Best Home Sauna Options for 2025 + Black Friday Deals | SaunaCast Ep.4

You want the benefits you set out to get — detox, recovery, relaxation — without wasting time or money on the wrong sauna. In this episode of the Certified Saunas Podcast, Matt Justice breaks down how to choose the right sauna for your home.

He covers the most important questions before buying, the difference between far, near, and full spectrum infrared, and what most companies don’t tell you about heater types, build quality, and EMF safety. Matt also shares which brands perform best in real-world use, based on 30+ owned and tested units.

If you’ve been confused by marketing claims or overwhelmed by options, this episode simplifies it all. Learn how to match your goals (detox, stress relief, pain recovery, or longevity) to the sauna that actually fits your life — and your environment.

Join the Certified Sauna Community (35,000+ members strong) to ask questions, share experiences, and see real setups from people just like you.

Read the transcript >

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Transcript

You want to be getting the benefits that you, you know, set out to get. You don’t really want to be putting in the time in your sessions and then not getting the maximum benefit, right? Welcome back to the Certified Saunas podcast. This is SaunaCast episode four. I’m Matt Justice. And in today’s episode, we’re tackling one of the most important questions that I get. How do I choose the right sauna for my home? If you’ve been following the first few episodes or watched any of the 700 videos on YouTube from the last few years, you already know how powerful an infrared sauna can be. For detox, for stress relief, for recovery. But once you decide to buy one, it’s super easy to get overwhelmed, right? You go down these rabbit holes. There are dozens of brands, confusing specs, sales pitches that all kind of end up sounding the same after you realize that there’s not that big of a difference between the equipment. And that leaves you with what? Well, you don’t really know how to decipher what’s right for your situation and your needs. So today I’m going to walk you through what really matters. The must have features, the red flags that I see most people not avoiding. And a few recommendations to make sure that you spend your money wisely. Let’s get into it.

Before you even start comparing models, ask yourself three things. Question one, who’s going to use it and how often, right? If it’s just you, a one person unit is probably fine. But if your spouse, friends, a workout partner, anyone’s going to join you, skip the one person and go for at least a two person. Trust me on this. Everyone thinks they’ll be fine until the second week when they realize they want to stretch out, share more space, not be sweating all over somebody, bring something into the sauna, turn sideways, put your feet up, all the various things that make sauna, you know, more enjoyable for us.

Question two, where will you put it? Basements, garages, spare bedrooms, maybe outside. The environment definitely matters. A 50 degree basement will require a specific setup, more power than a warm indoor room. Some saunas handle the cold better than others. Others struggle to even heat up in cold environments. Pay really close attention to that. Don’t just think that there’s a one size fits all. You can just get it and put it anywhere you want. If it’s going to go outside, it needs a true weatherproof roof. End of story. If it doesn’t have that, it’s not going to last.

Question number three, what is your goal? Is it detox? Is it stress relief? Is it pain reduction? Is it athletic performance improvement? Well, you know, what is it? If your primary goal is detox, infrared is probably going to be the best. If you’re chasing the traditional high heat, sweat, Nordic vibe, a combo sauna that has both like a heavenly heat combo hybrid unit that has both infrared and traditional, you know, might fit you a little better for those needs.

Start with those three questions and you’ll narrow it down. If you’re, you know, a person that has health challenges, you want to pay attention to far infrared coverage so that you can sweat at a low temperature and not have to overtax your body just to get the detox benefits. There’s other models like a heavenly heat eco that work great for that. Also the radiant health E1H is fantastic for that and it works phenomenal. So, you know, start with what your core needs are and then work backwards instead of, oh, this sauna has this or does this, no, no, no, no, no. That’s the opposite way to do it because you don’t end up with what you need. You end up with what some salesperson says that you need, not always a match.

Now, understanding infrared types. Let’s decode some popular jargon for a second so that you can relax a little and understand what you’re looking at. You’ll see words like far infrared, full spectrum, near infrared, ceramic emitters, carbon emitters, combo heaters. Here’s the breakdown. Far infrared, FIR, these are deep penetrating wavelengths that heat your body’s tissues and mobilize toxins from fat cells, great for detox, great for relaxation. Near infrared, NIR, shorter wavelengths that stay closer to the skin surface, they support skin health, circulation and wound healing. Full spectrum, a mix of both sometimes. A lot of companies say that they have near mid and far infrared, but generally they don’t produce any red light therapy below a thousand nanometers of any meaningful output without an add-on accessory. So don’t just think because you have a full spectrum sauna that you’re automatically going to get red light therapy or photobiomodulation. A lot of people confuse this because there’s so many studies on PubMed touting the benefits for TBI, for skin healing, for wound healing, for cellular repair using red light therapy. The problem is those wavelengths are usually in the 600 to 800 nanometer wavelength and most saunas stop producing any meaningful output that are full spectrum without add-on red lights anywhere underneath a thousand nanometers. You’re literally missing that spectrum that is correlated with all of the research, so pay close attention to that. I harp on this over and over because people buy full spectrum saunas and they think they’re getting red light therapy and then 10 years from now they’re going to recognize that they haven’t ever experienced real red light therapy. Why? Because the sauna they have that’s full spectrum doesn’t produce those wavelengths.

Heater type matters. Ceramic heaters run hotter and have more intense output, but they also have a narrow bandwidth of throw for heat. The carbon heaters spread the heat more evenly and feel gentler. Many of the best saunas blend both carbon ceramic hybrid, so you get the warmth of the carbon with the deep heated ceramic. If a company won’t tell you what kind of heaters they use or their wattage, that’s probably a red flag. You also want to make sure that a sauna is not underpowered. If you have something that has a poor heater layout and it also has a small power supply, yet it’s a large cabin, it’s underpowered for that much cubic footage. It’s going to take forever to heat up and probably won’t give you a good sweat.

Let’s talk safety and build quality for a second. All right. What separates cheap Amazon box saunas, Wayfair stuff from higher end things or something with a safety standard like you might find on the certified sauna list? What is even the point of that? Number one is electromagnetic safety, ELF and EMF, electromagnetic fields. Low EMF and low ELF are non-negotiable for us. High EMF exposure in a small wooden box defeats the purpose of trying to heal, especially for people that are health challenged. Always ask for third party test data, not marketing buzzwords, right? Number two is wood quality. You’ll see cedar, hemlock, basswood, poplar. Cedar smells are great and resist mold, but these are dry saunas. They’re perfect for humid climates, but there’s really no moisture in these saunas other than what you’re sweating and a little condensation on the glass just from, um, you know, a cooler room with a hot sauna in it doesn’t hurt anything, but basswood and poplar are hypoallergenic for those chemically sensitive to scents. I personally like a hemlock of a mild, you know, degree. If you look at some videos, you can have a basswood sauna and a hemlock sauna from two different manufacturers. One will be fine for chemically sensitive people and the other one will be terrible. Why? Because the manufacturing process is different for those two brands. So always pay attention to the reviews for that. If you are chemically sensitive, we recommend, um, heavenly heat, and we also recommend radiant health for that. Uh, avoid cheap plywoods, any particle boards, these off gas toxins when heated, you wouldn’t want to be breathing these in a closed environment. It’s just not good for you. Uh, number three would be electrical safety and wiring. Real sauna uses heavy duty copper wiring and quality connectors. You know, if you see thin lamp cord or household plugs, powering multiple heaters, I would just walk away. Not indicative of something that’s going to last a long time or is built properly in accordance with UL certifications. Uh, warranty and support. Good brands stand behind their products for five to 10 years. Typically, if the warranty is one year or less, they usually dodge service questions. That’s kind of your clue to maybe move on or just know, Hey, I’m on a budget. This is all I can afford. Whatever time I get out of it, that’s what I get. You know, appreciate the benefit and move on to something else. Uh, comfort and user experience. You’re going to spend a lot of time in this thing. So comfort does matter. Look for wider benches, ergonomic backrests, even heater placement. You should have a heat on the front of the sauna too. Not just the front or not just the sides. I am a big proponent of frontal infrared so that it wraps the entire body in far infrared balanced heat. That balanced layout ensures you’re getting full coverage all the time, no matter of seating position. If you go with something like a radian health sauna, the majority of the models have a heater in the bench. So if you sit with your feet up or lie down, you’re still getting a hundred percent coverage the entire time of your session, wherein most saunas, that would be a cold spot. If you look at those on a FLIR camera and you scan the sauna, you’ll see that there’s going to be a lot of blue in them. While in a radian health sauna, there’s hardly any blue. That’s because there’s an emitter pretty much everywhere. That’s hard to find. Most companies don’t do that. That’s one of the reasons that we love them so much. Lighting also makes a huge difference for some people. Some brands offer chromotherapy, which is colored light therapy. It’s not mandatory, but red or amber light, you know, purple, deep blues can help you relax. Some people respond really well to that. They say that it’s incredible. Please don’t confuse that with actual photobiomodulation because they’re nowhere near the same. The output of a PBMT device or red light therapy body panel is going to be significantly higher than any chromotherapy and neither, you don’t get the wrong idea about that. That’s all I got to say. And don’t underestimate the ease of setup. Some models arrive flat packed and can be assembled in about 45 minutes. I’ve got a bunch of installation videos on YouTube. If you want to see some examples, others are a weekend project and with multiple power requirements. So if you’re not handy, ask if they offer discounted installation, or at least check out the install videos so that you know what you’re in for before you buy. Let’s do a little audience Q and A this week. So question number one from our group members, what’s the best sauna brand for beginners? Great question. Most people radian health or heavenly heat are my top two for most of our group members that have health challenges. If you’re on a budget, um, you know, something like maybe the life pro they’re getting ready to have a black Friday sale. So as soon as that comes out, that would probably be your most budget friendly option and they work better than the Costco models for about the same price. Uh, radian health does offer low EMF models that

Saunas are great for detox and daily use. Heavenly Heat builds the same. They also have non-toxic materials and even offer combo units that have infrared and traditional as well as outdoor units. So it’s not so much what brand is best for you. It’s more about what are your needs and which brand makes something that fits your criteria.

Question number two from the audience is full spectrum worth the extra money. It depends on your goals. If you want skin rejuvenation or muscle recovery benefits, yes, full spectrum can add value, but if you’re mainly detoxing, far infrared alone does the job. It’s the main workhorse as far as heat therapy goes. I would urge you to take a look at the Heavenly Heat red light therapy sauna, or I would also have you look at a Clearlight Sanctuary or Premier with a red light therapy add-on if you want a true full spectrum sauna to give you tons of red light therapy. Those are going to be the two models that actually have the right wavelengths. My only caveat to this is that you use the red light therapy when the sauna is heating up, not once you’re already sweating and the sauna is preheated. Why? Because if you look at the PubMed research, you’re going to see very clearly that photobiomodulation, which is the benefits that you’re looking for, are down-regulated when the core temperature is elevated. So cool, clean, and dry, better red light therapy. Use that portion. It can be a dual therapy device. You can have your full spectrum sauna as the marketing likes to call it, but make sure that if you’re going to get real red light therapy, you do it when your body is cool. You want to be getting the benefits that you set out to get. You don’t really want to be putting in the time in your sessions and then not getting the maximum benefit. Right? So pay attention to those details. I’ll have some other videos that come out on this as well.

Question number three, can I put a sauna in my garage or basement? Yes, but only if it’s insulated and stays above 50 degrees Fahrenheit, if it’s infrared. Otherwise, the sauna will struggle to reach temperature. If you live in a cold climate, look at 240 volt or hybrid unit with auxiliary heater, like a combo unit, hybrid that’ll have traditional sauna heater and infrared and make sure that it’s not something like a Finleo at a hot tub store because those, while they look very beautiful and they’re made by the same company, or same manufacturer rather from some of the saunas that I really love and have used for years successfully.