There are many reasons to choose an infrared sauna, but energy saving is a very important one.
Electricity prices are sky-high and this will cost society and ordinary households a lot. Below we explain the principle of an energy-efficient infrared sauna and how it generates energy and is very climate-smart and energy-efficient compared to a sauna that is heated in the old traditional way via electric heaters with hot air, also called convection heat.
So how does an infrared sauna work? Infrared light is part of the electromagnetic spectrum. People come into contact with light, heat and radio waves every day. What distinguishes the different groups of electromagnetic radiation is the wavelength of the radiation. Infrared rays work wonders, they heat the body directly, without directly heating the surrounding air like a traditional sauna. Infrared heat works by heating objects such as walls, floors, ceilings, but also the human body. Anything hit by the infrared waves then generates heat in the infrared sauna, making it much more energy efficient. In terms of electricity consumption, an infrared sauna consumes about one fifth of what a traditional electric sauna with convection heating does. Thanks to this, there are therefore plenty of kilowatt hours to save!
At the moment, many hotels, gyms, swimming pools, sports clubs, etc. have chosen to upgrade their old electricity-guzzling saunas to infrared saunas. This means that they can save many thousands of euros every month.
In an infrared sauna, the body gets at least as hot as in a traditional electric sauna and as a rule you sweat more, although the air is at a slightly lower temperature. So it will not be a worse sauna experience even though you save about 80% of the power consumption. On the contrary, most people who have tried an infrared sauna prefer it to a traditional electric sauna.
If you want to treat yourself to a nice sauna bath without having to think about the kilowatt hours, please contact us for help if you want to upgrade your existing sauna to a modern, healthy and energy-efficient infrared sauna!
Why does an infrared sauna use so much less power than a traditional electric sauna?
This is due to several reasons. Firstly, infrared heat is a much more efficient way of heating the sauna than convection heat like a traditional electric heater. But other reasons for this are also the heating time and the pulse heating effect.
Heating time
Infrared heating systems, MicaWave and CarbonWave panels get warm in about 10 minutes before they emit the right wavelength of infrared waves to heat the body effectively. In this time in a properly sized infrared sauna, the sauna room should also be heated up to a comfortable sauna temperature to start saunas. If you use an infrared sauna with our Vitaelight Full Spectrum reflectors, you can jump in and start saunas right away during the heating phase, as they produce true infrared wavelengths in only 1-2 minutes.
In a traditional sauna with an electric heater, the body is heated with convection heat, which means that it is the hot air in the sauna that heats the outside of your skin, to gradually heat you in the sauna. In order for you to get enough hot air in the sauna, the heater must first heat its heating coils inside the heater, and then heat the entire stone magazine, in some saunas this can be several hundred kilos of stone mass to be heated. When the stone is finally hot, the heater starts to heat all the air in the sauna, and the hot air accumulates in the ceiling and the sauna slowly gets hotter and hotter until it reaches the set temperature.
This process normally takes between 30-60 minutes. During this time, the heater runs at maximum power to heat up as quickly as possible. So if you have an 8kW heater that heats a sauna in about an hour, then just the heating phase takes 8kW/h! This is equivalent to about 12 hours of vacuuming, before you even start your sauna!
Pulse heat effect
Another important factor contributing to energy savings is the infrared sauna's pulse heat. When your infrared sauna reaches the set air temperature, the controller cuts the power to your MicaWave or CarbonWave heaters, as these heaters have a certain amount of carbon fibre and mica mineral, they continue to maintain the temperature after the power is cut, and continue to emit infrared waves in the correct wavelength. This is until the air temperature has dropped a couple of degrees below the set level, and then they switch on and energise the heaters again.
When an infrared sauna is set to approx: 55 degrees (normal sauna temperature) and the sauna has finished its heating phase, this means that the infrared heating system only draws power approx: 33% of the time while you are saunas, even if you do not notice any difference in the infrared output. This means that an infrared sauna with a total power of 3.5kW uses approx. 1.1kW during the sauna session to maintain the heat in the sauna and generate infrared waves.
Compared to a traditional electric heater that must maintain an air temperature of approx. 80 degrees (normal sauna temperature), this needs to run at full power approx. 60-70% of the time, to maintain a good temperature, after the heating phase is completed. Which means that an 8kW heater consumes approx: 5.2kW during the sauna session after the heating phase. Which corresponds to 8 vacuum cleaners at full power for the entire time you are sawing.
Lower maximum power
As an infrared sauna heats you more efficiently than a traditional electric sauna, a lower installed power is required. in a traditional sauna, you usually count about: 1kW / cubic metre of sauna volume + 1-2 cubic metres per square metre on materials such as glass, tiles and stone on walls and ceilings. This can quickly become a very high installed power. For example, a 2x2x2m sauna with a glass front requires a heater that can handle a volume of 8+6= 14 cubic metres. Which means an installed power of 10-14kW. (These figures are an example, and may vary somewhat on sauna construction, ground heat and heater manufacturer)
In an infrared sauna from Luxway, we calculate with approx: 500W per cubic metre +200W per square metre for material tiles and glass, so the same sauna would have needed an installed infrared power of approx: 4.8kW.
Example of calculation
Here we look at two examples of calculations, one for a home sauna that is started and used for one sauna session at a time, and one for a public sauna that is left on for most of the day, for example at a gym or swimming pool.
Home sauna
In this first example, we take a normal home sauna of about 5 cubic metres of sauna volume. A traditional heater would then need an installed power of 6.6 kW and take about 35 minutes to heat up before you start sawing. The duration of the sauna is calculated at 60 minutes at a temperature of 80 degrees.
The corresponding sauna with an infrared system needs a power of 2.5kW, you start to sauna after 10 minutes and the air in the sauna reaches 55 degrees after 10-15 minutes, the duration of the sauna is also here 60 minutes, but a set air temperature of 55 degrees.
Taking into account all the energy saving benefits mentioned above, this means a power consumption per sauna bath of 1.75kW/h. Compared to a traditional electric heater that has a power consumption of 8.9kW/h per sauna bath.
At an electricity price of 4:- per kW/h + electricity tax and VAT, this means that you save approx. 40:- per sauna bath if you use an infrared sauna from Luxway, compared to a traditional electric heater.
Public sauna
In this example, we calculate a slightly larger sauna of 12.6 cubic metres, (3 x 2 x 2.1m), which is on 12 hours a day, 7 days a week at a swimming pool. In this sauna there is a traditional electric heater of 10kW, and it has a heating time of about 45minutes. and is set to 80 degrees. The equivalent sauna with an infrared sauna system would have an installed power of approx: 6.5W (high count) the infrared sauna takes only 10-15 minutes to heat up to 55 degrees which is the set air temperature.
Taking into account all the energy saving benefits mentioned above, this means a power consumption of 27.3 kWh/day for the infrared sauna and a power consumption of 91 kWh/day for the traditional electric sauna.
If you then calculate an electricity price of 4:-/kWh, + tax and VAT, you will save 10890:- a month if you upgrade your old electricity-guzzling sauna heater to a modern, healthy and energy-saving infrared sauna system.
The cost of the infrared system in our example is approx: 31000:-, which means that it paid for itself already after 3 months.
If you want to save even more energy, you can take advantage of the fast start-up time by installing a push button that easily starts the infrared sauna when needed and it heats up in just a few minutes. This is not possible with a traditional electric sauna, due to the long heating time.
