What is far infrared radiant heat?
Sunlight is a combination of visible light and invisible light. The seven colors of the rainbow are visible lights, and infrared rays and ultraviolet rays are invisible lights. Infrared rays are one of the sun's rays. Infrared rays are the healthiest, penetrate into your skin deeply and they dissolve harmful substances accumulated in your body. The Infrared Rays vitalize your cells and metabolism.
Far infrared waves penetrate deep into our body for a deep heating action which allows for the body to activate the sweat glands. The sweat glands offer one of only a few mechanisms that the body has to eliminate toxins and since the skin is the largest organ in the human body it is apparently a very good means for elimination. Bring the benefits of a far infrared sauna into your home with a new Clearlight Infrared Sauna!
When far infrared waves are applied to water molecules (comprising 70% of our body) these molecules begin to vibrate. This vibration reduces the ion bonds and the eventual breakdown of the water molecules causes encapsulated gases and other toxic materials to be released
The sun is the primary source of radiant energy, but not all of this energy is beneficial. Although life needs energy from the sun, too much sunlight damages the skin. Far infrared heat provides all the healthy benefits of natural sunlight without any of the dangerous effects of solar radiation.
For years, the healthcare industry recommended infrared heat lamps as a source of far infrared heat but the lamps were cumbersome, extremely hot and difficult to maintain at a constant temperature. Today, many healthcare professionals use ceramic far infrared infrared heaters to treat a variety of diseases throughout the world. Clearlight Infrared Sauna's use state of the art ceramic heaters.
The efficacy of far infrared waves is very broad and the subject of recent study by NASA. Among the infrared waves, the far infrared rays, which have a wavelength of 8-14 microns, are especially good for the human body. These waves have the potential to penetrate 4 to 5 cm or more into the body allowing for deep heat and raising the body temperature from deep inside. The deep heat and far infrared is why scholars believe that the Ondol (traditional warm floor of Korea) is good for health because the materials for the Ondol are stone and earth both of which radiate far infrared waves when heated.
The far infrared rays consist of similar wavelengths as that which is emitted naturally by the human body. This is one potential explanation of why many feel energetically rejuvenated and balanced from contact with far infrared waves. In Asia it is also believed that far infrared waves help improve blood circulation and recovery from fatigue.
Why Far Infrared Technology?
Clearlight Infrared Saunas use Far Infrared energy to penetrate the body's tissue. Home SaunasTests have shown that the energy output is tuned so closely to the body's own radiant energy that our bodies absorb as much as 93% of the far infrared waves that reach our skin.
By comparison, conventional saunas must rely only on indirect means of heat: first, on convection (air currents) and then, conduction (direct contact of hot air with the skin) to produce its heating effect. Your Clearlight Infrared Sauna operates at temperatures of 110 to 140 F versus 180 to 220 F for hot-air saunas. Since conventional saunas require 30 to 90 minutes of warm-up before use, electricity costs are reported to be a lot higher than those of Clearlight Infrared Saunas which are ready to use in 20 minutes.
Is Infrared Heat Safe?
Yes! Infrared heat is all around us. The photo below shows that all things give off and receive infrared heat. This image was taken with a camera that takes a regular photograph and an infrared image of the subjects at the exact same time.
The human body gives off and receives infrared heat and in the far infrared band. Other surfaces, like a warm street or heated vending cart give off infrared in the middle and near infrared band.
Do you want to experience far infrared heat right now? Take you hands and put your palms together. Move your hands about 1/2 an inch apart. You will feel warmth eminating from your palms. This is far infrared heat. Radiant far infrared is all around us and is essential for human life.
Why is infrared heat better than traditional sauna?
Far infrared saunas produce heat using a ceramic heater, which does not turn red hot but instead produces invisible, infrared heat. This is the same type of heat as produced by the sun and our bodies. Infrared heat is very safe and not at all like the heat produced by microwaves. In an infrared sauna, only 20 percent of the energy is used to heat the air, leaving the rest of the energy to heat the body. The radiant heat can penetrate deep below the skin producing a gentle warming inside the body. The temperature inside an infrared sauna is adjustable and averages a comfortable 100 ?F to 140 ?F This allows a person to sweat faster and to tolerate a longer period of time inside the sauna, allowing for the therapeutic effects to occur. Typical sessions last 20 to 45 minutes and can be repeated once or twice during the day to maximize the benefits. Infrared saunas leave you feeling invigorated, not depleted like conventional saunas.
Home Saunas
Infrared heaters warm the body in the same manner as natural sunlight. FIR heat therapy uses the wavelength of the visible and non-visible light spectrum of sunlight that heats the body normally. Traditional saunas raise the temperature of the air to a very high level within the chamber to warm the body. Some people have difficulty breathing in this extremely warm air. FIR saunas work differently. Instead of heating the air within the enclosure, FIR saunas heat the body directly. The result is deeper tissue penetration. In the FIR sauna, the body perspires and receives all of the healthy benefits but avoids the harmful and extremely hot air of a traditional steam sauna. FIR saunas are safe for all ages.
The infrared sauna offers several advantages over the conventional sauna. Most conventional saunas employ a unit that heats the air through convection (air movement) and conduction (direct heat transfer). These saunas typically operate at between 180 F and 220 F They are almost like sitting in an oven. They heat only the skin until it becomes too uncomfortable to sit any longer. Water is often thrown on a element to create steam. These saunas do not allow the person to sit in them long enough to receive the health benefits associated with the infrared sauna.
A Sauna Works Sauna produces five to thirty times the infrared of any other sauna on the market. Not only do we produce more of this safe, healing light, we do it at a better wavelength. This allows your body to absorb more far infrared in less time and at a lower temperature than any other infrared sauna.
Why True Wave™ far infrared heaters are better for you
The larger size of our True Wave™ infrared sauna heaters mean more surface area, resulting in lower surface temperature. The infrared heat is spread out over a larger area. This produces more FAR or LONG wave infrared heat which is more therapeutic for your body.
True Wave™ infrared heaters have the largest surface area of any infrared saunas on the market - 290 square inches. This allows for a lower surface temperature than other infrared sauna heater technology. This means better performance within the optimal wave range of 7 to 14 microns with a large portion of wavelengths at 9.4 microns.
What to look for when choosing a far infrared heater
We understand the difficulty in choosing a far infrared sauna over the internet and trying to determine which heaters will work best for you. The following are a few questions to ask when comparing various heaters:
1) What is the surface temperature of the heater?The is one of the most important questions as it determines the size the of the infrared wave length and the overall effectiveness of the heater. The two scientific principals that govern infrared emmissions are called Planks Law and Weins Law. Both of these scientific laws have an equation with several constants and the only variable is the surface temperature of the heater. They both say that the lower the surface temperature of the heater, the longer the infrared wave will be and the more effective the infrared heat will be for you. The line we walk as an infrared sauna manufacture is producing excellent quality far infrared heat and effectively warming the sauna. Our True Wave heaters have a surface temperature of about 280 degrees. They produce excellent quality far infrared heat and do a great job of warming the sauna. To be effective a far infrared heater must have a surface temperature below 480 degrees - this isn't guess work, it's science.
2) Does the sauna have front and back heaters? One of the keys to sweating and effective detoxification in a far infrared sauna is warming your body core and raising your core body temperature. You want to find a sauna that heats both the back and front of your body. You cannot effectively detox in a far infrared sauna without warming your front core. Many saunas on the market today leave the front heaters out for aesthetic reasons - a huge mistake in our opinion. Our Clearlight True Wave heaters are positioned so that they cover your full back area and our front heaters are positioned so that they are aimed at your front core. They do an excellent job of warming your body core and raising your core body temperature.
3) Is the far infrared heat directed where it's most needed? It is possible for an infrared heater to run at a temperature too low to be effective. These heaters work well when they are within a few inches of your body as in some of the lay down infrared "saunas", but not when they are in a large sauna cabin. When it runs at this low temperature it will produce excellent quality far infrared, but the problem is that the heat is not directed where it needs to go. These types of heaters are usually wrapped around the entire inside of the sauna with most of the infrared heat not reaching your body and really just there to raise the room temperature so that you are not sitting in a cold cabin. Because infrared heat does not travel very far you want to make sure that the heater directs the heat toward your body core, not your elbows or just into the air.
4) Radiant heat vs. reflected heat: You will see many heaters on the market that are a thin, single rod with a metal reflector behind it. Generally these heaters produce low quality far infrared heat when compared to a large flat panel far infrared heater. First, a single rod heater must run at a much higher surface temperature than a large flat radiant heater to produce sufficient infrared heat. As mentioned above, the higher the surface temperature the less effective the infrared heat will be. Second, because of the small surface area these heater usually have a metal reflector behind them. It is a scientific principal that when a wave passes from one medium to another (i.e. from the thin rod to the metal reflector) the wave form is changes. The infrared heat coming back at you from the metal reflector has been degraded. Our large flat panel radiant True Wave heaters produce very even, very effecive far infrared heat and because of the large size of our heater, the heat does not need to be reflected to reach you in the sauna. We call the heat produced by our heaters True Infrared because of this.
You can see that there is more to an infrared sauna than just putting some heaters in a wooden box - the type of heater and the placement of the heater is essential in producing an effective far infared sauna. Over the last 13 years, through research and development and some trial and error, we have developed a truly therapeutic sauna for your health and relaxation. For more details on our heaters and why they are so effecive, please call us at 800.798.1779. We look forward to your questions.
Gentle heat that penetrates deep!
Because of the lower surface temperature of our True Wave™ heaters, sitting in your Clearlight sauna is more enjoyable. You'll find the heat in your Clearlight sauna gentler than most, yet deeper and more penetrating - overall a better sauna experience.
In their book Beyond Antibiotics, Drs. Michael A. Schmidt et al. state the following: ?Saunas are being used by some doctors to stimulate the release of toxins from the bodies of their patients. They have found that a lower temperature (105-130 F) sauna taken for a longer duration is most beneficial. These low temperatures stimulate a fat sweat, which eliminates toxins stored in fat, as opposed to the high temperature sauna, which encourages a water sweat.?
Clearlight Saunas uses Tuned Far Infrared
All humans send and receive far infrared waves. The range of far-infrared waves generated by the human body is 6 to 20 microns. The optimal micron output range is between 7 and 14 microns which is very close to the resonant frequency of a water molecule. This similarity makes sense since our bodies are almost 70% water. This range, sometimes called "Vital Rays" appears to have special regenerative effects on the body.
When far infrared waves are applied to water molecules (these molecules begin to vibrate. This vibration reduces the ion bonds and the eventual breakdown of the water molecules causes encapsulated gases and other toxic materials to be released.
The result of Clearlights patented heater designs allows for better performance well within this vital wave range of 7 to 14 microns with a good portion of wavelengths at 9.4--which is the frequency at which a water molecule resonates or vibrates. This vibration causes a release of cellular toxins such as mercury, aluminum, cholesterol and other toxic gases such as sulfur and formaldehyde. This optimal micron output also allows for deeper penetration of far-infrared heat, which improves pain relief, detoxification, circulation, and increased peripheral blood flow.
Ceramic Far Infrared Heaters Compared To Other Heaters
Don't be fooled by marketing hype and supposed studies stating other materials like steel, incoloy rods or carbon are better far infrared emitters than ceramic - know the facts. When evaluating a material for it's properties to give off far infrared heat we evaluate its "emissivity". Emissivity is the measure of an object's ability to emit far infrared energy. Emissivity can have a value from 0 (shiny mirror) to 1.0 (blackbody).
Raytek, one of the leading infrared instrument manufactures has the following emissivity tables on their website. When reading the table, please note the values in 5-14 micron ranges - the "vital" range for healing the human body (the symbol ?m stands for "micron"). You will see ceramic has an emissivity of .95 - the closest to a perfect black body at 1.0.
Emissivity Table for Non-Metals (Cermaic vs. Carbon)
Emissivity Table for Metals (Cermaic vs. Steel and Incoloy Rods)
Most infrared heaters used in our competitors saunas were designed for industrial use. These infrared heaters are used to cure the paint on cars because it heats the paint from the inside out. Clearlight Saunas far infrared True Wave™ heaters were designed by us to heat the human body specifically for your Clearlight Infrared Sauna.
You can expect only the best from Clearlight Infrared Saunas!