Infrared sauna vs traditional sauna: which is better?

By the Fonteyn UK team · Outdoor living advisers at Fonteyn

Neither sauna is better outright: traditional gives intense, high heat, while infrared offers gentle, accessible warmth at a lower temperature.

The right choice comes down to four simple things. Heat preference, comfort, the space at home and the budget all point you towards one style or the other.

Is an infrared sauna better than a traditional sauna?

There is a reason this question comes up so often. The two saunas feel different the moment you step inside, and each one wins fans for its own qualities. A traditional cabin surrounds the body in powerful, enveloping heat that builds as the stones get going. An infrared cabin offers a softer, radiant glow at a temperature most people find easy to settle into, almost like sitting in steady sunshine.

It helps to think about how a sauna will actually fit into the week. One person looks forward to a short, intense reset after training. Another wants a gentle half hour to unwind with a book most evenings. Both are perfectly valid ways to enjoy heat bathing, and each points naturally towards a different style of cabin.

So the honest answer is that one is not simply better than the other. They suit different goals. Someone who loves a strong, ritual-style session at high heat will lean towards a traditional sauna. Someone who wants gentle warmth, a quick warm-up and an easy fit indoors will lean towards infrared. Both reward the habit, and both belong in a relaxed home routine.

The most common question Fonteyn hears in the Leicester showroom is which of the two styles fits a real home. The good news is that both can, and the rest of this guide walks through how they heat, what the research shows and how to match a cabin to a goal, a room and a budget. Fonteyn carries both across its own range of home saunas, so the choice is always open.

How does a traditional sauna differ from infrared?

The split comes down to what gets heated. A traditional Finnish sauna warms the air. A stove heats a bank of stones, the stones radiate into the room, and the temperature climbs to somewhere between 70 and 100C. Ladle water over those stones and you get löyly, the burst of steam that gives the classic sauna its rush of enveloping heat. It is the high-intensity experience that protocol-style sessions are built on.

An infrared cabin works in a calmer way. Panels emit infrared warmth that the body absorbs directly, so the air itself stays cooler, usually 45 to 65C. The sensation is a deep, radiant warmth at a temperature that many people find easy to settle into for a longer stretch. Infrared cabins also reach working warmth quickly and tend to be light on running costs, which makes daily use feel effortless.

That difference in how they heat shapes the whole feel of a session. In a traditional cabin the air carries the heat, so the warmth feels active and full-bodied, and a splash of water on the stones lifts it further. In an infrared cabin the panels do the work quietly in the background, so the warmth feels steady and easy to sit with. Both leave that pleasant, loosened-up glow afterwards.

Each approach is a full experience in its own right. They are two routes to the same restful, warming result. Fonteyn offers both across its range, from traditional cabin models to compact infrared cabins, precisely because households want different things from their heat. After 30+ years in spas and outdoor living, the advisers find the choice is rarely about which is best and almost always about which one a person will actually look forward to using.

What does the science say about regular sauna use?

The strongest evidence for sauna bathing comes from Finland, where the habit is part of daily life. People who use a sauna four to seven times a week see a sharply lower chance of sudden cardiac events. That finding comes from a long-running cohort study (Laukkanen et al., 2015) published in JAMA Internal Medicine. The researchers tracked more than 2,300 middle-aged men for around two decades, which gives the result real weight.

The pattern held across several measures of heart health, and frequency was the clear driver. Later work added to the picture. A further prospective study (BMC Medicine, 2018) extended the heart-health findings to both men and women, strengthening the case that this is a benefit people of any background can share. The NHS also points to relaxation and improved circulation as everyday reasons heat bathing feels so restorative. For most people, that mix of calm and gentle cardiovascular support is the real draw.

This is also why high-heat routines have caught on with longevity enthusiasts. Bryan Johnson, who runs the Blueprint project, follows a dry traditional sauna at around 93C, daily, for 20-minute sessions with a cold plunge to finish (Bryan Johnson, Blueprint sauna protocol, 2025). His routine simply turns the research dial up, swapping the study's four-to-seven sessions for one a day. He pushes longer sessions to raise core temperature, the point where the body steps up production of heat-shock proteins, the molecules that help cells protect and repair themselves.

The wider takeaway is encouraging for anyone choosing a cabin. Both traditional and infrared saunas let a person build a regular heat habit, and the research rewards that consistency rather than any single style. So the smartest sauna is simply the one a person enjoys enough to use often. Comfort, in other words, is part of the science.

Which sauna suits your goal, space and budget?

Matching the sauna to the goal makes the choice simple. Someone drawn to a strong, high-heat session, with the option to chase higher core temperatures, will feel right at home in a traditional sauna. The stove, the stones and the steam recreate the conditions that intense, ritual-style routines are built around. It is the classic, immersive experience in its purest form.

An infrared cabin shines for a different set of priorities. Its gentle warmth suits anyone new to heat bathing, anyone who likes a long and relaxed session, and any home where space is at a premium. Warm-up is quick and running costs stay low, so it slots into a busy week with ease. For an indoor room or a compact corner, it is a wonderfully practical way to enjoy daily warmth. Many owners find the lower heat makes it easy to stay in longer and truly switch off.

Budget tends to settle naturally alongside these points. An infrared cabin is a smart entry into daily heat bathing and a great value first sauna, while a traditional cabin is a rewarding investment for anyone who prizes the full Finnish ritual. Both are sound choices, and the showroom is the easiest place to feel which one suits.

The table below sets the two side by side as the genuine options they are. In the Leicester showroom, the advisers find that seeing both in person settles the question fast, because heat is a personal thing. Some people love the full-bodied blast of a traditional cabin; others prefer the soft, steady glow of infrared. Both belong in the Fonteyn sauna collection, ready to test before deciding.

The Marriott 200 brings the full traditional experience home, with a generous cabin and an electric stove that takes the room into the high-heat range. It is a natural fit for anyone inspired by a daily 93C ritual.

Fonteyn Marriott 200 Sauna

Traditional cabin sauna · electric stove with stones · White Stone finish

Save £1,700

£4,899 £6,599

View the Marriott 200

For gentle, accessible warmth, the Bella 3 infrared cabin seats three and settles into an indoor space with ease. Its radiant panels make long, relaxed sessions a pleasure and keep daily use light on the household budget, which is great value for a daily wellness habit.

Fonteyn Bella 3 Infrared Cabin

Infrared cabin · seats 3 · radiant panel warmth · indoor-friendly

Save £600

£1,795 £2,395

View the Bella 3

How does cold therapy fit the sauna routine?

The sauna rarely works alone in a serious wellness routine. Many enthusiasts pair the heat with cold exposure, stepping from a warm cabin into a cold plunge or cold shower. The swing from deep warmth to brisk cold is the part people often describe as the most invigorating moment of the whole ritual. It is the finishing touch that turns a sauna session into a complete reset.

This hot-and-cold rhythm has deep roots in Nordic and Finnish tradition, where a dip in cold water after the sauna is simply how it is done. Longevity-focused routines lean on it too: Bryan Johnson finishes his daily sauna with a cold plunge for exactly this contrast. The appeal is easy to feel, since warmth relaxes the body and the cold then sharpens the senses and leaves a fresh, energised glow. It is a pattern that suits a traditional cabin and an infrared cabin equally well.

A cold finish also suits both styles of sauna equally, so cold therapy never ties a person to one choice. Whether the heat came from a stove or from infrared panels, the plunge that follows feels just as bracing and just as rewarding. That flexibility is part of what makes a home wellness corner so easy to enjoy.

Fonteyn makes building the full ritual straightforward by offering ice baths and cold therapy alongside its saunas. A sauna and an ice bath together recreate the hot-and-cold loop at the heart of these routines, right in a back garden or wellness room. For anyone exploring the wider world of heat and water, the Fonteyn guide to hot tub water balance and filters is a useful companion read on keeping a home setup in great shape.

How do you bring a sauna into a British home?

Bringing a sauna home is more achievable than many people expect. An infrared cabin is the easiest place to start: many models run from a standard domestic socket and sit happily indoors, in a spare room, a garden room or a quiet corner. Their compact footprint and quick warm-up make them a friendly first sauna for a British home, with daily warmth ready at the press of a button.

Traditional cabin saunas bring the full high-heat experience and ask for a little more groundwork. An electric stove is typically hardwired by a qualified electrician and installed to Part P standards where required, which keeps everything safe and compliant. Placed in a garden room, a converted outbuilding or a spacious indoor area, a traditional cabin becomes a genuine wellness retreat at home. The result is worth the planning.

What Fonteyn recommends after 30+ years of experience is to settle the practical questions early: where the sauna will live, how it connects to power, and which style fits the household routine. Fonteyn guides the whole journey, from advice through delivery and installation, and the team at the Leicester showroom walks customers through every step. Pairing a sauna with a veranda or garden room creates a calm, sheltered wellness space that works all year round.

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