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Type of Heaters

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When shopping for an infrared sauna, heaters should be the first thing to look at. Mainly there are two types of heaters, ceramic and carbon fiber.

Ceramic Heaters

Generally speaking, ceramic heaters are a metallic coil inside a ceramic tube (most likely covered with another material such as Incoloy). The ceramic tube emits infrared waves when heated by the metallic coil.
Pros: Fast pre-heat time, low production cost.
Cons: Small tubes that create cold spots, high surface temperature (over 380°F).

Carbon Fiber Heaters

Carbon fiber heaters were recently developed as a solution for ceramic heaters issues. Carbon fiber heaters are thin and have a large surface area which heats at a lower temperature. Carbon fiber heaters are created by impregnating carbon ink (carbon in nanometer form) into a fiber glass sheet, which is sealed between two fiber glass sheets to eliminate any gases. The heaters do not use any glues or plastics.
Pros: Low surface temperature, even heat and infrared wave distribution, large heating surface area
Cons: Slower pre-heat time, high production cost.

Commercial Grade Carbon Fiber Heaters

Commercial grade carbon fiber heaters are similar to carbon fiber heaters except they are built to work continuously for a long period of time (between eight to ten hours). Regular heaters -carbon or ceramic- must be turned off after 90 minutes of use for at least an hour, which make them unsuitable for commercial use.

What do we use

At Crystal Sauna, we use commercial grade carbon fiber heaters which are designed to work continuously for a long period of time.

Carbon Fiber vs. Ceramic Heaters Comparison

Feature	Carbon Fiber	Ceramic
Heating Surface Area	620 to 940 square inch	12 to 56 square inch
Surface temperature	Below 160°F	Over 380°F
Lifetime	20,000 hours	5,000 hours
Cold spots in sauna	No	Yes