Discover the key differences between Clearlight and Sunlighten saunas to help you choose the best infrared sauna for your wellness journey.

Warranty

1) The warranty on Sunlighten sauna cabins is just 7 years with 1 to 3 year limits on their electronics. Please click here to see the Sunlighten Warranty on their site. Clearlight uses higher quality components and includes 100% Lifetime Warranty on the entire sauna and all its components – in writing. You can find the Clearlight warranty by clicking here. 

Innovation

2) A leader in innovation – Clearlight was the first company to remove the EMF (electro-magnetic fields) exposure in infrared saunas many years ago. They are also the only infrared sauna company to shield and substantially mitigate ELF levels (extremely low electric frequencies). Sunlighten’s mPulse sauna heaters are thin and not effectively shielded from EMF – potentially exposing you to unsafe levels (feel free to google Sunlighten, mPulse and EMF to read through several unhappy customer reviews). Health and safety are Clearlight’s #1 priority – there is a reason why so many respected and elite health/wellness authorities work with them.

Important note: Sunlighten will tell you that they “remedied EMF’s” in 2021 and share a VitaTech report with you, however, you’ll notice there are only 9 of 33 pages disclosed on their site. They typically only share a fraction of the report and its data. I highly recommend asking them for the full report so you can take a closer look at all the readings.

3) Clearlight is the only company with proprietary hybrid carbon-ceramic heaters offering the best of both worlds of carbon and ceramic infrared heaters. Sunlighten uses carbon-only heaters, which is generally a weaker heating system. 

4) Heater placement is very important and often considered as the most important component of an infrared sauna. In designing Clearlight saunas, Dr Raleigh Duncan and Clearlight CEO, consulted with health practitioners of different paths for their wisdom and suggestions. His research included consulting with Ayurvedic practitioners and Doctors of Oriental Medicine where he learned that the heaters should ideally not be placed at the level of the head. In addition, infrared heat travels in a direct straight line – therefore any heaters on or above the head are wasting energy. It’s important to remember, infrared primarily heats the body, not the airspace, so heaters high on the wall are not effectively heating your core body or digging into the muscle tissue for detoxification purposes. Also, heaters above the head can usually be an indication the carbon heaters need extra help heating the overall sauna cabin space.

Important note: the heaters in the top-of-the-line Sunlighten mPulse saunas are paper thin and can easily scorch from excessive heat. They’re not viewable as they’re covered with a dark, bamboo cloth, but if you remove it, you can see how thin the heaters are. The cloth used to cover the heaters unfortunately blocks some of the actual infrared wavelength. Clearlight doesn’t cover their heaters – they have a framework of wood that keeps the sauna user from touching the heaters while not blocking the benefits of infrared. 

5) Sunlighten claims to be the “first and only infrared sauna to offer near, mid and far technology”. This is simply not true. The Clearlight Sanctuary line has been around for many years and it offers 2 or 4 vertical 500-watt Full Spectrum heaters emitting near, mid and far infrared heat. Sunlighten uses minimal amounts of near and mid infrared heat in their saunas and they don’t disclose the strength or power of these emitters in their 3-in-1 line. 
 

6) Sunlighten has slatted wood floors over live heaters in their saunas, which over time collect sweat, sloughed-off skin cells, dust and dead insects. Clearlight uses only solid wood floors with infrared heaters beneath them creating a hygienic and effective heated floor that’s easy to clean. 

Technology

7) Each Clearlight sauna comes with a Bluetooth sound system with high quality Nakamichi speakers. You can use your smart device to play music, podcasts, or audio books. This entire sound system is included with the Lifetime Warranty. 

8) The Clearlight Sanctuary saunas have an app which can be used on any smart device for remote connectivity. Sunlighten charges extra for remote connectivity. The free Clearlight app is available for all Sanctuary sauna owners for both Android and IOS.

Company Leaders

9) Clearlight’s CEO, Dr. Raleigh Duncan, is a Chiropractic Doctor with a background in engineering. Nearly 30 years ago, Raleigh was recommending infrared sauna sessions to his patients and found they were getting tremendous pain relief. He went to the best sauna company at the time and asked them to make some improvements in their saunas ~ to make them even healthier. They balked and within a few years Raleigh started his own sauna company. His company was the first infrared sauna company to shield from EMF electrical fields, use only FSC Certified Woods (sustainably grown and harvested), and have a sauna cabin free from anything that would off-gas chemicals in the air. Over the years, Raleigh continued to make important improvements and Clearlight quickly became the leading innovator in the infrared sauna industry. Raleigh is also certified as a GEOVITAL EMF Consultant. GEOVITAL is the Academy for Radiation Protection and Environmental Medicine and has its headquarters in Austria. You can find the GEOVITAL website here and learn more about Raleigh and his dedication to wellness HERE. The CEO’s of Sunlighten, Aaron and Connie Zack, are former sales reps for the Pharmaceutical division of Procter and Gamble.

Customer Experience

10) Overall, Clearlight’s focus and goal is always centered around the customers. They strive to provide you with superior customer service, help you make an informed decision about what sauna will best fit you/family, and never be pushy or aggressive with sales. Clearlight and I am here for you before, during, and for a lifetime after your purchase.   

Also note: Clearlight Sauna owners include Ben Greenfield, Aubrey Marcus, Deepak Chopra, Mark Sisson, Dr. Daniel Amen, Dr. Sara Gottfried, Dr. Frank Lipman, Dr. Jessica Peatross, Dr. David Perlmutter, Dr. Brian Clement and the Hippocrates Health Institute (Hippocrates has 32 Clearlight Saunas on their campus), a roster of professional athletes from the NBA, NFL and NHL, and the Under Armour Performance Center.  We’re proud to be the sauna of choice of such elite experts and organizations!

What Sunlighten Says About Clearlight

A few notes regarding the Sauna Comparison posted on Sunlighten’s site:

• – All Clearlight saunas are tested and assured for Low VOC – please review the quality craftsmanship info HERE

• – Customizable Session: there is no “one size fits all” in infrared. Everyone has a different heat tolerance, health/wellness goal plus you can’t set it “do” something specific. Each body receives light energy differently so I see this for what it is – a total marketing gimmick. 

• – FDA  Approved: I’d ask them specifically what’s been FDA approved and the paperwork to back it up as the infrared sauna industry is not regulated by the FDA.

• – Their statement about emissivity is untrue – please take a closer look at Clearlight’s heater emissivity as well as a heater comparison test HERE to confirm effectiveness. 

• – It’s unclear what “Optimized Operating Temperature” means – nothing on their site actually explains this.  

• – Clearlight does offer Vibration Resonance Therapy (sound healing).

If you have any additional questions, please let me know, I’m happy to help.