Clearlight Sauna Review: Build, EMF Claims and Warranty

A Clearlight sauna can get you the only true lifetime warranty among the big infrared brands, plus 7 years of labor. Here’s how to tell whether that is worth paying about $1,500 more than a comparable Sunlighten.

The short answer: Clearlight builds carbon-ceramic infrared cabins that owners rate 4.4 from 1,688 Trustpilot reviews, and its indoor warranty is the strongest we found in the premium tier. Dealer-listed prices run from around $5,399 for the far infrared Premier IS-1 to around $8,599 for the Sanctuary Outdoor-2. Our scoring rubric gives the Sanctuary 2 an 8.4 out of 10. The weak spots are slow repair service and EMF reports that test bare heaters, not a current cabin.

We broke down the specs on seven Clearlight cabins, read the Sauna Works warranty PDF line by line, opened both Vitatech EMF reports, and pulled owner feedback from Trustpilot. Here is what we found.

Our Verdict on Clearlight

Clearlight is the infrared brand to buy if you care most about what happens in year 8, 12 or 20. Sunlighten and Sun Home both market a “lifetime” warranty that their own fine print defines as seven years, parts only. Clearlight’s indoor residential warranty names no year limit on the cabin, heaters, controls, wiring or audio, and it pays labor for 7 years.

The Sanctuary 2 is the pick for most couples. It delivers full spectrum heat on a 120V 20A circuit and scores 8.4 on our rubric, tied with the Sanctuary 1 for the brand’s best. If you do not need near and mid infrared, the Premier IS-2 keeps the same warranty and floor heaters for about $1,300 less.

The tradeoffs are real. You pay more per seat than any rival we compared, Clearlight publishes no max temperature, and owners say getting a repair handled can be slow.

View at Heal With Heat for Clearlight Sanctuary 2 Full Spectrum (opens in a new tab)

Who Makes Clearlight Saunas

Clearlight is a trade name of Sauna Works, Inc., 1077 Eastshore Highway, Berkeley, California, per its warranty PDF. Dr. Raleigh Duncan is named as founder in Clearlight’s own 2017 announcement. The founding year of 1997 comes from secondary sources (Unisco and a competing brand), not from Clearlight.

Jacuzzi: in 2017 Clearlight announced an “exclusive licensing partnership” in which Clearlight makes and markets a Jacuzzi-branded line of Sanctuary and Premier saunas (Clearlight announcement). That is why you see “Clearlight Jacuzzi” in some listings. Some competitor blogs say Jacuzzi bought Clearlight, but none cite a source, and we found no primary record of a sale.

Country of manufacture: not stated by Clearlight on any page we could read. Clearlight’s own site, infraredsauna.com, would not load for us, so specs and prices below come from Heal With Heat, an authorized Clearlight dealer. We say “dealer-listed” for every price on this page for that reason.

Clearlight Lineup and Prices

Clearlight sells two indoor cabin lines. Premier IS cabins are far infrared only as shipped, with an optional door heater that adds full spectrum. Sanctuary cabins add full spectrum heaters on the front glass. There is also an outdoor Sanctuary.

Prices are dealer sale prices from Heal With Heat on October 13, 2026. The dealer’s listing page and product pages disagreed on several models the same day, so treat these as “around” figures and check before you buy.

Three details in that table matter more than they look:

• Clearlight heats the floor and your calves. The Sanctuary 2 page lists heaters on the back wall, side walls, under the bench, “next to your calves and in the floor.” Premier cabins list the same placement. We did not confirm floor heaters on any Sunlighten model.
• The Sanctuary 1 runs on a standard 15A outlet. It draws 14.6A through a NEMA 5-15P plug. That makes it the easiest full spectrum Clearlight to install.
• Upgrades change the wiring. Adding the door heater or red light unit to a Sanctuary 2 raises the requirement to a 120V 30A circuit with a NEMA 5-30P plug, per its listing. Decide on upgrades before your electrician quotes the job.

Sanctuary 4, Sanctuary Outdoor 5 and Premier IS-3 also exist, but we could not confirm their specs or prices.

Which Clearlight model to buy

• Solo users on a budget: Premier IS-1. It is the cheapest Clearlight cabin and gets the full lifetime warranty. Its interior is a small 35 x 40 inches.
• Solo users who want full spectrum: Sanctuary 1. It plugs into a regular 120V 15A outlet.
• Couples: Sanctuary 2 for full spectrum, or Premier IS-2 to save about $1,300 and stay far infrared.
• Three people, or one person who wants to lie down: Sanctuary 3, with a 66 inch bench. It needs 240V and weighs 580 lb.
• Patio or deck: Sanctuary Outdoor-2, but read the outdoor warranty section first.

How Clearlight Scores on Our Rubric

Our scoring rubric rates every sauna on seven weighted factors: heat performance (25%), build and materials (20%), warranty (15%), electrical and install ease (10%), EMF data and transparency (10%), owner feedback (10%) and value (10%). Any factor with missing data scores 4 out of 10. The full method is on our how we research page.

Score breakdown: Clearlight Sanctuary 2 Full Spectrum

Calculated from specs, warranty terms and owner data with our published rubric. How we score

8.4out of 10

Factor	Weight	Score	Why
Heat performance	25%	10.0	Full spectrum, carbon-ceramic heaters.
Build and materials	20%	7.0	Basswood or mahogany (eco-certified), tongue and groove.
Warranty and support	15%	10.0	Lifetime coverage on the main structure.
Electrical and install ease	10%	8.0	120V. The manufacturer does not say whether it needs a dedicated circuit, so we assume it does.
Manufacturer EMF data and transparency	10%	10.0	Publishes a third-party EMF test report.
Owner feedback	10%	4.0	Owner rating not listed by the manufacturer.
Value for price	10%	8.4	Quality score 8.4, +0 for price band.

Here is what drives those numbers:

• Warranty scores a perfect 10 on every indoor model. No other premium infrared brand we compared earns that.
• EMF scores 10 because Clearlight links third-party Vitatech reports. Read the EMF section below before you lean on that: the reports test bare heaters, not a seat in a current cabin.
• Owner feedback defaults to 4 because Clearlight and its dealer show no per-model ratings. The brand-level 4.4 on Trustpilot would score higher if it were model-specific.
• Build scores 7. Basswood earns a 7 in our rubric, and the outdoor model’s engineered exterior scores 6.

For context, the Sunlighten mPulse Believe scores 7.4 and the Sun Home Equinox 2-Person scores 7.9. Our Sunlighten vs Clearlight comparison breaks that gap down model by model.

Clearlight Warranty: What the Fine Print Says

This is Clearlight’s biggest advantage, so we read the Sauna Works warranty PDF in full (Clearlight warranty).

What that means in plain terms:

• Lifetime has no year cap. Unlike Sunlighten’s warranty, which says lifetime is “defined as seven years” (Sunlighten warranty), the Clearlight PDF sets no number of years. Sun Home uses the same seven-year definition on its Equinox and Solstice (Sun Home warranty).
• Labor is covered for 7 years. If a heater fails in year 4, Clearlight pays for the part and the labor. Sunlighten and Sun Home Equinox owners pay their own labor.
• You may pay shipping. The company pays return shipping only when it chooses to replace the whole unit. Otherwise you ship failed parts back at your own cost.
• Transfer is not automatic. Coverage is for the original buyer unless the company gives written consent, which it may withhold. Do not assume a used Clearlight carries the warranty.
• Install within 6 months. Units installed more than 6 months after delivery are excluded, as are display models.
• Do not let anyone rewire it. Improper voltage, unauthorized electrical work and modifications (including changes made to meet local code) are excluded. Wire the circuit to the spec sheet and leave the cabin as shipped.
• Register it. The PDF directs owners to register with the serial number at InfraredSauna.com/warrantyform.

Outdoor terms are weaker. On the Sanctuary Outdoor-2, the cabin drops to 5 years and labor to 5 years. The site must be flat, level, hard-topped and drained, and kept clear of plants, soil and snow. An indoor model used outside keeps indoor terms only with Clearlight’s matching water-resistant cover left on at all times. If outdoor is the plan, compare options in our outdoor sauna guide.

Clearlight EMF Claims vs the Evidence

Clearlight’s marketing goes further than most. Product pages say its “patent-pending technology ensures that EMF levels are virtually zero where you sit in the sauna.” The dealer’s low EMF page claims “< 3mG” and labels it “EMF Measured Directly On Emitter” (low EMF page). All of these are manufacturer claims.

Here is the good news: Clearlight links two readable third-party reports from Vitatech Electromagnetics. Very few brands publish anything you can open and read. Here is what each one tests:

• 2016 report: a single 600W, 240V Clearlight heater, not a cabin. Magnetic field below 0.5 mG at every measured height from 3 to 14 feet. Electric field was 17.167 V/m directly below the heater at 1 meter, near the 3.87 V/m room baseline at 1 to 2 meters (Vitatech 2016).
• 2015 report: two 300W heaters, shielded vs unshielded, at about 2 inches. Magnetic field 0.12 to 0.24 mG shielded and 0.28 to 0.36 mG unshielded, and 0.00 mG at 1 meter. The electric field was 8.57 V/m shielded vs 357.7 V/m unshielded (Vitatech 2015). That is the clearest public evidence we found for Clearlight’s ELF shielding claim.

Now the limits. Neither report measures a seat in a current Sanctuary or Premier cabin. Neither tests the full spectrum heaters on the front glass. And the dealer’s EMF page mixes mV and V/m readings, which are not comparable units. Backyard Discovery, a budget brand, is the one maker we found that links a signed seat-height report on a current cabin (Rylan 2-Person report). Our low EMF sauna guide ranks every brand’s EMF evidence.

The Near Infrared Heater Question

A YouTube video by a sauna dealer calls the Sanctuary’s near infrared heaters “dangerous.” Here is what we can and cannot say.

The Sanctuary line gets its near and mid infrared from two 500W full spectrum heaters mounted on the front glass, per the Sanctuary 2 listing. The far infrared comes from carbon-ceramic panels around the rest of the cabin. We found no published safety study on these specific heaters, for or against, so we cannot verify either side.

If the debate worries you, there are two simple options. Buy a Premier IS model, which ships far infrared only and gets the same warranty. Or read our full spectrum vs far infrared comparison, which covers what the research actually tests (mostly far infrared).

Electrical Needs and Running Cost

Clearlight’s 1 and 2 person cabins run on 120V, which is a big reason buyers pick them. The Sanctuary 2 needs a 120V 20A circuit with a NEMA 5-20 outlet. The Sanctuary 3, Sanctuary 5 and Outdoor-2 need 240V. The listings we read do not say whether a dedicated circuit is required, but the warranty excludes improper voltage and unauthorized electrical work.

Use a licensed electrician to add or confirm the circuit, and ask whether your area requires a permit.

Running cost is low. At the US average residential rate of 18.31 cents per kWh (EIA, July 2026), a 45-minute session at full draw costs about:

• Premier IS-1 (1,370W): about $0.19
• Sanctuary 1 (1,750W): about $0.24
• Sanctuary 2 (2,250W): about $0.31
• Sanctuary 5 (3,800W): about $0.52

Heaters cycle once the cabin is warm, so real costs run lower. Plug in your own rate with our sauna running cost calculator.

What Clearlight Owners Report

Trustpilot: 4.4 from 1,688 reviews, with 77% five-star and 9% one-star, and 657 reviews in the past 12 months (checked October 13, 2026). Clearlight invites reviews, and it replied to only 6% of negative reviews (Trustpilot). For comparison, Sunlighten replies to 97% of its negatives.

Owners consistently report:

• Praise: clean design, solid build quality, fast heat-up, and friendly, knowledgeable staff.
• Complaints: slow repairs, communication gaps, trouble getting replacement parts, heavy panels and large boxes, and thin instructions or missing parts.

A competing brand’s summary of the same Trustpilot reviews adds delivery scheduling, out-of-box defects and app or Wi-Fi connection problems (Sun Home on Clearlight). Treat that as a competitor’s reading.

The pattern lines up with the warranty. Clearlight promises more coverage than anyone, but owners say using that coverage can take patience. Keep your serial number, register the sauna, and document any fault with photos.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• True lifetime coverage on indoor cabins, heaters, controls, wiring and audio, with no seven-year cap
• 7 years of labor, which Sunlighten and the Sun Home Equinox do not offer
• Heaters in the floor and at calf level, not just on the walls
• Full spectrum on 120V in the Sanctuary 1 and 2
• Two readable third-party Vitatech EMF reports
• 4.4 from 1,688 Trustpilot reviews

Cons

• High price per seat: about $1,500 more than a Sunlighten Amplify II for a 2-person full spectrum cabin
• Replies to only 6% of negative Trustpilot reviews, and owners report slow repairs
• No published max temperature, heat-up time or country of manufacture
• EMF reports test bare heaters from 2015 and 2016, not a current cabin
• Outdoor model drops to 5 years on the cabin and 5 years of labor

What Infrared Saunas Can and Cannot Do

Clearlight’s marketing leans on wellness language. Keep expectations grounded. A 2009 review in Canadian Family Physician found limited moderate evidence that far infrared sessions may help normalize blood pressure, and concluded that manufacturers’ claims of numerous health benefits are “poorly supported” (Beever 2009). The same review found evidence against claims that infrared lowers cholesterol.

Cleveland Clinic puts typical infrared sauna temperatures at 110F to 135F and notes that sauna weight loss is water, not fat (Cleveland Clinic). Our infrared sauna guide covers what the research supports in more detail.

Talk to your doctor before using any sauna if you have a heart condition, high or low blood pressure, are pregnant, or take medications. Never use a sauna alone or after drinking alcohol. Harvard Health advises no more than 15 to 20 minutes per session, and Cleveland Clinic suggests beginners start with about 5 minutes.

Clearlight Alternatives

If the price is the sticking point, these are the cabins we would compare first:

• Sunlighten Amplify II (around $5,799 on sale): full spectrum on 120V 20A for about $1,500 less. Its “lifetime” warranty is defined as 7 years, parts only, with no labor. It scores 7.5.
• Sun Home Equinox 2-Person (around $6,099 on sale): full spectrum on 120V 20A, 4.8 from 121 brand-site reviews, and a published Vitatech EMF summary. Same seven-year, parts-only terms as Sunlighten. It scores 7.9.
• Health Mate Enrich 2 (around $5,300): plugs into a standard 120V 15A outlet, with lifetime coverage on the heater core and wiring and 10 years on the cabin, electronics and labor. It scores 7.8.
• Backyard Discovery Rylan 2-Person (around $1,999 on sale): far infrared only, but it links a signed seat-height Vitatech report and covers every part for 5 years. It scores 8.3.

View at sunhomesaunas.com for Sun Home Saunas Equinox 2-Person (opens in a new tab)

For the full field, see our best full spectrum infrared saunas roundup.