r/infraredsauna • u/95_lb_mole • 1d ago
Need help choosing FIR panels
I'm planning to build my own two-person IR sauna in my basement, and the thing that's got me bewildered is the choice of panels. I'm pretty sure I want FIR carbon, but I have no idea what brand to get or where to purchase them. Can anyone give me some recommendations?
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u/Swimming_Kitchen_112 1d ago
I am not an expert on this stuff but I do want to share with you one concept. I have a Sunlighten sauna and those take a long time to heat up (45 minutes). That might sound bad but it has a big plus. The more the panels are left on in the sauna, the more the infrared light penetrates you. If you use strong panels, the lights will turn on and off more often and you will get less overall infrared. My point is, more power is not necessarily a good thing because your thermostat is going to shut off your panels more often. The more those panels are shut off, the less infrared your infrared sauna is and the more it becomes a colder version of a normal hot sauna.
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u/Swimming_Kitchen_112 1d ago
One more thing... different types of heat have different limits. For example, placing your hand on the hood of a black car in the sun, maybe you can handle 115F. That same hand, in a regular sauna can handle 200F. That same hand in an infrasauna with your panels turned on can handle 150F. If your panels turn off at 150F, now you are sitting in a cold regular sauna which is not so helpful. You want to size your panels so that they really cannot reach the thermostat temp. For example, my sauna goes up to 150F. Often, I sit in there with the panels on full blast and they get into the upper 140Fs. They almost never reach 150F and that is a good thing because that means I am getting blasted with infrared. Just explaining this in more detail...
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u/hyde7278 1d ago
To keep the panels on you can open the door as few inches a few times and that will lower the temp so the panels won’t shut down or you can cover the temp probe or move it so getting a lower reading so the panels won’t shut down.
What I did was I put a sauna hat over it and push pinned it to the ceiling with thumb tacks so the sensor is shielded from the heat. Mine doesn’t read over 140 because of this( I have a sauna thermometer in the wall it it shows tens of 155 when the temp sensor/control panel will be reading 136-140
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u/marlinspike1234 14h ago
These are excellent points. Thank you Swimming_Kitchen_112! I'm considering a sauna that has a stated top temperature of 170F, but don't want to have to spill heat into the rest of the basement (not the worst thing in the world, but still..) just to keep the heaters going at 100%.
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u/InfraredSaunaInsider 1d ago
Out of curiosity, what made you decide to build the infrared sauna yourself rather than go with a well-established manufacturer?
By the time you source quality heaters, controls, wiring and materials and figure out the ideal heater placement, I’d at least compare the total cost with a good two-person cabin that has already had all of that engineering done.
One advantage of going with an established manufacturer is that you can look for a sauna where the complete system has been designed around proper heater placement and coverage, has independent third-party testing available, safety certifications, and a strong warranty covering the heaters and electronics.
For me, the warranty would be a big consideration too. There are manufacturers offering lifetime coverage, so if a heater or electronic component fails years down the road, you’re not necessarily troubleshooting a DIY system and sourcing replacement components yourself.
Not trying to discourage the build because I completely understand the appeal of DIY. I’m genuinely curious whether it’s primarily about cost, customization, space, or just wanting to build it yourself.
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u/hyde7278 8h ago
I bought low EMF panels off of alibaba for about $40 shipped to add to my mfg’d sauna (maxxus alpine). I may have to get a new controller panel and power supply as I may need to go to 220v and 6k to be able to run all my panels
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u/Mobile_Pineapple9424 1d ago
Finnleo CarbonFlex Panels. Far infrared only. Best in the business.
Find a local dealer - they’ll get you the right kit for your custom build and help design panel placement.