Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

**Updated 10/6/2016** We purchased the three person unit direct from the factory since it is not offered here on Amazon. Some of the things I say here may not apply to the two person unit. We were considering the two person unit, but my wife wanted to be able to sit sideways on the bench with her feet up, or lay down on the bench with her knees bent. This required the larger size of the three person unit. It is a very comfortable heat. We love that we can use this in our home without any worries of moisture problems. The unit seems very well built and sturdy. The speakers work great. We purchased a Bluetooth receiver ( Aluratek AIS01F I-Stream DockFree Bluetooth Audio Receiver with RCA Cables Included - Black ) to plug into the speaker port, to make the phone a little more comfortable to use in there. We love this sauna, but there are a few things I wish I had known before I had bought it. Not that it would have changed my mind, I would have just been better prepared. Delivery The unit came on a full semi. Luckily, I have a neighbor who has forks on his tractor. Make sure you have an adequate way to receive this thing. It comes in three boxes on one pallet, total weight was 410 lbs. Setup Time. We did run into one snag which required a road trip, I will explain that later, and also had to break for a quick bite to eat. The unit arrived shortly after noon. With the snag and the break, setup was complete at 5PM. According to the directions, there are a few steps to take to “condition” the unit prior to use. You have to heat the unit up for one hour with the door open, and then let it cool down. Then you heat it up for one hour with the door closed, and then let it cool down. So ours was ready to use at around 9PM. Ease of Setup This thing is very easy to setup, but I do recommend two people. You simply line up the sides with the bottom, and fasten the buckles. The biggest problem I had was figuring out which piece was the left side and which was the right. The seat, heat panels, and the roof will require a Philips screwdriver. I had a couple of problems that were solved with channel lock pliers. Warnings, Problems, Disappointments First of all, while this list may seem long, nothing I list here was a show stopper for me and I still give the unit 5 stars. Nothing is perfect after all. But I do want you to be aware of these things. **Update: reduced to 4 stars as explained below** The floor had a pretty serious blemish. I may try to sand it out one day. It was a little disappointing that this got past Quality Control. Three of the buckles were bent. Two of them I was able to straighten out with a pair of channel lock pliers. One of them I couldn’t fix, so I just left it unbuckled. One of the heater connectors was crushed flat. I was able to un-squish it with the channel locks. (Make sure you have a set of channel lock pliers when building this!) The roof drops into the almost finished structure, and is then fastened with screws. One of those screws cracked the wood on the inside wall. I removed that screw, and pushed the wood back into place. Hopefully that fix lasts. I do worry that eventually a piece of wood will fall out of that crack. The “snag” I mentioned earlier. I was very surprised to see that my unit came with a 20 amp plug. Luckily, I used to be an electrician. I checked my breaker panel to make sure I was plugging into a 20 amp circuit. Then I had to run to the hardware store for a 20 amp outlet. Also, the cord wouldn’t reach my outlet. The only 20 amp extension cord I could find was 100 feet long. So I ended up buying cord and parts to make my own extension cord. This added about an hour and a half to the setup time. I have cautioned my wife not to have the A/C or ceiling fan running while using the unit. Someday I would like to get a meter and find out what the actual current draw is. If you opt for the three or four person unit, make sure you have a 20 amp circuit readily available. The two person unit uses a standard 15 amp plug. I ordered the 2 pack of backrests from Dynamic Saunas. Dynamic Canadian Hemlock Sauna Backrest 2-pack 100% Natural Hemlock Wood Construction, S-Shape, No Stains, All Natural Finish When used against the back (of course) they fit absolutely perfectly. However, my wife wanted to be able to use it sideways. Well, the side heater is placed too close to the back, and the backrest won’t fit there. That kind of defeats the whole purpose of us buying the three person unit, so I may try to modify that. We put this in our bedroom. In the middle of the night I noticed the control panel has a green light that is always on. Why do manufacturers always do this? I’ll need to find a way to cover up that light, I don’t really want to unplug the unit every night. This probably won’t be an issue for most people though. **Update: based on a comment I got on this review, I wired the outlet up to a switch. Saves electricity as well because now the transformer is not running constantly. Works perfectly. ** The control panel shows you what temperature you have it set to, but it does not show you what the temperature is. I put a suction-cup thermometer on the glass. At 104, the thermometer got up to 96. I realize there is probably quite a bit of heat loss right at the glass. I plan on getting a wall mount thermometer to put inside. **Update: I bought an Indoor/Outdoor thermometer, and suspended the "outdoor" receiver from the cieling near the back. This should be the warmest part of the sauna. The temperature maxed out at 128 degrees after 1 1/2 hours. Took off 1 star because of this. I hope to contact the manufacturer soon to question them on this. ** When fastening the seat top to the seat front, I recommend pushing the top back as far as you can, and pulling the front forward as far as you can. This may require two people. If you don’t do this, the seat will be able to slide back and forth ever so slightly. I wanted to make sure the seat was solid. Conclusion So there is my list of need-to-knows. I figure if I built my own unit from scratch, I probably would have twice as many problems, and most likely would spend twice as much money. For what I paid for this thing, I am 100% pleased with it. **Update: I recommend using a thermometer setup like I did or, I know someone who simply put an oven thermometer in his. Runs on the low side, so you're probably going to want to know the actual temperature you are running at. I'd be interested in knowing if anyone had a different experience.**