Infrared sauna: how it works, what it costs, and whether it's right for you

An infrared sauna is a cabin fitted with radiant heating panels that warm your body directly rather than heating the air around you. Because the heat transfers straight to your skin, the cabin only needs to reach 45–60°C to produce a heavy sweat — against 70–100°C in a traditional Finnish sauna. That lower air temperature is the whole story: it means shorter warm-up, far less power draw, and — for most domestic cabins — no electrical work, because they run on an ordinary 13A plug.

That last point is why infrared has taken over the UK home market. A traditional sauna is a building project with an electrician attached. An infrared cabin is a piece of furniture you assemble in an afternoon.

What “infrared” actually means here

Infrared is simply light at wavelengths longer than visible red. It carries energy, and when it lands on your skin that energy becomes heat. This is the same mechanism by which the sun warms you on a cold day while the air around you stays cold.

Sauna manufacturers split the band three ways:

Band	Wavelength	How it’s produced	What it does
Near (NIR)	~0.75–1.4 µm	Halogen or LED emitters	Penetrates furthest into tissue — a few millimetres. Emits visible light and feels intense
Mid (MIR)	~1.4–3 µm	Ceramic or hybrid emitters	Intermediate absorption depth
Far (FIR)	~3–15 µm	Carbon or ceramic panels	Absorbed at and just under the skin surface. The workhorse of most cabins

Most cabins sold in the UK are far-infrared only, using flat carbon panels behind the wall and bench surfaces. Full-spectrum cabins add a separate near-infrared emitter, usually a bright halogen lamp on the front wall, and cost considerably more.

Be sceptical of penetration claims. You will see “penetrates 4cm into the body” attached to far-infrared marketing; that is not supported, and it is the near-infrared band that reaches deepest in any case. The honest version is that infrared heats you efficiently from the skin inward. That is enough — it does not need embellishing.

What it feels like

Different from a traditional sauna, and worth knowing before you buy.

The air is breathable. You can sit at 55°C comfortably reading something, which you cannot do at 90°C. The heat feels directional — the panel facing you is doing the work, and turning around changes the sensation. Sweat starts later, around 10–15 minutes in, then becomes substantial. Sessions run 30–45 minutes rather than the 8–15 minute rounds typical of a hot Finnish sauna.

What you don’t get is löyly — the steam burst from throwing water on hot stones. There are no stones, and pouring water on an infrared panel would be a genuinely bad idea. If that ritual is what you’re picturing, read infrared vs traditional sauna before spending anything.

Cabin types and what they cost

Indicative UK prices for 2026, ex-delivery:

Type	Occupancy	Typical footprint	Indicative price
Infrared blanket	1	Folds away	£150–£500
Corner or single cabin	1	~0.9 × 0.9 m	£900–£2,000
Two-person cabin	2	~1.2 × 1.1 m	£1,500–£3,500
Three/four-person cabin	3–4	~1.8 × 1.3 m	£2,500–£6,000
Full-spectrum premium	2–4	~1.5–2.0 m wide	£5,000–£12,000

Corner units are the usual answer for a spare bedroom or a garage, because they use a dead corner and present a narrower face to the room. Blankets are a real option if you are testing whether you’ll use heat at all — they are not comparable in experience, but they cost £300 instead of £3,000 and they fit in a cupboard.

Occupancy figures are optimistic across the industry. A “four-person” cabin seats four people who know each other well. Our page on sauna sizes and occupancy covers how to read those numbers.

Power, electrics and why 13A matters

A UK 13A socket delivers roughly 3 kW. Almost every domestic infrared cabin is designed to sit just under that ceiling:

• 1–2 person cabin: 1.5–2.0 kW
• 3–4 person cabin: 2.5–3.0 kW
• Large full-spectrum: sometimes 3.5 kW+, which needs a dedicated wired circuit

Compare that with a traditional 6 kW heater drawing about 26A, which requires a dedicated radial circuit, appropriately sized cable and a consumer unit way — notifiable work under Part P of the Building Regulations. That is a job for a registered electrician and typically £400–£1,000 on top of the cabin.

Plug-in does not mean careless. An infrared cabin should have its own socket on an RCD-protected circuit — not an extension reel, not shared with a tumble dryer. If the cabin is going in a garage or outbuilding, the supply out there needs to be a proper fixed installation. The home sauna electrical requirements page sets out what a competent installer should be doing.

Running costs

Assume 26p per kWh — roughly the Ofgem capped unit rate for the July–September 2026 period across England, Scotland and Wales. Substitute your own rate; the arithmetic is simple.

A 2 kW cabin does not draw 2 kW continuously. It pulls full power during the 15–25 minute preheat, then cycles to hold temperature — call it 50–60% duty for the session. A 20-minute preheat plus a 40-minute session works out at roughly 1.2–1.5 kWh, or 30–40p.

Use pattern	Approx. annual electricity
2 sessions/week	£35–£45
4 sessions/week	£70–£90
Daily	£120–£150

That is genuinely cheap, and it is the strongest practical argument for infrared. A traditional electric sauna is nearer £1.50–£2.50 per session. Full workings for both are on sauna running costs.

Space and siting

You need the footprint plus clearance: around 50–100mm behind and to the sides for airflow and cable runs, and a door swing. Check the ceiling height — most cabins are 1.9–2.0 m tall, which is fine in a normal room but tight in a loft or under a stair.

Infrared cabins are indoor appliances. They are not weatherproof, and putting one in an unheated, damp outbuilding shortens its life and makes the preheat much longer. A dry, insulated garage or a spare room is fine. If you want heat in the garden, that is a garden sauna — a different product with a different build.

Floors need to be level and able to take 100–300 kg plus occupants. Carpet is workable but a hard floor is better.

EMF: what’s worth knowing

Every electric heating element generates a low-frequency magnetic field. Reputable manufacturers publish milligauss (mG) readings taken at the bench and design for low emission — shielded wiring, balanced carbon panels, cable routing away from the seat. Readings of a few mG at seated position are typical of a well-built cabin.

For context, the ICNIRP general-public reference level for 50 Hz magnetic fields is several orders of magnitude above those figures, and there is no UK regulation setting a sauna-specific EMF limit. So: ask for a measured test report if it matters to you, prefer cabins that publish one, and treat both “dangerously high EMF” scare copy and “zero EMF” claims — which are physically impossible for a mains appliance — as marketing.

The health claims, honestly

Infrared saunas are marketed with a long list of benefits: detoxification, weight loss, immune support, pain relief. The evidence base does not carry that weight.

What is reasonably established is that sauna bathing of any kind raises core temperature, heart rate and skin blood flow, and that people report improved relaxation and sleep. The most-cited long-term findings come from Finnish observational cohort studies, which associate frequent traditional sauna use with better cardiovascular outcomes. Those are population studies of habitual sauna users — they cannot establish cause, they involve traditional saunas rather than infrared cabins, and people who sauna four times a week differ from people who don’t in many ways besides the sauna.

“Detox through sweat” is the weakest common claim: the liver and kidneys handle that work, and sweat is overwhelmingly water and electrolytes. Weight lost in a session is fluid, and returns when you drink.

Heat is a real cardiovascular load. Speak to your GP before using a sauna if you have a heart condition, uncontrolled blood pressure, a history of arrhythmia or fainting, or if you are pregnant. Don’t use one after drinking alcohol, and come out if you feel unwell rather than finishing the session.

Who an infrared sauna suits

It suits you if you want heat indoors with no electrical work, you have a spare room or dry garage rather than a garden, you want low running costs, you prefer a longer session at a gentler temperature, or you’re not sure yet whether the habit will stick.

It suits you badly if you want löyly, if you want the 90°C hit, if you’re building something that will be a garden feature, or if several people will use it at once.

If you’re weighing it against the alternatives, are home saunas worth it does the cost-benefit arithmetic without flattering the purchase — and our sauna selector will narrow the options down in about a minute.