Infrared Sauna – Review (JNH Lifestyles)

Table of contents

Unboxing and assembly
Mini review
Summary
Accessories
Resources
Gallery

I’ve been visiting saunas in the past on occassion, especially during those dark, cold, winter months in Pacific Northwest, and always found that experience to be a very relaxing “reset for the body”. Now that we have a bit of free space available, we’ve decided to get an infrared sauna at home.

Bit of research pointed us in a direction of company known as “JNH Lifestyles”. They offer a variety of options, an boast a “low EMF” and “full spectrum” saunas. While unfortunately I have no way of confirming those statements 😉 the reviews, photos, design – everything seemed reassuring that it’s a solid choice.

So we bought this specific model:

TOSI™ 3 PERSON ULTRA-LOW EMF FULL SPECTRUM INFRARED SAUNA
https://www.jnhlifestyles.com/tosi-3-person-full-spectrum-infrared-sauna

Let’s see how that went!

Unboxing and assembly

Couple words on shipping times – I didn’t pay for the rush order processing and faster shipping, and yet I received the package in time close to lower end of the rush shipping option! I was surprised, and the space for it wasn’t even ready yet, but glad I got it quickly without having to pay the extra price 😉

First things first – delivery and unboxing. The package gets delivered on a large truck, and all the contents, which are loaded into a single, tall box, get dropped off at your property. I asked for it to be left in the garage. It’s very heavy, and would be difficult to safely move without a large dolly or a forklift.

The whole package weights 368 pounds.

The box is actually quite slim – to a point that it almost fell of the track’s ramp when it was being unloaded! We were able to catch it in time and prevent it from smaching onto the ground. I guess the form-factor is mostly a function of the sizing of all panels that the sauna consists of. And likely the shipping economics also make sense (number of units shipped * probability of it getting damaged, plus there’s also the insurance adding extra margins to the equation), but I think it was an unnecessary stress and I wish it came in a bit more balanced package 😉

It all begins with opening the box, which takes a bit of finesse. I’m glad the company provides a video guiding us through the process (see in the Resources section below, the video itself is unlisted on YouTube). You’ll need a screwdriver, pliers, and I’d also recommend keeping metal shears handy if you have them, to chop at the most persistent clips holding sides of the box together.

Oh, and I highly suggest you have someone to help you open and unload the box – while most of the panels are manageable and 1 person can move them around, the front wall with glass windows and the door is really, really heavy. And you don’t want to risk dropping it…

With all elements freed from the confines of the box, it’s time to assemble it all together.

This is where I realized that the paper manual provided with the sauna is very out of date… It’s for a different, older model. And certain key elements are simply not true. I spent maybe 10 minutes walking around and checking for a power suppy clearly shown in the manual, only to become suspicious, lose confidence in the printed material, and decided to proceed and see what happens 😀 And… that was a right call (standalone power supply is no longer provided with the sauna, and it’s integrated into the back wall).

There’s also an online version of the manual, and that one has indeed been updated, although in my opinion it’s still lacking, and on the off-chance anyone from JNH is reading this, I’d recommend making a revision to also include a bit more insightful information. Examples:

Context on the sanding block – is the recommendation to do a finishing pass on every panel, or is it for some specific step/purpose?
What are the felt pieces for? Are those intended to be placed under the base? If so, the quantity feels very insufficient,
Can doors be mounted to swing the other way? (they can’t, but having this outlined in manual can make it all much more streamlined)

There aren’t all that many screws/parts, and assembly goes fairly quickly.

Here’s a quick overview on how the decorative cap/screw/cap thread/washer are to be put together when screwing panels together:

I didn’t take a lot of photos along the way, I think I forgot out of the sheer excitement 😀

Here’s the walls assembled together, before the heating elements were installed:

And here’s the completed sauna:

Oh, and something that I almost forgot – be sure to have a dedicated 20 Amp circuit for sauna, as it’s best not to share the load with any other devices (and use NEMA 5-20R socket, as the sauna will not plug into the common NEMA 5-15R socket!)

With things assembled and plugged in, it was time to take it for a test drive.

Mini-review

I’ll keep this section concise, and only focus on the main highlights/lowlights. This is quite subjective, but I hope reading my take on things could help you form your own opinion.

Good:

Saunas are awesome, and I’m enjoying the sweat this one brings! 😀
Feels sturdy once assembled, no creaking sounds or bending,
Heats up quickly – within 10 minutes it’s already noticeably hot, with a max temp of 140* F / 60*C
I like the wood smell, and there’s no artificial scents when everything is hot,
3-person size is in my opinion optimal – that size allows for sitting on the bench across, with back against one of the heaters. The 2-person version might feel too small (but I of course understand space limitation, so it may be the right choice in some situations),
Every screw is finished with a decorative cap, nice touch!

Bad:

There are lots of splinters and wood chips in the panels (lots of debris was also falling out from the cable holes in walls),
- and while it’s not too bad if it’s on surfaces you won’t be touching, there were some even on the bench! I’m so glad I checked after finishing the install…
Bit of inconsistency in manufacturing – some holes in heaters weren’t fully drilled, couple edges were not routed,
Instructions are out of date: incorrect info on contents across boxes, power supply, etc. Luckily a PDF is also provided and that one is correct,
- Manual could also (in addition to being updated with basic info for current models) include more helpful information – clearly state what the felt and sanding block are for (I mean, I don’t think sanding wood on the heaters is a good idea with how much of a dust magnet the heater panel covers are) or whether the door panel can be reversed to have the door open in the other direction (it can’t, the panel can be attached one way only, notice the cutout for roof panel),
- And upon purchasing the sauna, you’ll receive an email with corrected PDF instructions as well as a handy set of videos (see linked below in “Resources” section)
Cable management feels very “hacky” – lots of chaining of splitters to connect all the heating elements, leading to quite the rats nest of wires (Why not have a single splitter for the desired number of connections? Or better yet, the right number of outputs from the power unit that can connect to each heater directly),
Low quality of Bluetooth speakers, and their positioning negating any benefits of there actually being 2 speakers – why are they installed directly next to each other, as opposed to one on each side for stereo sound?
Foot heater design could be more symmetrical (cable attached in the middle of short wall, switch next to the cable) which would make for more eastethicaly pleasing configuration when using 2 of them),
There’s pretty much no functional inside lighting – the single LED at the top of control panel is very weak, and the chromatherapy is intended to serve different purpose altogether. I’d like to see maybe a single, centrally installed, LED recessed light,
You need to remove 2 heaters and the bench (with its support bracket) to install or remove foot heater(s), and while it’s not something that gets done often, I wonder if it could be streamlined in future revisions,
For the price of this unit, I’d like to see inclusion of things like a thermometer, to have more confidence in the temps 🙂

Disclaimer: the sheer size of the Good/Bad paragraphs shouldn’t be an indication of whether the product is indeed good or bad. I’m hoping to share my observations, so that you can decide how impactful each of those considerations are for you.

Summary – so, would I recommend it?

I’m a tiny bit conflicted…

On one hand I really like it, it works well, feels great (and things will only get better when the outside temps drop!), and it’s hard to complain about the convenience of having a sauna available for use whenever I feel like it.

On the other hand, the cost is signifficant, and while attempting to appear as a more luxurious product, there are a lot of missed marks, mostly things I find hard to justify (from perspective of quality shortcommings [examples: splinters and uneven finishing of some parts], or cost-saving [like no thermometer included, outside of the panel showing target temp, not the current]).

Ultimately, we have a sauna, love using it, and… we’re happy 🙂

Wish I could help any other person looking for the right for them sauna more, but unfortunately I do not have experience with other models, and am unable to do a more substantial comparison.