Portable Far Infrared (FIR) Home Sauna Review – Your Guide In Making The Right Purchase in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei

An Infrared Portable Sauna aka Sauna Infra Merah is a part of investment that will stay with the buyer for years to come

Therefore, finding the best sauna for the best value is an important step. I recommend buyers carefully compare different models available in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei before making the final decision. Many people have questions on how to compare saunas and what to look for before buying. If you are one of them, you've came to the right place.

I’m a foreigner, married to a malay girl and settled in Malaysia for good. I’m writing this just because me and my wife both love to sauna and I'm also very happy to share my experience in these days!

I've invested a lot of resources in researching infrared aka inframerah portable sauna models available in the market since 2004. I've gone as far as look into several portable sauna models available in this region ( Malaysia, Singapore ), as well as inspecting its safety issues, certification and product quality. I have been constantly in the use of infrared sauna aka sauna inframerah and own a few models of portable sauna from different suppliers to date.

As far as my experience, there is only 1 out of 4 models which pleased me the most and from all the experience gathered, now I wish to share around with the others just to make sure that whoever wants to purchase an infrared sauna aka sauna infra merah get the best out of it.

How to compare Infrared Portable Sauna aka Sauna Infra Merah available in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei

The list below highlights the most important factors to compare before buying a portable sauna in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. In order for readers to easily capture and compare portable saunas availability in the market, I’ll start by explaining the critical features to identify areas where a buyer should be concern.

1. look into


2. understand


3. analyze


4. make decision

I’ll end up the chapter by presenting a comparison chart for various infrared portable sauna aka sauna infra merah models available in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei for purchase in the market, but I do recommend that readers spend some time reading the whole article before simply going thourgh the comparison chart.

Dr. A. Iskandar (Selangor, Malaysia)

Dimension and Capacity

Each model is designed to fit one people. The most common size is 100(height) x 80(depth) x 70(width) cm since this model can easily fit anywhere in the house and the best part is they are also portable that makes moving around very easy and convenient.

Make sure to compare the dimension of the sauna that fits into your capacity. A good normal size portable sauna will have no problem for peoples who’s height is below 180cm or 5’9 inches, and if you have a bigger frame, try to look for a larger size portable sauna which is somehow around 115(height) x 85(depth) x 85 (width) and is more then capable of fitting someone who’s height is 192cm or 6’3 inches. But only very few manufacturers or supplier supply that model, make sure you found them if you are a GIANT!

Watch out for: Some sauna resellers will advertise their portable sauna on the internet with images and pictures that don’t belongs to them, the way is simply cut and paste from a better manufacturer’s resources in an unethical way and making the most out of people’s property; however, their own sauna images is hidden away from buyers in order to trick buyers into purchasing their product, so please make sure to get the proper information from the sellers to avoid being a victim of getting a low quality sauna with somehow a little cheaper price offered by them.

Heating Area Coverage

Power wattage itself is crucial factor to evaluate a sauna's performance. For example, most infrared portable saunas aka sauna infra merah run between 600-850 watts. However, a 1200~1500 watts of power will give you a completely different heating results. The larger the power consumption, the faster it heats up with more even heat distribution and higher efficiency of Far Infrared (FIR) rays aka Infra Merah emission resulting in a more comfortable and effective sauna session.

It is a big plus if the sauna has all their heating panels, heaters which keeps your body warm, cozy and comfortable throughout the short session, afterall we’re not going to sit inside the sauna for hours and to say that we have to get the most from the sauna for the sake of health and beauty beneficial point of view.

I like to also introduce some common infrared aka inframerah emission element as the type of heaters inside a portable sauna, there are a few types of infrared heating elements commonly use:

• Bio-Ceramic heaters are made out of small barium titanate bio-ceramic stones
• Pros: Small overall volume; Very good instant space heating
• Cons: Slightly high surface temperature, perform very well when it was cover or house properly

Left: Pic. of Bio Ceramic

• Mica heaters are made out of mica rocks
• Pros: Cheap; Even heat distribution; low surface temperature
• Cons: Hard surface and easily cracked; Cracks are not visible to the human eye and unreplaceable

Left: Pic. of Mica

• Carbon Fiber heaters are made from carbon fiber glass
• Pros: Even heat distribution; low surface temperature; flexible; used in most medical devices
• Cons: Nil

Left:Pic of Carbon Fiber

Watch out for: Some sauna factories paint their heating panel to look like a carbon fiber panel (e.g. black) to trick people into believing that they use carbon fiber heating panel but the truth is they are actually nothing more then just a CHEAP!! mica heating panel.

One significant characteristic to determine whether they are a mica panel is to feel the agility of the material where mica panel could be as hard and rigid compare to the much more flexible and agile appearance of the carbon fiber panel, the carbon fiber material also comes with a higher cost then a much cheaper mica material.

Only buy a proven sauna when it is important to match the overall performance in terms of it’s heating material selection, also it is probably the most crucial deciding factor of helping your choice into selecting the most worth buying model.

Material Selection + Quality of Workmanship

This is an area where most of the buyer out there would overlooked, many would say that the majority of a portbale sauna appearance looks very much the same, actually they are not, although they may look similar from a camera shot or view from a distance.

The material use to cover the whole sauna set is rather a key factor for both heat insulation ( trap heat ) and how long the sauna takes to heat-up because heat distribution is so key to a sauna set overall, the shorter time it takes, the more efficient the portable sauna will be.

Waterproof is another concern when we’re talking about lots and lots of sweat coming off after a sauna session, unfortunately only 2 out of the 4 models I own which are waterproof, and between the 2 waterproof models, only one is outstanding which the fabric is soft and shiny yet made of tightly woven twill which is strong and lasting.

I guess not many manufacturers out there would rather sacrifice a higher costing for the sake of quality, and that’s why I personally like that particular model so much because it had all aspects that I’m looking for when comes to portable sauna.

Apart from the heat and waterproof factors, as a buyer, we do appreciate a much better eye appearance sauna,. don’t we?!

Watch out for: If you looking forward to use your sauna regularly, I suggest you to spend a little more budget and go for the one with the highest quality. A good one should possess at least all the characteristic I mentioned above.

I must admit that a better quality sauna should be in the highest quality in workmanship and material selection, and from all the portable saunas available in the market, again only 1 truly stands out, the rest are awful.

Safety Issues & Certification

This is a reality issue more then anything else, I have to stress that anyone out there who intend to purchase an infrared portable sauna mustn’t ignore the important of the following factors:

1. Ensure that the portable sauna and its electric components meet the safety standards required by safety certification organizations such as GS, TUV etc. A reliable manufacturer always produce all their parts according to the safety standard set by these organization, and later obtain laboratories approval and certification from these organization as product recognition status.

Believe me, to have any recognition from these organization takes time because of the lengthy evaluation process and it also involve in heavy investment, that’s why many manufacturers actually skip the certification process or rather went for an easy way of getting un-qualify certification when the truth is they actually knew that their product will eventually fail the evaluation standard anyway.

I Absolutely Against This Type Of Manufacturer As They Don’t Consider The Circumstances and Still Offer Products That Possibly Will Cause Severe Damage Or Even Fatal To Users Such As US !!!!

2. You also need to look into areas like the standard of the electric cable, the way all the connectors were soldered, any exposed end wihout proper electric insulation, are the heating panels or heaters well insulated and connected safely… Now you’ll probably think this is too much of a technical thing to consider about, but don’t you worry, I have that part cover for you. Just follow my guide and you will be fine!!

3. Ask if the sauna comes with a safety feature such as a timed automatic shut off, because what will happen if we accidentally left the sauna un-attend when it is still turn on?! A good manufacturer will have this precaution measure deal and covered.

4. Finally, always remember You Get What You Pay For !! although this is not always true, but I still strongly suggest you to spend a bit more for the sake of yourself, your family and even your belonging.

Quality Issues : Finding The Right Quality Portable Home Sauna in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei



I like to show the cases found and images I took based on my research on a few different sauna models that I own:


CASE 1:





















Left: Untidy and very messy cables that can cause damage to the sauna unit, and use of uncertified cables that will cause electrical shock if contact accidentaly























Above: No cable housing end-cap, only HOT GLUE, exposed wire that was dangerous to user, the main controller box got very hot almost un-touchable




















Top: Cables were not attached and hang freely with most of them being high voltage direct current electrical cable going into the heating panels
Bottom: Red cursor shown the cable that goes into the heating panel which was only patched with black tape without any added insulation material


Left: Heating panels were only valcros to the sauna, they can be easily taken off which was highly unsafe and if any of the 2 panels were stacked against each other, overheated panels will soon turn into a burn spot or even radical damage (fire cases have been reported due to the lacked of safety measurement)
























Top: Shown patch-up area behind one the heating panel, with high voltage direct current cable attach to it
Bottom: Cables were not capped or insulated thus left exposed to accidentally contact that could cause fatal







Left: Further investigation shown more poorer soldered connection beneath the patch-up area, another dangerous spot ready to KILL!







Left: Worst thing that ever happen to 1 of my portable sauna, A BURN SPOT!!
I was lucky enough to avoid further serious damage, can you just imagine what would happen if I didn’t noticed?!
I Strongly Urge All of You Out There to Beware of This Model of Portable Sauna !!!!!!



















Top: Low quality workmanship with its sauna cover
Bottom: Low quality inside the sauna canopy as well, there are even no floor mat and heating foot pad for this model of portable sauna

CASE 2:

Above: Good quality inside the sauna canopy, but there are no heating foot pad for this model of portable sauna, only rubber floor mat

Top: View from behind of this model of portable sauna

Bottom: Waterproof cover but after a while the material tend to become very flappy and bumpy, look very unpleasant

Top: Cables are not attach and hang freely with most of them being high voltage direct current electrical cable going into the heating panels, furthermore they can cause damage to the sauna unit, and use of uncertified cables that will cause electrical shock if contact accidentaly

Bottom: Red cursor shown the cable that goes into the heating panel with no insulation and was only taped to the side of the sauna, carbon fiber heating panel was used in this case, but the problem is the position of the heating panel that should be at the top instead of close to the bottom

Above: Poor quality and very untidy wiring, red cursor shown some poorly placed cables and were ready to KILL!

Above: A wooden roller leg massage, C’mon, this would be by far the lowest of quality if the portable sauna came with one of this !!

A portable sauna with a heating foot pad would at least worth a shout because its technology level would be more demanding then a piece of crab like this !!!In case anyone doesn’t know what a heating foot pad looks like, it should look like the image below

CASE 3:








































Top: Very high quality overall in terms of material selection and its workmanship inside this model of portable sauna, the combination of 3 big far infrared carbon fiber heating panels and 1 far infrared bio-ceramic heater that gives the outmost infrared emission
Bottom: Infrared heating panels were attached securely to the sauna, very pleasant in terms of safety

















Above: Waterproof cover with reflective material underneath, sandwich in between was the woven twill layer with excellent softness and the side lining trim was tightly done too, high density floor mat with additional reflective heat transform surface for the purpose of creating more infrared radiation inside the sauna, I love the overall material choice and its quality in terms of workmanship





















Top: All electrical cable were neat and tidy
Bottom: A Close-up look of an actual carbon fiber heating panel

















Top: View from the back shown the main control unit of this model of portable sauna
Bottom: In the respect to product safety, again I must point out that all the high voltage cables were attached neatly and properly, Great Job!!


















Top: The plug configuration has been up to TUV Certified 220, 230, 240 VAC input voltages direct plug-in linear power supply safety approval standard
Bottom: TUV/GS, SGS, CE, UL compliant approval cables, in-short all electrical cables were all up to the highest international safety standard




















Top: This model of sauna came with a set of bio-ceramic heater http://www.bioceramictherapeutics.com/ as a combination to the carbon fiber heating panels, this is far more effective for far infrared (FIR) emission as both elements were proven to be strong infrared emission material
Bottom: The digital handheld controller was slick and handful to select between the heating operation, whether it was from the heating panels or from the bio-ceramic heater, or even both of them together, it also has a timer as well

CASE 4:

Top: An overall ordinary material selection and workmanship, a view from top of this model of portable sauna, Not Good, Not Bad Either! This model came with a floor mat but didn’t have any heating foot pad, instead they offer another piece of foot wooden roller massager which I absolutely dislike!!

Bottom: Non-waterproof cover, after a while the material tend to become a little flappy and later wrinkles

Left: All electrical cables inside this model of sauna were decently placed including those which were attached to the heating panels

Top: The electrical cables were a little messy caming out from the main control unit

Bottom: Poor quality digital handheld controller, It was broken after a few weeks and I have to wrap it with plastic cover

Finally, before you buy!

Before You Buy


Prior to your final decision on purchasing a sauna, take the following into consideration

• Do you have any health or medical conditions that might prevent you from using infrared saunas? Far infrared radiation (FIR) is considered harmless for humans. Infrared heaters are even used to heat premature babies in hospitals incubators. But some people with certain illnesses and conditions should not use an infrared sauna or use it with extra caution
• Decide where you will place your infrared sauna aka sauna infra merah. It's important to choose a low-humidity, dry and level place. Also, most saunas are for in-door uses (you'll need an out-door model for out-door use)
• Finally, buy the sauna, no matter which type of sauna product you purchase, there is only one little to remember, and that is compare brands before making the purchase. After making sure everything is what you want and you're satisfied with the product, go ahead order the sauna and enjoy!!!

Far Infrared (FIR) Portable Home Sauna aka Sauna Infra Merah Brand Comparison Chart ( Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei )

http://far-infrared-portable-sauna.blogspot.com/2009/03/brand-comparison-chart-far-infrared-fir.html