Infrared vs traditional sauna: what differs and who should check first

Short answer: Traditional saunas run hotter air: 150 to 195 degrees F, against 110 to 135 degrees Fahrenheit for infrared (Cleveland Clinic), though 18 US studios’ own pages put infrared’s median top setting at 158°F. Infrared is often called more comfortable, but cooler air is not a safer session: at 65°C, healthy adults’ heart rate went from 74 to 153 bpm. The long-term heart findings are associations from Finnish saunas, and we found no study showing they carry over to infrared. If heat is hard for you, or you are older than 65, pregnant, ill, on medication or have a heart condition, ask a clinician before either.

This guide is general information, not medical advice. We did not visit or test any venue or cabin. Everything here comes from the health bodies, makers, studios and studies named, read between Oct. 24 and Nov. 4, 2026.

Neither format wins, because the sources do not support a winner. A 2018 systematic review says: “There is not yet enough evidence to distinguish any particular health differences between repeat Finnish-style and repeat infrared sauna bathing.”

Infrared vs traditional sauna, side by side

Each cell gives what the named source prints. Nothing has been converted between Celsius and Fahrenheit, and we measured nothing ourselves.

	Traditional (Finnish-style)	Infrared
Temperature, health sources	150 to 195 degrees F (66 to 91 C), Cleveland Clinic; about 150° F to 195° F, Harvard Health	110 to 135 degrees Fahrenheit (43 to 57 degrees Celsius), Cleveland Clinic; 120° F to 140° F, Harvard Health
Temperature, makers and studios	160 to 185+ degrees F, Almost Heaven manual; about 80 to 105°C, International Sauna Association	115 to 125°F, Clearlight; 100°F to 129°F, never above 130°F, Sunlighten; top settings of 130°F to 182°F, median 158°F, on 18 US studio pages (our count)
Dial against measured air	78°C on the factory thermostat, 66°C measured (Atencio 2025)	57°C on the factory thermostat, 45°C measured (same study)
Humidity	About less than 20%, Cleveland Clinic; as low as 10% to 60%, or more, North American Sauna Society	No water or steam, North American Sauna Society
First session, as published	Five minutes, Harvard Health and Cleveland Clinic; no more than 5 to 10 minutes, American Lung Association	Something like 110 degrees for five to 10 minutes, Cleveland Clinic; 10 to 15 minutes, Clearlight; no more than 15 minutes, Sunlighten
Regular session, as published	Around 15 to 20 minutes, Cleveland Clinic; no more than 20 minutes at a time, American Lung Association; median 13 minutes in one Finnish cohort	20 to 30 minutes, Cleveland Clinic and Clearlight; 30 to 45 minutes, Sunlighten and Restore Hyper Wellness
Core temperature in healthy adults	+0.4°C after three 10-minute rounds (Atencio 2025)	+0.0°C after 45 minutes in a cabin averaging 45°C (Atencio 2025); +1.4°C after 45 minutes at 65°C (Jenkins 2026)
Heart rate in healthy adults	+34 bpm (Atencio 2025)	+26 bpm, not a statistically significant difference (Atencio 2025); 74 to 153 bpm at 65°C (Jenkins 2026)
Body mass lost as sweat	0.66 kg (Atencio 2025)	0.39 kg, not a statistically significant difference (Atencio 2025)
What the evidence covers	Long-term associations in Finland: 2,315 men over a median 20.7 years; 1,688 people over a median 15.0 years	Mostly small short trials: 25 of 40 studies in the 2018 review, and one 5-year retrospective cohort of 129 people with heart failure
What it does not cover	Proof of cause. An 8-week randomized trial in stable coronary disease found no vascular gain. Harvard Health reports the authors said their results don’t apply to steam baths and hot tubs	Long-term outcomes in the general public, and older or ill people alone in a retail cabin at studio settings: we found no study of either
Who should check first	The list below	The same list, and a maker’s extra warnings on bleeding and pacemakers

Most of the temperatures are set points or typical ranges, not what you get on the bench. Atencio 2025 ran the two formats differently, each as it is commonly used, in 20 adults aged about 24.

Is infrared the safe choice if heat is hard for you?

Do not assume so. Cleveland Clinic’s specialist says infrared saunas tend to be gentler and more comfortable, but the same page says you may want to avoid them with multiple sclerosis, in pregnancy, when trying to conceive or when sick. It also says to check with your provider if you have any pre-existing medical condition.

Sunlighten, which sells infrared cabins, is blunter: “The ability to maintain core body temperature decreases with age.” It tells older users to run a lower temperature for no more than 15 minutes at a time, well short of the 30 to 45 minutes it says most people enjoy.

Finding heat hard can be a symptom in itself. MedlinePlus lists medicines, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, Graves disease and multiple sclerosis among the causes, and says: “Contact your provider if you have unexplained heat intolerance.”

The National Institute on Aging says older adults are at higher risk, and: “The temperature inside or outside does not have to be high to put them at risk for a heat-related illness.”

Older and ill people have used infrared in studies, in hospital or research settings: 16 of 34 heart failure patients with a mean age of 79.5 in one pilot, and 14 healthy adults aged about 73 in another study. We found no study of them using a retail cabin alone at studio settings, so these do not show it is safe for you.

Who should check with a clinician before either sauna

A cooler room does not shorten this list.

• Pregnancy: stay out unless your care team says otherwise. ACOG says it’s best not to use saunas early in pregnancy, and Cleveland Clinic repeats that for infrared. Our pregnancy guide has more.
• Stay out after a recent heart attack or stroke, or if you have been drinking alcohol (Cleveland Clinic), and when you are sick or have a fever (Cleveland Clinic, Sunlighten).
• Check first if you are older than 65 or under 16, are trying to get pregnant, are concerned about male infertility, take medication, or have heart disease, severe aortic stenosis, heart failure, high or low blood pressure, or epilepsy (Cleveland Clinic).
• Blood pressure and valves. Harvard Health says a sauna can temporarily lower your blood pressure, so be cautious with low blood pressure, valve disease or heart failure. Our guide on blood pressure covers it.
• Medicines. CDC names diuretics, anticholinergic agents and some psychotropic medications among those that raise heat risk. See our medication and heat checklist and common medications guide.
• Infrared adds: multiple sclerosis (Cleveland Clinic). Sunlighten’s own list adds obesity, diabetes, circulatory problems and impaired sweating, says people predisposed to bleeding should avoid infrared saunas, and says the magnets in its saunas can interrupt the pacing of pacemakers.

Leave at once if you feel unwell, dizzy, weak or find it hard to breathe: Cleveland Clinic says to exit the sauna and seek medical help. Call 911 for confusion, a seizure or loss of consciousness, as MedlinePlus says for heat emergencies. Our guide on what to do if you feel faint in a sauna covers the steps.

How each sauna heats you

A traditional sauna uses a wood-burning, gas or electric heater to heat the whole room, and Cleveland Clinic says this warms you mostly through hot air. Water thrown on the stones makes a vapor called löyly, and the International Sauna Association describes low humidity that is briefly increased.

An infrared cabin uses lamps or panels to warm your body more directly. FDA describes infrared lamp devices as emitting energy “to provide topical heating”.

Measurements fit that. In a 2025 Oregon study, 10 adults sat for 45 minutes with probes in the thigh muscle. Temperature rose 3.0°C at 1.4 cm deep and 1.1°C at 3.4 cm, while core temperature did not change.

The authors say commercial far infrared saunas provide “only superficial heating” of peripheral tissues. Clearlight’s FAQ says the heat penetrates deep into muscles and joints, so read that as a sales line.

Radiant or hot air decides how the heat arrives, not how much you take on. The 2026 Cardiff study says the effect on core temperature is governed by the thermal load imposed.

Temperature: the printed range, the studio setting and the dial

Health sources print two neat ranges, and they do not match every room. On Nov. 4, 2026 we re-read the 19 studio pages behind our first infrared session guide. Of those, 18 still print a setting for their own infrared room or pod.

Top settings run from 120 to 130 degrees F at Eastend in Chicago to 182 degrees at Spa Haus in Nashville. By our count the median top setting is 158°F, 10 of the 18 go above 150°F and 6 run at 170°F or more.

That overlaps Cleveland Clinic’s traditional range, which starts at 150 degrees F (66 C). The study that took heart rate to 153 bpm ran at 65°C, a temperature its authors call more typical of traditional sauna bathing.

A top setting is not what you have to sit in, and many studios adjust. iCRYO says it raises the temperature gradually up to 150°F, and Elevated recommends 140 to 145 degrees for a first time.

The dial may also mislead you. So ask what the room is set to, where that reading is taken, and for a lower setting if you are new.

Session length: the published figures disagree

For traditional saunas, Cleveland Clinic says around 15 to 20 minutes, starting with five. The American Lung Association says no more than 5 to 10 minutes at first and that no one should spend more than 20 minutes at a time. Almost Heaven’s manual says not to exceed 30 min.

For infrared, Cleveland Clinic says something like 110 degrees for five to 10 minutes at first, and 20 to 30 minutes even if you are experienced. Clearlight, a maker, says about 10 to 15 minutes and then 20 to 30.

The longer figures come from those selling cabins and sessions. Sunlighten says most people enjoy 30 to 45 minutes, Restore Hyper Wellness says most sessions are 30 to 45 minutes, and GOAT Wellness says each session lasts 30 to 60 minutes.

The research does not settle it. In the 2018 review, all but two infrared studies used 60°C for 15 to 30 minutes, so long studio blocks are not what was mostly tested.

We found no study that set a safe upper limit for either format. A booked block is a maximum, not a target, and any of these figures still sits behind the list above.

What the evidence covers for traditional saunas

The long follow-up is Finnish. Among 2,315 men in Eastern Finland followed for a median 20.7 years, the hazard ratio for sudden cardiac death was 0.37 at 4 to 7 sessions a week, against 1 session.

A second cohort of 1,688 people, 51.4% women, found lower cardiovascular death with more sessions. Its mean reading was 75.9°C, and the median session was 13 minutes.

These are associations in people’s existing habits, not a tested dose. A Harvard cardiologist says frequent users may simply be healthier in general and better off.

Trials have been less encouraging. A 2023 randomized trial of 41 adults with stable coronary disease, 4 sessions a week at 79°C for 8 weeks, found no improvement in markers of vascular health.

A 2025 review of 20 trials of mixed heat methods says passive heating may not improve most heart and metabolic markers. It found a possible drop in systolic blood pressure, to read with caution. Our guide on sauna and your heart goes further.

What the evidence covers for infrared saunas

Infrared is not a small corner of the research: 25 of 40 studies in the 2018 review used it, against 11 Finnish. But only 13 of the 40 were randomized, most were small, and 16 of the 19 heart studies came from one Japanese group.

The largest trial is Tei 2016: 76 treated and 73 control patients in hospital with advanced heart failure, at 60°C for 15 minutes and then 30 minutes under a blanket, daily for 10 days. Walking distance and symptom class improved, and no serious adverse events were observed.

That is not a home or studio session. A 2009 review found limited moderate evidence for blood pressure and heart failure, and evidence against cholesterol claims. In a 2024 trial of 12 older adults with type 2 diabetes, 40 minutes at 60°C did not improve blood sugar handling.

The Finnish cohorts recorded traditional sauna habits, and we found no study showing their results carry over. Cleveland Clinic’s specialist says you can get similar effects from each, while the same page says more research is needed, especially on infrared.

So do not buy an infrared cabin on Finnish numbers. For pain, see our guide on whether infrared helps: Cleveland Clinic says many of the studies are small.

Sweating, detox and calories

Both formats make you sweat, and in a cabin how much depends on the heat. One study measured 0.46 L/h in a commercial cabin, and another 1.4 L/h at 65°C.

Sweat is not a detox route you can count on. A 2019 review says the role of sweating in clearing toxicants seems minor compared with the kidneys and gut, and that “direct evidence for sweating as an effective detoxification method is lacking”. It asks for better studies, and a 2023 pilot did detect pesticide metabolites in sweat.

Sales pages say much more. Clearlight describes a detoxifying sweat with more toxins and heavy metals than exercise sweat, and we found no study that shows it.

NCCIH lists using a sauna among detox programs and calls the few studies low quality. Our guide on sweating and detox has more.

Calorie claims are similar. On Nov. 4, 2026, Replenish’s page for one 30-minute program said “Can burn up to 600 calories per session”, while Cleveland Clinic says there isn’t any clear evidence a sauna helps you burn fat and lose weight.

It says weight lost by sweating is water, and calls that dehydration. Our guide on infrared and calories traces the figure.

EMF in infrared saunas: what the numbers mean

Makers sell on low EMF. Sunlighten says its heater panels measure 0.5 mG, and Clearlight lists its saunas at under 1 mG. Those are the makers’ own reports of tests we have not seen.

Clearlight gives 3 milligauss as a CDC recommendation on one page and an EPA proposal on another. EPA’s own page says there are no U.S. federal standards limiting residential or occupational exposure to EMF from power lines, and we did not find the 3 milligauss figure on the EPA or NIEHS pages we read.

NIEHS says research in the 1990s mostly looked at power lines, substations and appliances. It describes a weak association for childhood leukemia, and says the few studies in adults show no evidence of a link with adult cancers. PubMed searches on Nov. 4, 2026 found no study of sauna heater EMF and health.

Health promises on infrared sales pages

Read health promises the way you read EMF numbers. In a July 2022 warning letter, FDA told one seller its far infrared sauna was cleared as an infrared lamp, for uses such as temporary relief of minor muscle and joint pain, and that its claims about cancer and kidney function went beyond that. Sunlighten says its products are General Wellness products, not medical devices, and not intended to treat, cure or prevent disease.

Infrared is also not red light therapy, which uses low levels of red light on the skin (Cleveland Clinic). Our guide on infrared and red light separates them.

Cold plunge after either sauna

Alternating heat and cold is common in traditional Finnish sauna bathing, and the 2018 review notes that infrared saunas typically do not have such variations. We found no study of cold water after infrared, and no comparison of the two, so calling one pairing better or sharper is opinion.

The evidence on the habit is thin. A 2026 review of contrast therapy found little evidence of effects on resting heart rate, blood pressure or vascular health, and said the evidence base is limited.

A 2026 study of 16 healthy adults did find that a 90-second dip at 20°C between rounds at 85°C made the sauna easier to tolerate. That is one small study of a traditional sauna.

Cold water has its own risk. American Heart Association News describes a cold shock response: a sudden, rapid increase in breathing, heart rate and blood pressure. Clearlight says anyone pregnant, with heart or breathing conditions, on medications that affect heat or cold tolerance, or prone to fainting should speak with a healthcare professional first.

Our guides on which comes first and contrast therapy go further.

What each one is like to use

The 2018 review says Finnish-style saunas are more often used in family, group and public settings, and infrared saunas more commonly built and marketed for individual use. Harvard Health calls the Finnish sauna a gathering place for family and friends for centuries.

In a traditional room you can change the heat by moving: InfoFinland says you can sit on a lower bench if you feel too hot on the upper benches. Our guide to first sauna session etiquette covers the room.

An infrared cabin has no water or steam, and Cleveland Clinic calls it gentler and more comfortable. Feel still depends on the setting.

In Atencio 2025, comfort ratings at the end of heating did not differ between the two formats. At 65°C, people rated infrared ‘extremely uncomfortable’, as the Cardiff paper prints it. Our guide to a first infrared session covers the visit.

Some bathhouses offer both. World Spa in Brooklyn lists saunas, banyas and an infrared room, so you can compare at one venue if none of the cautions applies.

Home cabins: wiring, recalls and cost

Plug-in is true of some models only. Clearlight says smaller saunas plug into standard household outlets while larger models need upgraded circuits. Sunlighten says to use a dedicated circuit installed by your electrician, and that you cannot plug into a powerstrip.

Traditional heaters need checking too: Almost Heaven’s barrel manual recommends quotes from two to three licensed electricians. Our guide on home cold plunge and sauna costs has the makers’ prices and wiring, and our home infrared buying guide covers cabins.

Preheat differs by maker as well. Clearlight says 10 to 15 minutes, and Sunlighten says 45 to 60 minutes.

Check any home cabin against recalls. On September 17, 2026, CPSC announced a Sauna360 recall of about 41,580 infrared and hybrid saunas and kits, because panels can short circuit and overheat. The firm received 67 reports of overheating, melting, charring or burning, with no injuries reported.

Almost Heaven also says people with pre-existing health conditions should not bathe on their own, which applies at home more than anywhere.

Deciding between infrared and traditional

We cannot tell you which suits you, and the 2018 review says there is insufficient evidence to recommend specific types of sauna for specific conditions. Run the list above first.

If none of the cautions applies, the practical differences are these.

• Traditional: hotter air, water on the stones, more often used in groups, and the format the long follow-up recorded.
• Infrared: usually lower air temperature, no water or steam, more often built for one person, and longer sessions on makers’ and studios’ pages.
• Either: start short, ask for the setting, drink water, skip alcohol, and leave if you feel unwell.

Our guides on choosing a studio and what a session costs cover what to ask before you pay. You can browse day experiences by city for venues and their official sites, or our guides to Los Angeles, New York and Chicago, none of which we visited.

FAQ: infrared vs traditional sauna

Which one makes you sweat more?

In the one direct comparison we found, people lost 0.66 kg in a traditional sauna and 0.39 kg in an infrared cabin, a difference that was not statistically significant. Cleveland Clinic says weight lost this way is dehydration, not weight loss.

Is infrared better for beginners?

It may feel more comfortable, but start low and short: Cleveland Clinic suggests something like 110 degrees for five to 10 minutes. A studio’s default setting can be far higher, so ask, and run the list above first.

Is infrared safer if I am older or find heat hard?

Do not assume so. Cleveland Clinic says to check with a provider if you are older than 65, and an infrared maker tells older users to run a lower temperature for no more than 15 minutes. Unexplained heat intolerance is itself a reason to see your provider.

Does infrared have the same heart benefits as a traditional sauna?

We found no long-term study showing that outside heart failure. The Finnish findings are associations from traditional saunas, and a 2018 review says there is not yet enough evidence to tell the two apart.

Can you cold plunge after infrared?

We found no study of it. Cold water triggers a sudden rise in breathing, heart rate and blood pressure, so check first if the list above applies to you.

How often should you use either?

We found no trial that set a frequency for healthy people. Harvard Health says Finns average two or three times a week, and Clearlight and Sunlighten print 3 to 4. Our guide on how often to sauna or cold plunge has more.

The bottom line on infrared vs traditional saunas

Traditional saunas run hotter air and have the long follow-up, as associations. Infrared cabins usually run at a lower air temperature and have mostly small short trials, and how hard they work your body depends on how hot they actually run.

Cooler air does not make infrared the safe choice. If heat is hard for you, or the list above applies, ask a clinician before either, ask any venue for the setting, and start short.

Related reading on heat rooms

• Types of sauna explained
• What the sauna evidence supports
• Sauna vs steam room
• Sauna temperature and time
• Modality guides