.
Understanding How Each Type Works
Traditional saunas are beautifully simple. They heat the air around you to extreme temperatures using either electric heaters or wood-burning stoves that warm special stones. When you step inside, you're immediately surrounded by intense heat that makes you sweat profusely within minutes. It's the same method that has been used in Finland for thousands of years, although it comes with significant practical challenges for modern home use.
Infrared saunas represent the evolution of heat therapy. Instead of wasting energy heating all the air around you, they use infrared light panels to warm your body directly – similar to how the sun feels on your skin, but without any harmful UV rays. The light waves penetrate several centimetres into your tissues, creating warmth from within whilst the air around you stays comfortable and breathable.
This fundamental difference changes everything about ownership and use. In a traditional sauna, you're paying to heat a large volume of air to extreme temperatures, waiting 30-45 minutes before you can even use it. In an infrared sauna like our 2-3 Person Far Infrared Sauna at just $3,199, you're getting efficient, targeted heat that's ready in 10-15 minutes and costs a fraction to operate.
What Each Experience Actually Feels Like
Walking into a traditional sauna can be overwhelming. The heat hits you like a wall, and within seconds, you feel your heart racing and sweat pouring. It's intense, sometimes uncomfortably so, and most people can only tolerate 10-15 minutes before needing to take a break. While some enjoy this intensity, many find it prevents them from relaxing, which defeats the purpose of stress relief.
The social aspect of traditional saunas is often mentioned, but let's be realistic – how often will you actually have sauna parties at home? And do you really want to coordinate schedules and share your relaxation time when you could be using that precious moment for yourself?
Infrared saunas offer a completely different, more sustainable experience. When you first sit down in our 2 Person Far Infrared Sauna (starting at $2,599), the air feels comfortable, almost normal. But gradually, you notice warmth building from within your body. It's like being warmed by sunshine rather than being cooked in an oven. You start sweating – often more than in a traditional sauna – but without feeling overwhelmed or struggling to breathe.
This gentler experience allows you to relax, read a book, meditate, or listen to music through the built-in Bluetooth speakers for 30-45 minutes without discomfort. You're getting more therapeutic time at the optimal temperature, rather than brief bursts of extreme heat that leave you exhausted.
Comparing the Health Benefits
Both types of saunas offer health benefits, although the practical advantages of infrared make achieving these benefits more realistic. Yes, the famous Finnish studies showing a 50% reduction in heart disease were on traditional saunas – but those participants had easy access to saunas and used them 4-7 times per week. Can you realistically see yourself heating a conventional sauna for 45 minutes before each use, multiple times per week?
Infrared saunas are showing equally impressive results in modern research, with particular advantages for pain relief and recovery. The deeper tissue penetration (3-4cm compared to just surface heating) means infrared is more effective for chronic pain conditions, arthritis, and muscle recovery. Athletes increasingly prefer infrared saunas because they can have longer sessions without exhaustion, leading to better recovery between training sessions.
Our 3 Person Low EMF Far Infrared With Red Light Tube Full Spectrum Sauna, priced at $ 3,899, takes this further by combining far-infrared technology with red light therapy. This full-spectrum approach provides near, mid, and far-infrared wavelengths, offering more comprehensive benefits than any traditional sauna can match – from skin health to deep tissue repair.
When it comes to detoxification, infrared saunas have a clear advantage. The deeper heating mobilises toxins stored in fat tissue more effectively, and the longer comfortable sessions mean greater total elimination. You're sweating for a more extended period without the stress on your cardiovascular system that extreme heat causes.
The Practical Reality of Home Installation
This is where traditional saunas reveal their actual cost. Installing a conventional sauna isn't just buying the unit – it's a construction project. You'll need:
- Professional electrician for 240V wiring ($1,000-2,000)
- Building permits in most NZ councils ($500-1,000)
- Professional installation ($3,000-8,000)
- Reinforced flooring for outdoor units
- Dedicated ventilation systems
- The total project cost often exceeds $20,000
Traditional saunas also demand significant space with proper clearances, take 30-45 minutes to heat up (imagine waiting that long after a workout!), and require regular maintenance of stones, wood treatments, and ventilation systems.
Compare this to our infrared saunas that arrive as complete kits. Most customers assemble them in 2-3 hours – it's like furniture assembly, not construction. They plug into standard power outlets, heat up in just 10-15 minutes, and require minimal maintenance – simply wiping them down occasionally.
You can place our compact 2 Person Far Infrared Sauna in a spare bedroom, garage corner, or even a large bathroom. Its 1200mm x 1050mm footprint fits where traditional saunas simply can't. And if you move house? Disassemble it and take your investment with you.
Understanding the Real Running Costs
Let's talk actual numbers for New Zealand. A traditional sauna pulling 6-9kW will cost you $2.50-$4.00 per session, including heat-up time. Using it three times a week means $30-$48 in monthly electricity costs alone. Over a year, that's $360-$576 just to run it.
Our infrared saunas use only 1700W-2260W, similar to the power of a hair dryer. At current NZ electricity rates, you're looking at just $0.50-$1.20 per session, or $6-$15 monthly for three sessions per week. Annual running costs of just $72-$180 mean you'll save thousands over the sauna's lifetime.
Think about it: the money you save in just the first two years of running costs could pay for a significant portion of your infrared sauna purchase. With traditional saunas, you're buying an ongoing expense.
Who Should Really Choose Which?
Traditional saunas are ideal for a particular person: someone with significant disposable income, permanent property ownership, ample space, and a deep commitment to the conventional Finnish experience, regardless of practicality. If you're building a luxury spa on your lifestyle block and have 20,000 or more to invest, traditional might work.
For everyone else living in the real world – with real budgets, real space constraints, and real time pressures – infrared saunas are the clear choice. They're perfect for:
- Busy professionals who need quick, convenient wellness solutions
- Families wanting safe, comfortable heat therapy (lower temperatures are safer for varied age groups)
- Athletes and fitness enthusiasts need daily recovery without exhaustion
- Anyone with chronic pain is benefiting from longer, therapeutic sessions
- Renters or apartment dwellers who can't modify their homes
- Budget-conscious buyers who want wellness without ongoing financial drain
- Anyone over 50 who finds extreme heat increasingly uncomfortable
Our 2-3 Person Far Infrared Sauna offers the perfect balance – spacious enough for couples or solo stretching, compact enough for real homes, and priced to make sense for real budgets.
Making the Smart Decision
Here's the truth: the best sauna is the one you'll actually use. And every practical factor points to infrared for regular home use:
Upfront Investment:
- Quality infrared sauna: $2,599-$3,899 fully installed
- Basic traditional sauna: $10,000-$20,000+ with installation
Time Investment:
- Infrared: 10-minute heat-up, ready when you are
- Traditional: 45-minute heat-up, requires planning
Space Requirements:
- Infrared: Fits in existing rooms, no modifications
- Traditional: Often requires a dedicated space or outdoor installation
Running Costs:
- Infrared: $72-$180 annually
- Traditional: $360-$576+ annually
Comfort Level:
- Infrared: 30-45 minute comfortable sessions
- Traditional: 10-20 minute intense sessions
The maths is simple. For the cost of installing a traditional sauna, you could buy our top-of-the-line 3 Person Low EMF Full Spectrum Sauna, use it for a decade, and still have money left over.
Special Features That Make a Difference
Our infrared saunas aren't just about heat – they're complete wellness systems. Every model includes:
- Touch control panels with intuitive operation
- Bluetooth connectivity for your music or podcasts
- FM radio and USB ports for entertainment options
- LED chromotherapy lighting for enhanced relaxation
- Hemlock wood construction – naturally hypoallergenic and antimicrobial
- 6mm tempered glass doors for safety and aesthetics
- SAA certification meets all New Zealand safety standards
The 3 Person Full Spectrum model goes further with ultra-low EMF panels (0.3-3mG) and switchable red light therapy tubes, giving you multiple therapy modes in one unit.
The Bottom Line
While traditional saunas have their place in commercial spas and Finnish culture, infrared saunas have revolutionised home wellness. They've removed every barrier that prevents regular use – high cost, complex installation, expensive operation, and uncomfortable intensity.
Our infrared saunas deliver the health benefits you're seeking through innovative, efficient design that respects your time, space, and budget. You're not paying for wasted heat or suffering through overwhelming temperatures. You're investing in sustainable, enjoyable wellness that fits your actual lifestyle.
The question isn't really whether to choose infrared or traditional – it's whether you want a sauna you'll use daily or one that becomes an expensive decoration. With prices starting at just $2,599 for our 2-person model, complete with free delivery to main centres and interest-free payment options, there's never been a better time to invest in your health.
Regular sauna use can transform your health, recovery, and overall well-being. Please choose the type that removes barriers rather than creating them. Choose the sauna that fits your life, not one that demands you reorganise your life around it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do infrared saunas provide the same health benefits as traditional saunas?
Yes, infrared saunas offer comparable and, in some cases, superior health benefits. While traditional saunas were used in the original Finnish studies, modern research shows infrared saunas deliver excellent cardiovascular benefits, better pain relief due to deeper tissue penetration, and more effective detoxification through longer, more comfortable sessions. The key advantage is that infrared saunas make it easier to maintain regular use – and consistency is what delivers results. Most people find they use their infrared sauna 3-4 times more often than they would a traditional sauna.
Why are infrared saunas so much cheaper to run than traditional saunas?
Infrared saunas are fundamentally more efficient. Traditional saunas waste energy heating large volumes of air to extreme temperatures (70-100°C), requiring 6-9kW of power. Infrared saunas only use 1.7-2.3kW because they heat your body directly, not the air. It's like the difference between heating your entire house versus using a heated blanket – you get the warmth you need without the waste. This efficiency means 75% lower running costs, saving you hundreds of dollars annually.
What makes your full-spectrum sauna different from regular infrared saunas?
Our 3 Person Full Spectrum Sauna combines three wavelengths of infrared light. Far-infrared provides deep tissue heating and detoxification, mid-infrared improves circulation and reduces inflammation, and near-infrared (from the red light tubes) promotes skin health and cellular repair. You can use the low-EMF panels alone or combine them with red light therapy for enhanced benefits. It's like having multiple therapy devices in one efficient unit.
Can I really install an infrared sauna myself?
Absolutely. Our saunas come with clear instructions and are designed for DIY assembly – think of it like premium furniture assembly. Most customers complete the installation in 2-3 hours with basic tools. The panels click together, the electrical connection is a standard plug, and there's no need for special ventilation or plumbing. We provide video guides and phone support if needed. If you can assemble flat-pack furniture, you can install our saunas.
How long will an infrared sauna last compared to a traditional sauna?
With proper care, both types can last 15 to 20 years. However, infrared saunas have fewer components that can fail and require less maintenance. Traditional saunas need regular stone replacement, heating element servicing, wood treatment, and ventilation maintenance. Infrared saunas require only occasional panel cleaning and basic maintenance. The electronic components in our saunas are easily replaceable if ever needed, unlike the complex heating systems in traditional saunas that often require complete replacement when they fail.
