Infrared vs traditional sauna at a glance
They share a name and a wooden box, and little else. Here is how they compare on the things that decide which one suits a home.
| Traditional | Infrared | |
|---|---|---|
| Air temperature | 80–100°C at face level | About 45–65°C in published studies |
| Humidity | 10–20%, raised by water on the stones | Dry, no stones to throw water on |
| How it heats you | Hot air and bursts of steam | Panels warm the skin directly |
| Heater power | 3.5–9kW | 2.2–3.6kW in one UK maker's range |
| Connection | Own circuit, 16–50A fuse | 13A plug, commando plug or hard-wired |
| Heat-up | About 1 hour | Shorter, with no stones to heat |
| Cost per session at 26.32p | About £2.37 for 6kW | At most 66p an hour for 2.5kW |
| Long-term evidence | 20-year cohort of 2,315 men | Small and short-term trials |
The sections below give the source for each row. The short version: traditional is hotter, steamier, better studied and dearer to install and run; infrared is gentler, cheaper to run and easier to fit, with thinner evidence behind it.
How hot each type of sauna gets
A traditional Finnish sauna has dry air at 10 to 20% humidity and a recommended temperature of 80 to 100°C at face level, as described in the Kuopio study in JAMA Internal Medicine. Throwing water on the hot stones, called löyly, raises the humidity for a moment and makes the heat feel sharper.
In practice people often run cooler. The men in that study reported an average of 78.9°C, and Harvia's Vega heater manual suggests about 65 to 80°C as a suitable room temperature.
Infrared cabins are built to work at much lower air temperatures, because the panels heat you rather than the air. A 2026 study in Experimental Physiology notes that earlier far-infrared research ran at about 45°C, and chose 65°C itself to match traditional sauna bathing more closely. A Japanese heart-failure trial used 60°C.
How each type of sauna heats you
A traditional heater warms a mass of stones and the air around them, and the hot air and steam heat your skin. Everything in the room gets hot, including the benches and walls, which is why a traditional sauna needs time and power to come up to temperature.
Infrared panels give off radiant heat that warms your skin directly, the way sunshine does on a cold day, while the air stays cooler. In the 2026 study, skin temperature rose by 7.4°C within 5 minutes of 12 healthy adults entering a 65°C far-infrared cabin.
The same study shows infrared can work the body hard when it's run hot enough. Over 45 minutes at 65°C, core temperature rose by 1.4°C, heart rate went from 74 to 153 beats a minute and participants sweated about 1.4 litres an hour. The authors note earlier work at around 45°C found the body stored little net heat, so the cabin's temperature setting matters.
Power, plugs and installation
A traditional heater is a big electrical load on its own circuit. Harvia's spec pages rate the 230V fuse for its 3.5kW Vega at 16A and its 9kW Vega at 50A, and every size in between needs a hard-wired circuit and, in England, Part P certification.
Infrared is lighter. Clearlight's 2-person indoor cabin is 2,500W on a 13A UK plug, its 3-person indoor cabin is hard-wired, and its 2-person outdoor cabin uses a 16A commando plug. An outdoor commando socket is still a new circuit, so it still needs an electrician.
| Type | Current at 230V | Connection | Electrician needed? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional, 3.5–9kW | 15–39A | Hard-wired, own circuit | Yes |
| Indoor infrared, 1–2 person | About 9–11A | 13A plug | Not for the plug; ask about add-ons |
| Larger indoor infrared | About 12A | Hard-wired | Yes |
| Outdoor infrared | About 10–15A | 16A or 32A commando plug | Yes, unless the socket exists |
Wales and Scotland handle the sauna electrical requirements differently from England, so check your nation's rules before you budget for a circuit. If avoiding a new circuit is the reason you're looking at infrared, compare the connection type of each of the best infrared saunas before you compare prices, because a 13A model and a hard-wired one cost very differently to install.
Heat-up time and session length
A traditional sauna takes about an hour to reach bathing temperature with a correctly sized heater, according to Harvia's manual, and Finnmark's outdoor sauna manual tells owners to allow at least an hour. Infrared has no stones to bring up to temperature, so it's ready sooner, and the panels warm you from the moment they're on.
Session lengths in the research are short. The Finnish men averaged 14.2 minutes per session, 2.1 times a week; the heart-failure trial used 15 minutes at 60°C; the 2026 study ran a single 45-minute exposure at 65°C, which participants rated as extremely hot and extremely uncomfortable by the end.
| Study | Sauna | Temperature | Session |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kuopio cohort, Finland | Traditional | 78.9°C average | 14.2 minutes average |
| Heart-failure trial, Japan | Far infrared | 60°C | 15 minutes, then 30 minutes' rest |
| Heat-strain study, 2026 | Far infrared | 65°C | 45 minutes, single session |
Running cost per session
At 26.32p per kWh, the Ofgem cap for 1 October to 31 December 2026, a 6kW traditional heater costs about £2.37 for a 1-hour heat-up and a 1-hour session with the thermostat holding the heater on half the time. A 2.5kW infrared cabin can't draw more than 2.5kWh in an hour, so an hour costs at most 66p.
That gap repeats every session. At 3 sessions a week it's about £370 a year for the 6kW heater against about £103 for the infrared cabin, at today's rate. Both figures move with the cap every quarter, and the running cost of each heater size climbs on cold nights, when an outdoor cabin takes longer to heat.
The bigger money difference often comes before the first session. A traditional electric heater needs a dedicated circuit, and an outdoor one a cable run down the garden, while a small indoor infrared cabin needs only a free 13A socket. A wood-fired traditional sauna avoids the electrician altogether, at the cost of a flue, clearances and logs.
What the research shows on traditional saunas
The study most often quoted on sauna and heart health followed 2,315 men aged 42 to 60 from eastern Finland for a median of 20.7 years, from baseline exams in 1984 to 1989. Compared with men who used a sauna once a week, those who went 4 to 7 times a week had a lower risk of fatal heart and circulatory events and of death from any cause.
| Outcome | 2–3 sessions a week | 4–7 sessions a week |
|---|---|---|
| Sudden cardiac death | HR 0.78 (0.57–1.07) | HR 0.37 (0.18–0.75) |
| Fatal coronary heart disease | HR 0.77 (0.60–0.99) | HR 0.52 (0.31–0.88) |
| Fatal cardiovascular disease | HR 0.73 (0.59–0.89) | HR 0.50 (0.33–0.77) |
| Death from any cause | HR 0.76 (0.66–0.88) | HR 0.60 (0.46–0.80) |
A hazard ratio of 0.60 means 40% lower risk than the once-a-week group over the follow-up, after adjusting for other risk factors. It's an observational study, so it shows an association, not that the sauna caused the difference, and the authors call for further studies on the mechanism.
It also has clear limits for anyone weighing infrared. The cohort was all men, the saunas were hot Finnish ones, and the authors write that the results can't be applied directly to steam rooms, hot tubs and some other types of sauna.
What the research shows on infrared saunas
There is no long-term cohort of infrared users to set beside the Finnish study. What exists is smaller and shorter, and reviews of it say so plainly.
| Study | Who | What it found |
|---|---|---|
| Beever, 2009 review | 9 papers on far-infrared saunas | Limited moderate evidence for blood pressure and heart failure; claims on cholesterol refuted |
| WAON-CHF trial, 2016 | 149 patients with advanced heart failure | Better symptom class, walking distance and heart size on X-ray after 10 days; main blood marker not significant |
| Oosterveld, 2009 pilot | 34 people with rheumatoid arthritis or ankylosing spondylitis | Less pain and stiffness during sessions; 4-week changes not significant |
| Jenkins, 2026 | 12 healthy adults | 45 minutes at 65°C raised core temperature by 1.4°C |
A 2018 systematic review of dry sauna bathing found 40 studies with 3,855 participants, of which only 13 were randomised controlled trials, and most had fewer than 40 people. It concluded that regular dry sauna bathing has potential health benefits but that better data is needed, including on which types of sauna help which people.
So the fair reading is that infrared heat produces real physical strain when run hot enough, and has small trials behind specific uses. It doesn't have the decades of follow-up that traditional saunas do, and the Finnish numbers shouldn't be borrowed for it.
Which type of sauna suits you
Choose on how you want the heat to feel and what your house can supply, not on health claims. If you want 80°C-plus and steam from the stones, only a traditional sauna does that, and it needs a dedicated circuit or a wood stove.
| If you… | Lean towards |
|---|---|
| Want löyly, steam and 80–100°C | Traditional |
| Can't add a 16A–50A circuit | Indoor infrared on a 13A plug |
| Will use it most days and watch the bill | Infrared |
| Have no power at the bottom of the garden | Traditional with a wood stove |
| Find 80°C air hard to breathe | Infrared |
| Want the setup the long-term studies used | Traditional |
If you have a heart condition, are pregnant or take medication that affects blood pressure, ask your doctor before using either type. In the 2026 study, heart rate roughly doubled and blood pressure fell after a session, and those were healthy adults.
Questions people ask
Is infrared or traditional sauna better?
Neither is better for everyone. A traditional sauna gives 80 to 100°C air and steam from the stones and has the long-term research behind it; an infrared cabin is gentler, plugs into far less power and costs under a third as much per session. Pick on the heat you want and the supply you have.
Do infrared saunas get as hot as traditional saunas?
No, not in air temperature. Traditional saunas run at 80 to 100°C at face level, while published infrared studies used about 45 to 65°C. Infrared panels warm the skin directly, so the cabin can feel hot at a lower air temperature.
Is an infrared sauna cheaper to run?
Yes. At the October to December 2026 Ofgem cap of 26.32p per kWh, an hour in a 2.5kW infrared cabin costs at most 66p, against about £2.37 for a typical session in a 6kW traditional sauna including its 1-hour heat-up.
Do the sauna health studies apply to infrared?
The best-known ones don't. The 20-year Kuopio study that linked frequent sauna use with lower cardiovascular and all-cause mortality followed men using traditional Finnish saunas, and its authors say the results can't be applied directly to other types. Infrared research is mostly small, short trials.
Can you put water on an infrared sauna?
Not in a standard infrared cabin. There are no hot stones to throw water on, and the panels aren't designed to get wet. If löyly steam matters to you, you need a traditional heater with stones.