Clearlight™
TheraSauna®
Which is Better?
The question all sauna shoppers ask themself at the brink of their final decision; do I buy a TheraSauna® or a Clearlight™?
The Infrared Sauna buying process is a rollercoaster of emotions, misleading information, contradictory, irrational claims, and more. It puts the buyer in, to say the least, a challenging position. Normally, the average consumer spends a solid 6 months reading blogs, watching YouTube videos, reading third party studies, and comparing hundreds of sauna brands that are literally just about identical; I mean, 95% of them are coming from the same third party Asian manufacturer anyway. So, what's with all this negativity I'm laying out to you? Well, I'm going to present to you in this blog post, a sauna research "hack", or a "shortcut" to help you bypass majority of the biased claims you have been, or would be, reading.
Why Listen To Me?
Is this just another biased blog post with some type of back-end compensation incentive where I'm just trying to sell you on what I make money on?
Fair question.
Allow me to introduce myself.
My name is Garen Manzo, one of the founding partners here at USA Health and Wellness. We originally founded this company for the same reasons that anybody would start a business, to make money. Does this discount my knowledge and opinions on major sauna brands in the industry? Keep reading, and I'll let you make the final verdict. Over the years of our sauna business, we've been fortunate to be an authorized dealer for many different sauna brands. Some whom reached out to us, and some that we sought after. Some of those brands consist of, Clearlight™, TheraSauna®, Health Mate, Vital Health, SaunaCore Better Life, Sun Rich and Aleko, to name a few. Aside from brands we've sold directly, we've purchased or used saunas from other popular brands such as Sunlighten, Finnleo, High Tech Health, Radiant Health, JNH and more, simply to become a reliable source inside this challenging industry. We've used, tested, and expressed our opinions on all of these saunas. Now we try to deliver that information to our customers in the most unbiased way possible. Unlike most other companies, we sell several brands. This means, we have the luxury of recommending the product we think you would be most happy with, instead of force feeding you the ONE brand we make money on, like everyone else.
I want to note, I'm not a writer. Punny, huh? But seriously, I don't do this often, but for this blog post, I wanted to take the reigns, and give you the information that I often communicate verbally to customers directly. The following information will be an objective Clearlight™ and TheraSauna® review.
Clearlight™ and TheraSauna® often are the two brands our customers end up comparing, during their last few moments before a decision. This is after weeding through hundreds of options and months of research. Why is that? Could it be the rich history of both brands? Could it be the trademarks and brand recognition? Hang with me for a few minutes below; I think it will be worth your time...
Clearlight™ infrared saunas has been a well known brand in the industry for quite some time. Manufactured in China, and known to some as "Jacuzzi™" due to their trademark, adds an additional layer of credibility to most new sauna shoppers. If you know anything about online businesses and online shopping, you know that online presence is extremely important in selling products. Clearlight™ does an incredible job with their online presence and spends necessary dollars per year with marketing, advertising, and hiring social media and celebrity influencers to advocate their brand. Clearlight™ at first glance is clearly, no pun intended, aesthetically pleasing. Their design and online image quality is very intriguing and helps to make the already popular brand shine even more. Clearlight™ has FAR infrared as well as Full Spectrum sauna options which are loaded with bells and whistles. Clearlight™ infrared saunas are very safe to use and emit very low levels of EMF. They, like many other brands have all the required credentials to make buying a sauna an "at peace" experience.
TheraSauna® infrared saunas are the only 100% USA made infrared sauna with over 20 years of experience. All TheraSauna models are handcrafted in DeWitt, Iowa with the highest end American materials. A classic look with an optional warm mahogany exterior finish, also finds itself as an extremely aesthetically pleasing sauna design. TheraSauna's mission is To stay “A Step Ahead”, QCA Spas, Inc. believes in ongoing research and design to develop the most innovative infrared dry saunas and hydrotherapy performance spas on the market today. Our customer's personal satisfaction is, and will always be, our number one concern". TheraSauna often flies under the radar when it comes to online presence and marketing content. As one of the pioneers of the sauna industry, TheraSauna tends to invest more money into keeping manufacturing in the USA, rather than investing that money as advertising dollars. Most companies cut costs on their materials and import from China in order to spend as much as they can on advertising and marketing. For TheraSauna, keeping their manufacturing in the USA is a non-negotiable. TheraSauna's technology and long list of patents is one of the ways they seperate themselves from their competition.
Infrared Heaters
Clearlight™
Clearlight™ infrared saunas manufactures out of China through Sauna Works. Unfortunately, Clearlight™ doesn't show any of their process which leaves a lot of customers in question of their procedures. With limited information, it does appear that Clearlight™ takes proper precautions during their manufacturing process. Clearlight™ does have Cedar and Basswood options using good quality materials. The only issue we have experienced here is delivery of damaged saunas. During our tenure as a dealer, damaged saunas from Clearlights headquarters in Berkeley were reported at about a 1/5 clip, which is a reasonable area of concern. We recently terminated our dealership agreement with Clearlight due to some of these issues. We hope in the future when they resolve their infrastructure issues, we might be willing to sell their saunas again. Understandably, companies always go through hiccups along the way, and we do have faith in their ability to come back even stronger in the future.
Infrared Heaters
TheraSauna®
TheraSauna® is the only infrared sauna brand that does 100% of their manufacturing right here in the United States. They even have their own tree farm in Wisconsin where they grow their Natural Aspen Hardwood. TheraSauna® was pioneered by QCA Spas, which has been recognized as one of the oldest spa companies in America. QCA Spas has been an innovator of patented spa therapy to relieve pain and stiffness and promote healthier lifestyles. Those same philosophies are incorporated into our TheraSauna® Infrared Health Saunas. In 1995, TheraSauna® received its first patent for the Stable Heat™ System. Today, TheraSauna® holds several patents and patents-pending on their MPS Infrared Control System™. TheraSauna® has been tested and approved by ETL in the US and Canada. By manufacturing in the USA, you can guarantee pure, natural, and the highest end materials. Not to mention, the entire manufacturing process is controlled by TheraSauna themselves, not a third party in China making the big decisions.
Manufacturing
Clearlight™
Clearlight™ infrared saunas manufactures out of China through Sauna Works. Unfortunately, Clearlight™ doesn't show any of their process which leaves a lot of customers in question of their procedures. With limited information, it does appear that Clearlight™ takes proper precautions during their manufacturing process. Clearlight™ does have Cedar and Basswood options using good quality materials. The only issue we have experienced here is delivery of damaged saunas. During our tenure as a dealer, damaged saunas from Clearlights headquarters in Berkeley were reported at about a 1/5 clip, which is a reasonable area of concern. We recently terminated our dealership agreement with Clearlight due to some of these issues. We hope in the future when they resolve their infrastructure issues, we might be willing to sell their saunas again. Understandably, companies always go through hiccups along the way, and we do have faith in their ability to come back even stronger in the future.
Manufacturing
TheraSauna®
TheraSauna® is the only infrared sauna brand that does 100% of their manufacturing right here in the United States. They even have their own tree farm in Wisconsin where they grow their Natural Aspen Hardwood. TheraSauna® was pioneered by QCA Spas, which has been recognized as one of the oldest spa companies in America. QCA Spas has been an innovator of patented spa therapy to relieve pain and stiffness and promote healthier lifestyles. Those same philosophies are incorporated into our TheraSauna® Infrared Health Saunas. In 1995, TheraSauna® received its first patent for the Stable Heat™ System. Today, TheraSauna® holds several patents and patents-pending on their MPS Infrared Control System™. TheraSauna® has been tested and approved by ETL in the US and Canada. By manufacturing in the USA, you can guarantee pure, natural, and the highest end materials. Not to mention, the entire manufacturing process is controlled by TheraSauna themselves, not a third party in China making the big decisions.
Electromagnetic Fields (EMF)
Clearlight™
EMF levels of Clearlight™ saunas are very low and safe. Clearlight™ offers both FAR Infrared carbon panel heaters and Full Spectrum ceramic heaters on the front glass on their Full Spectrum Sanctuary line. The carbon panels have been tested by us averaging below 1mg of EMF. The Full Spectrum heaters, although still safe, were higher in EMF testing averaging around 6mg from our testing. If you want the lowest EMF possible, we would recommend a FAR Infrared sauna from Clearlight™ which is their "Premier IS" line.
Electromagnetic Fields (EMF)
TheraSauna®
EMF levels of TheraSauna® saunas are very low and safe. Our testing consists of single field and tri-field EMF tests, which all averaged under 1mg. TheraSauna's ceramic heaters are made of high glass content which also plays as a plus when reducing electromagnetic and electric fields. Both Clearlight™ and TheraSauna® have always passed our tests as being very safe to use.
Build Quality
Clearlight™
Featured in image above: Clearlight™ Sanctuary 1
Picture sent from USA Health and Wellness direct customer
Clearlight™ saunas are absolutely stunning and very aesthetically pleasing by the naked eye. WIth their "Italian Design" and open glass concept, they look like they could come right out of a magazine. When you look closer however, and see them in-person, their tends to be a disconnect in that claim. First and foremost, Clearlight's Full Spectrum series is designed with a full glass front. Although this looks nice and modern to most people, it is no secret that glass is a poor insulator. Often times, customers experience imperfections and blemishes in the finish and wood grain. Certain areas seemed to not be sanded and buffed to their advertised look. Additionally, the seal between glass panels and the door were often found "unstuck" or "bunched up" creating an immediate need to service a brand new product. Even if you look closely to the image above, you can notice the small gaps between the glass panels. This wasn't extremely common, but is imperative to mention transparently since we experienced it multiple times with our very own customer base at USA Health and Wellness. When you spend over $5,000 for an infrared sauna backed by Jacuzzi™, customers expect top-of-the-line quality in return. It seems a lot of this could be avoided with a better infrastructure and quality control department.
Build Quality
TheraSauna®
Featured in image above: TheraSauna® TS6439 Picture sent from USA Health and Wellness direct customer.
TheraSauna, due to it being manufactured 100% in the USA, certainly creates the upper hand when it comes to build quality. Every inch of a TheraSauna is handcrafted by the most skilled carpenters money can buy. With that said, sometimes TheraSauna can run into back order delays when demand gets too high. That's definitely the downside of making everything by hand. The Aspen Hardwood is naturally light in color, but you also have the option of adding a warm mahogany finish on the exterior of any TheraSauna. The walls themself are about 3x thicker than any imported sauna which creates a much better balanced heat experience and allows for air tight insulation. Stock photos online are great and all, but you don't actually get the full comparison until you them side-by-side in person. TheraSauna takes the cake vs. Clearlight when it comes to the actual attention to detail and craftsmanship of their saunas.