We talk about the best outdoor infrared sauna, barrel saunas from Costco, weatherproofing outdoor saunas, and using sauna covers to protect indoor saunas placed outside.
https://cleverleverage.com/outdoor-infrared-sauna/
A lot of outdoor saunas really aren’t intended to be weatherproof for the outdoors… if you’re talking to a slick salesman anyway. Just make sure you’re not buying an “indoor” sauna, and they talk you into just using a cover to protect it from the elements. You will run into lots of trouble with an un-insulated wall system in your sauna, if the outside temperature varies greatly. (like in a northern climate)
Also pay attention to the shed style roof saunas, barrel saunas, etc… to see if they need an additional roof structure built over the top of them. I thought many of them would be waterproof on their own, but lots of outdoor sauna reviews show leaks.
I would recommend going with something like the Clearlight Sanctuary Outdoor models mentioned in the video, with insulated walls, a real roof, and plenty of power on tap to work in any climate without taking hours to preheat.
Video Transcript (AI Generated)
Alright, welcome back guys.
Today’s infrared sauna question is on outdoor saunas.
It’s from John.
John says, “Hi, I’ve watched a lot of your sauna videos and it’s great to get some unbiased reviews on these products.
It’s a difficult market to navigate.
I see in general you’re a huge fan of Radiant Health, Clear Light, and Hi-Tech Health.
Do you have a recommendation for the best 4-5 person outdoor sauna?
After hearing some of your reviews, I was thinking Sanctuary Full Spectrum Outdoor Sauna.
Is there anything else that you would recommend?
Which might be helpful.
It really needs to be outside which limits my choice as I don’t have a space for outside and I’m not too concerned about the price.
I’m looking to get it shipped to Bali, Indonesia.
Appreciate any feedback.
Thanks, John.”
Hi, John.
Welcome.
Yeah, I’d be happy to help you with this question except for the last part.
That kind of throws me for a loop.
I probably wouldn’t be able to help you with shipping to Bali.
I don’t know of any third parties that serve Bali.
That’s going to be pretty difficult to get a mainstream sauna ship there without getting a third party shipping company to handle the final leg of the destination.
That might be something that you can arrange.
You would have to call each individual company yourself and chat with them and see if they would be open to helping you facilitate something like that.
But let’s get into the actual outdoor sauna portion to help you choose one.
Really, I think you’re on the right track.
I don’t think…
Most of the time, people are trying to sell indoor saunas for an outdoor application, and they suggest getting a sauna cover and doing all this other stuff.
In reality, an outdoor sauna, if it’s really going to withstand the elements long-term, it’s got to have two things.
It has to have a real roof and the actual exterior paneling on the sauna walls need to be treated with something.
Otherwise, a year from now, the sun, the rain, the wind, everything, it’s going to cause the paneling on the sauna to split.
If you stick an indoor sauna outside, the moisture is just going to wick into the dry sauna walls.
It’s going to have issues.
Using a sauna cover is not going to cut it.
The only way that you could get something like that to work is to build a sauna…
I’m sorry.
Build a shed roof structure, almost like a pole barn or something like that.
The issue then…
You don’t have this problem in Bali, but the issue then is people don’t understand that most sauna cabinetry is not insulated.
It’s not insulated to the degree…
If you were in a northern climate, if somebody else comes across this and they live in Maine where I go, and they think that they’re going to get a sauna, stick it outside, and just build a roof over it and then use a cover, yeah, it might protect it a little bit from the elements, but when you get snow and rain blowing in from the side, it’s going to hit the bottom and build up or splash up on the base around the perimeter of the sauna.
The cover is not going to cut that.
The moisture is really going to get in there.
You’re going to have an issue.
Not to mention the sauna itself, especially in a cold climate, is constantly fighting the ambient temperature outside.
So if it’s cold, you’ve got to have an outdoor sauna that’s designed to do that with insulated walls.
You also probably want a sauna that’s 220 or at least 20 amp so that you have a ton of power on tap.
Like I said, it’s going to…
You’re essentially creating a structure, a house or something.
So the only way that you would get an indoor sauna to work is to essentially build a room within a room, if that makes any sense.
So based on that, the only sauna that I would recommend that’s outdoor, that’s infrared, that I know of right now that works really well is the Clearlight Sanctuary.
They’ve got…
I can’t remember.
They have two versions.
One is a two-person, so it’s a lot narrower.
I actually have a blog post on the blog, cleverleverage.com.
Use the search box.
Just put in “outdoor infrared sauna.”
You should pull up some pictures of the different models, but there’s a five-person one that’s really big.
It’s got heaters in the front.
It’s got beautiful glass windows so you can see out, especially if you’re going to put it in a backyard or if you happen to live on some acreage and you want to create a little oasis with a view or you’ve got wildlife or deer, that’s kind of what I want for Maine.
Unless something else comes along in the meantime, I will be going for the five-person Clearlight Sanctuary.
They may give you a discount on that if you mention coupon code MATTJUSTICE-500.
There should be some sort of percentage off for you there.
The sanctuary outdoor models are pretty expensive though, so I don’t know exactly what the discount will be.
What else is in here?
I would not recommend putting a regular Clearlight Premier or Sanctuary.
Not a Radian Health, not a Hi-Tech Health, none of those.
I would not put those outside.
I wouldn’t put them under a pergola roof, and I certainly wouldn’t use them with an outdoor sauna cover.
The sauna is going to get ruined.
I even did some research for a lady, because they have barrel saunas and stuff like at Costco, because I was thinking about that.
You said Bali, which is really difficult to ship stuff to without a supplier there, or some sort of a contact in the supply chain.
I was thinking about the barrel saunas and stuff like that that they have at Costco, or that are readily available.
I was going to buy one of those for myself.
The only thing that held me back is that I found some reviews.
I think I posted about it on the blog.
I found some reviews where even the barrel saunas that are supposedly, you can seal the wood and treat them and all that stuff, and they’re supposed to be moisture resistant and blah, blah, blah, there was a couple people that bought those, and the wood on the top, which is, nothing is different from the roof from the side walls on a barrel sauna, but it’s all the same.
But basically they said that the wood was shrinking on the top, and every time it would rain it would seep through.
Then I found out that the barrel sauna companies actually make a secondary product that you have to buy that is an additional roof structure if you really want to waterproof it.
So when I saw that I was like, “Okay, so if they sell an additional roof add-on product, obviously the barrel is not really weatherproof on its own.”
So that kind of deterred me.
I read a couple of those reviews.
Again you should be able to find that stuff somewhere on Clever Leverage.
Just use the search box, do outdoor infrared sauna.
You should be able to see the…
Because usually when I find stuff like that I link to it, and so you should be able to see those reviews.
That deterred me from getting a barrel sauna because it really doesn’t have a traditional weatherproof roof either.
And so with the sun beating down on it and the rain and all the elements, it’s just not going to end well.
So anyway John, I don’t know if that was helpful.
I know that you are halfway across the world from where I’m at, but if you have any other questions or if you need a point of contact at any of the companies, get a hold of me and I can help you.
Have a great day.