My Therasauna Review: Is This Infrared Sauna Worth It Or Not?

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In this Therasauna review, you’ll get a bird’s eye view of what it’s like to buy a Therasauna infrared sauna, and see firsthand the pros and cons of owning one.  Truth be told, I want to love this sauna… but there are a few issues with it. While I do love the way the heaters feel, and I get a good sweat at low temperatures, the build quality downright sucks for the price you pay. And I think anyone would be disappointed if they spent $3,000 + on a brand new sauna, and then had to take a reciprocating saw to it just to finish assembling it. Again, I want to love this sauna… something about the heaters just feels right. But there are so many little things that drive me crazy, I can’t live with it: from the hiss the stereo makes while you’re trying to relax, to the preheat time taking an hour to heat up to the 130’s F, there are just too many little things that add up to a deal breaker.

Update – 02/10/19 – These are the 3 best sauna brands that tested the best


My Therasauna Review Summary:
Pros & Cons Of The Therasauna Ceramic Infrared Sauna

Pros:

  • I love the hot spots of the ceramic heaters. Some people don’t like this because it can get uncomfortable and you have to move around, but I like the intensity.
  • The Therasauna does deliver a deep penetrating sweat from the rear, and something about it just feels “right.”  I can’t quantify this scientifically, since it measures similar using all of my go-to tools, but I want to love this sauna I really do.

Cons:

  • Poor build quality I would say is the number one thing that stops me from recommending this sauna to people. If you don’t have tools like I do, and aren’t handy, it would have been a total cluster fuck for someone else to deal with cutting the radio housing on this sauna (all because the factory forgot to make a cut), and fixing the broken roof upon arrival.  Let me put it this way… if I were to recommend this sauna, and a reader bought it and this happened to them, they would be pissed at me.
  • Preheat time is simply way, too, loooooong.  Heating it up is slow going, and I’m in Florida… so it’s not like it’s in some cold winter basement, and we’re fighting the ambient temperatures here. It literally takes over an hour to get to 140 F.
  • I hate the tinted glass. This is a personal pet peeve of mine, but the lighting in this sauna downright sucks, and when you add the tinted glass, it’s nothing but doom and gloom inside. The light flickering from day one, is just another reason why I think the build quality is shit on this sauna.

Therasauna Review

Buy It Or Not?

In short, I wouldn’t buy it again.

Like I keep saying, part of me wants to love this sauna. I like the heaters.  I hate the build quality.  I dislike the fact that there is no frontal infrared exposure. I find myself turning around in the sauna at times, both to relieve my back from the semi-directional heat, and to get a little more on the front.  Long term, this just isn’t practical.

For me to recommend this sauna, they would have to fix several things starting with the loose ends on the build quality. Broken pieces on delivery is unacceptable quality control for people spending over $3k.  The stereo hiss absolutely must be fixed, since I won’t even use the sauna without unplugging it. And the heater configuration or power supply would need to be improved to lower the preheat time, and provide some type of frontal IR coverage.


Therasauna EMF Levels

While there is some discrepancy on what is an acceptable EMF level in the sauna world these days, you never know who is totally full of shit peddling fear marketing, and who is truly reporting factual information.

In my opinion, the Thersasauna EMF levels aren’t terrible, but the magnetic fields are a bit higher than I’d like to see at the backrest.  I do love what they’ve done with mitigating the electric fields, but the ceramic heaters are notorious for having high magnetic fields if they’re not mitigated at all. There is a SOLID 10 – 12 milligauss magnetic field right at the backrest, which isn’t going away.  As for RF levels, I didn’t even bother to test the stereo for RF, since I couldn’t use the sauna with the receiver plugged in… the god awful hissing noise drove me nuts, so I just unplugged it permanently.   (I have to factor this into my opinion of this sauna too, because many people would be really pissed if they just spent a few thousand dollars on a sauna, and couldn’t use the radio with meditation music or what have you…)

I still think the benefits of this particular sauna, outweigh the emf readings I got when testing it fully. All these people running around with Trifield meters saying it’s super high EMF, really have no idea what they’re talking about. The forums and sauna facebook groups are perpetuating this nonsense, and no one is being educated on how Trifield meters are influenced by dirty electricity and foreign fields that have absolutely nothing to do with the sauna’s emissions. This is leading to reviews of the Therasauna and other name brand sauna videos floating around the internet that have no barometer of legitimacy whatsoever.

When you throw a triple axis gaussmeter on it, and double check it with single axis and multiple meters, the picture becomes crystal clear.

It is my opinion that the Therasauna EMF levels are not great, but they’re not awful either.  If you already own one, and someone in some sauna group is trying to convince you that it’s dangerous and suggesting you get rid of it to buy a “Clearlight”, these people are full of shit and are simply leveraging fear marketing against you like they do to everyone else.

That said, I still wouldn’t buy the Therasauna if you’re in the market for a new low emf infrared sauna… not because I think the EMF levels are too high or will kill you (contrary to the bullshit you hear online), simply because I think you can get a better sauna for less money like I did.

Therasauna EMF Levels


Therasauna Complaints

My main complaints on the Therasauna have mostly been addressed above, but I’ll bullet point them below.  You’ll see the majority of them firsthand in the review videos.

  • hissing sound system whether it’s powered on or off, no difference. Had to remove it altogether
  • delivered with broken roof, trim missing cuts from the factory, I had to take a saw to it to finish assembling it
  • solid 11 milliguass magnetic field at the backrest, definitely not what I would consider low emf by any means
  • preheat time is just too long at over an hour to get into the 130’s F
  • no frontal infrared exposure

…to be continued

NOTE – I purchased a Therasauna Classic. Apparently not to be confused with a “Therasauna.”

DIY Sauna Course

5 thoughts on “My Therasauna Review: Is This Infrared Sauna Worth It Or Not?”

  1. The Yoga/Massage Therapy Center I go to just got one of these saunas and I had a chance to try it out this week. The one they have is basically the same model as yours but it is a larger 2-3 person size. I appreciate your review and also wanted to add a few differences I noticed.
    The sound system in it worked great, clear sound with no hissing.
    I don’t know how easy it was for them to assemble, but I did notice that the door was slightly crooked. Other than that, the build seemed very solid.
    It didn’t seem to take very long to heat up. I was only in it for about 20 mins, and it got pretty hot within 5 mins or so. I was sitting directly against one of the heaters and had to move over as it got uncomfortably hot on my back.
    Also, in this larger model, there were heaters in the front as well as the back and behind my legs.
    Overall, I really enjoyed it and found your blog after I got back home and went searching for some unbiased reviews. I was mainly interested in the EMF levels and was happy to find your measurements.
    Thank you!

    Reply
  2. I totally agree with everything you say. i just purchased a TC3636 therasauna classic. the box is built in china and the electronics are installed by the importer in the USA. the crew that builds therasauna in the USA doesn’t even touch it. i went with that model because of a space issue and the design. it has to go in a really nice room. quality control sucks. one light with a broken lens,one that doesn’t work,therma couples that had a rubber band around around it to keep from falling through the oversize hole,2 screws that were supposed to hold down the power box actually came through the roof,they missed drilling one of the holes for the heater wires by 2 inches(i had to drill it) the door had only one allen screw that was snug and the 2 door lock plates fell off. It shut off after 30minutes. I was able to track the problem to a neutral wire making contact with another pin and it fired back up.they are sending me a replacement power pack and lights. To send something like that out for $3000.00 is a slap in the face. I’m making a video with detailed pictures.The high EMF level concerns me. thanks for the honest review

    Reply
  3. If your light flickers you plugged the light into a heater port instead of the light port. I also had the same problem because I didn’t use the instructions to put it together.. if you had looked at the instructions you would also know how to run the controller. On mine if you wait a moment on the temp cycle it will switch directions. This is also stated in the instructions….
    The roof top is left off so that you can hook up all of the cords to the control pack that is located in the roof. It comes with screws to fasten it down after you have hooked everything up. Also in the instructions.
    I like your reviews but you are a little sloppy on the the install .

    Reply
  4. I agree with you on build quality. Absolutely horrible! My radio display quit working right away, the overhead light flickers too but only on certain color settings like green and blue. Worst of all, the lower door hinge was mounted to the door jamb about 3/8″ too far out so it never closes properly without janking on it and it doesn’t seal the cold air out well at all. I thought about trying to redrill the hinge holes and re-mount but I’m no carpenter. Overall, the only good things are it’s size for a smaller room and the heaters which I do like.

    Reply

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