Red Light Saunas

Each of these units has red light panels mounted inside the sauna, so both run in the same session. None is a cabin: all three fold flat for a closet or under a bed, and all three plug into a standard 120 V outlet.

Steam with red light

• SaunaBox SmartSteam Pro Red Light Therapy Sauna, $399: a portable steam sauna tent with a plug-in steamer and built-in red light panels, 1-year warranty. The lowest-priced way to get steam and red light in one unit. Capacity, panel wavelengths and steamer wattage are being confirmed with SaunaBox and will go in the table.

Infrared with red light

• SaunaBox Pulse PRO Infrared Sauna with Red Light Therapy, $699: far infrared heating with low EMF heaters, red light panels, rated for 1 to 2 people, 1-year warranty. The only unit here rated for two, and the one to pick for dry infrared heat at the lowest price.
• Therasage Thera360 PLUS Personal Infrared Sauna, $1,428: full spectrum infrared (near, mid and far) at 900 W, 100°F to 170°F, 33 by 33 by 46 inches in use, Tri-Lite red light panels, folds flat, 1-year warranty. The hottest and the most complete of the three.

Cabins with red light are coming: we are confirming with SaunaBox and Medical Sauna which of their cabins ship with red light emitters and will add them here. Until then, every cabin we sell is on Home Saunas, and a panel you can hang in a cabin you already own is on Red Light Therapy Panels.

An infrared sauna and red light therapy are two different things that happen to share a word. Infrared sauna heaters emit far infrared (and, in a full spectrum unit, mid and near infrared) that you feel as heat and cannot see; the point is to raise your skin and body temperature and make you sweat at a lower air temperature than a traditional sauna. Red light panels are arrays of LEDs at visible red (around 630 to 660 nm) and near infrared (around 850 nm) wavelengths at low power; you can see the red, and the panels do not heat the cabin. An infrared sauna without panels is not red light therapy, and a red light panel on its own will not make you sweat.

In the three units here both are built in, so the heat and the light run at once. If you own a separate panel and a sauna, the comparison articles that rank for this question suggest using the sauna first and the light after, or keeping them as separate sessions, so the light session is not cut short by heat tolerance. That is the order we would follow too.

What the light does for a given condition is a medical question, and we do not make claims about it on a product page. What we can tell you is what the emitters are: the wavelengths, the LED count and the panel placement, which we list on each product page as manufacturers confirm them. For panels that mount in a cabin you already own, see Red Light Therapy Panels; for the rest of the red light range, Red Light Therapy Devices.

• Steam and red light for the least money: SaunaBox SmartSteam Pro Red Light ($399). Needs a cup of water and an outlet, no plumbing.
• Dry infrared heat with red light, under $700: SaunaBox Pulse PRO ($699), low EMF heaters.
• Two people: Pulse PRO, rated 1 to 2; the other two seat one.
• The most heat and the full spectrum: Thera360 PLUS ($1,428), 900 W, up to 170°F, near, mid and far infrared.
• A cabin with red light: not yet; the cabins are on Home Saunas and the Solara and Medical 4 join this page once their red light is confirmed.

What to compare across brands

Red light saunas from other sellers run from about $300 tents to $6,000 two-person cabins. Compare the same seven things whoever you buy from: sauna type (steam, far infrared or full spectrum), capacity, wattage and whether it needs a dedicated circuit (all three of ours run from a standard outlet), maximum temperature, the red light panel's wavelengths and LED count, the EMF rating at the seat, and who handles the warranty. Sellers that quote only "red light therapy" with no wavelength are selling the words.

Outdoor, traditional and studio saunas

We do not stock outdoor or traditional cabins with red light built in; our traditional cabins are on Home Saunas without it. If you first met red light and sauna together at a gym or a studio (Planet Fitness is one chain, not affiliated with us), the difference is that a studio is a membership and these are a purchase: the running cost section below puts a number on that. One-person units like these fit a bathroom, a closet or a corner of a bedroom; Portable Saunas has the rest of the fold-flat range without red light.

All three run from a standard 120 V, 15 A outlet; none needs an electrician. The Thera360 PLUS draws 900 W and reaches 100°F to 170°F; the SmartSteam Pro heats a small tent with a plug-in steamer in about 10 minutes; the Pulse PRO is a far infrared unit on low EMF heaters. Session length is usually 20 to 40 minutes for the infrared units and 15 to 30 for the steam tent; start short and build up, and keep water nearby.

Running cost is small. As an estimate, 900 W for 30 minutes uses about 0.45 kWh, roughly 7 cents at 16 cents per kWh; a steam tent for 20 minutes uses less. Against a studio visit at $25 to $50 a session, a $399 unit pays for itself in a few weeks of regular use, which is the practical answer to whether a red light sauna is worth it: it comes down to how often you would use it and whether a one-person fold-flat unit is enough.

The practical downsides: the heat is real, so people who do not tolerate heat well should start at the low end of the range and keep sessions short; the red LEDs are bright at close range, so most people keep their eyes closed or use the supplied eye protection; a steam tent needs wiping down after use; and a one-person unit is a one-person unit, with your head outside on the tent-style models. None of these is a reason not to buy, but they are the things reviews mention.

Buying from us

Every unit is new with the manufacturer warranty handled through us: 1 year for SaunaBox and Therasage. Free shipping to domestic USA addresses in the lower 48; Alaska, Hawaii and international by quote. 30-day returns on eligible products in original condition.