Far, NIR sauna or LED panel?
Comparison of the different types of saunas and light therapy
When comparing the therapies, we are primarily interested in whether they emit:
- therapeutic spectrum of light (600-1000 nm)
- heat
- electrosmog (EMF)
Red Light Therapy comparison
The table above shows that neither the Finnish sauna nor the UV lamp provide a therapeutic spectrum of red light and have different uses. The Finnish sauna provides heat therapy, and a UV lamp has the ability to destroy germs, tans the skin and helps to synthesise vitamin D3 in the body.
Let’s look more closely at the therapeutic benefits of red and NIR light with a wavelength between 600 and 1000nm
Near Infrared Sauna Panel
NIR panels produce a naturall broad-spectrum light that is strongest in the therapeutic spectrum. Compared to FAR infrared saunas, they have the following advantages:
+ heal through red light therapy
+ take up little space
+ no EMF
+ price
– comes without a sauna cabin
Far Infrared Sauna
Infrared saunas are categorised by the type of heater panel used. There are many types, and most of them produce far infrared (IR-C) radiation, which warms the skin. More expensive models (which cost thousands of €) also produce IR-B, some of them even NIR (IR-A), but in relatively small quantities. In addition, the vast majority of them produce high amounts of harmful electromagnetic radiation (EMF) – normally up to 400-800 V/m. A safe level is considered to be 10 V/m. Manufacturers are trying to address this issue, and there are now some low-EMF saunas available on the market, but some measurements (video) suggest that these are still off the mark.
+ can be used for the placement of NIR panel
– no/small amount of therapeutic NIR light
– produce dangerous levels of EMF
LED panel
LED panels comes in different sizes: from small hendheld devices for about 100 EUR to full-body panels that cost thousands of euros. They usually have suitable amounts of therapeutic light, but also high amounts of EMF. They don’t emit heat so don’t have sauna relaxation effect.
+ usually have a high irradiance of NIR light
+ able to cover a large area of the body
– produce dangerous levels of EMF
– quite noisy
– no sauna/relaxation effect
– price
EMF comparison
In short, electrosmog (EMF) harms you, and you want to keep it to a minimum, especially during sleep and relaxation, so it has no place in a sauna.
The vast majority of FAR saunas and LED devices have EMF levels far higher than safe values.
With RedLight Sauna NIR Panels we took special care to keep EMF levels close to zero.
EMF measurments
EMF of FAR infrared sauna
EMF FAR sauna 
EMF full spectral heater 
EMF carbon heater
EMF of LED bulb
EMF LED bulb 
EMF LED bulb 20cm 
EMF LED bulb 40cm
EMF of RedLight Sauna
RedLight Sauna EMF 
RedLight Sauna EMF 
NIR sauna EMF