Very few companies build infrared saunas in North America. Many premium brands you see online import from China or Vietnam. But there is a big difference between a sauna made at home and one shipped from overseas. To start with, the wood crosses the ocean twice. Two loads of fossil fuel pollute the air and the ocean. Some wood species are subjected to two rounds of fumigation. And electrical safety regulations, which were built over generations in North America, can weaken in factories overseas.
There are serious considerations when shipping Canadian timber across an ocean, building it into a sauna, and shipping it back…when the wood, the customers and the workers are all right here.
If these considerations matter to you, here is a quick guide to spot an infrared sauna built an ocean away.
Clues It Was Likely Built Offshore
- Recall warnings or lawsuits for fire risks.
- Hemlock wood. Nearly all hemlock saunas are manufactured in China.
- Carbon fiber heaters. These panels are made in Asia for the in-floor heating and sauna market.
- “Canadian hemlock” or “Canadian cedar” advertised on the website. The wood is Canadian. The manufacturing may not be.
- “Designed in Canada” or “Designed in the USA” on the website. This language obscures that it was likely “Made in China.”
- Delivery times longer than 8 weeks. If it crosses an ocean and waits to clear customs, it can take many weeks (unless it is stocked in a warehouse).
- “Ontario” on the label, but not the Canadian province. Ontario, California, is a massive logistics hub in the United States, 50 miles from the Port of Long Beach. It’s a key warehousing center for cargo from international ships.
Ten Questions to Ask
1. What is the “Country of Origin” on the Electrical Label?
By law, there is a label on each sauna (or electrical appliance) which must state the country in which it was manufactured and the electrical certification. This label is usually on the roof of the sauna and will read “Made in China,” “Made in Vietnam,” “Made in Canada” or “Made in USA.” Simply ask what the label says.
2. What is the Fire Safety Record?
A sauna built in North America is held to safety standards that took generations to write: mandatory quarterly inspections, certified electrical components, and re-certification when a part changes. SaunaRay is held to these standards.
While most saunas operate safely for decades, a few offshore ones, even from “premium” brands, have documented online complaints of electrical smells, poor wiring, or even fires. The legal and regulatory records highlight this:
A California case (Green Magnolia LLC v. Sunlighten, Inc.) alleges a 2021 fire that cost over $700,000 in insurance payouts.¹
A Michigan case (Adams v. Sunlighten, Inc.) was settled in 2019; its docket includes a fire investigation sign-in sheet.²
In August 2026, Sauna360, which builds in China for online brands including Radiant Health, issued an immediate “Stop Use” directive and applied for a Fast Track voluntary recall with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), citing “a potential fire risk caused by a possible short-circuit condition.” This active fire hazard directive covers product lines sold by Radiant Health since January 2013.³
In Australia, the ACCC recalled Found-Space, iHealth, and Vortex-branded far infrared saunas after “faulty heater elements and ceramic electrical connectors” caused fires with property damage. The supplier has since entered liquidation, leaving customers with no remedy, no refunds, and a sauna they have been told to dispose of.⁴
3. What is the Wood Species?
If the answer is hemlock, the sauna was almost certainly built in China.
Chinese factories and online resellers advertise “Canadian hemlock.” BC western hemlock is shipped to China, turned into a sauna, and shipped back. The hemlock crosses the ocean twice.
That round trip may come with a chemical cost. Hemlock is a regulated species under the Canadian Food Inspection Agency because of the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, an invasive insect devastating hemlock forests. Raw hemlock crossing international borders must be heat-treated or fumigated to prevent pest spread.
4. Is It Solid Wood Planks or Plywood?
A defining feature of hemlock is that it glues easily. The hemlock in an offshore sauna may turn out to be hemlock plywood. This is made with thin veneers of wood glued using urea-formaldehyde resin. The problem is that plywood can off-gas formaldehyde when heated in a small space.
A locally built sauna uses solid wood with no veneer, laminate, or toxic adhesives. At SaunaRay, we use 3/4-inch-thick planks coated with beeswax.
5. Does the Website Say “Canadian Wood”…. But Built Somewhere Else?
If you see “Canadian hemlock” or “Canadian cedar” advertised on a website, it tells you where the tree grew, not where the sauna was built. Ask questions because the wood may be Canadian, but the manufacturing and safety oversight may not be.
6. Is It “Designed In” North America … But Built Somewhere Else?
If the website reads “Designed in Canada” or “Designed in the USA,” it is usually obscuring that it was built offshore.
Many import brands openly advertise that their saunas are built in the same Chinese factories as their premium competitors. Different brand names, different marketing, different prices, but the same production line.
7. What Are the Heaters Made Of?
Despite the high-tech name, a carbon infrared panel is two sheets of fiberglass bonded with epoxy resin, with a thin carbon filament printed between them. The technology was originally developed for floor heating. It was repurposed for saunas around 2002. The panels are overwhelmingly manufactured in Asia, so if you see carbon fiber, it was likely built in an offshore factory.
The alternative is ceramic heaters, which are made from natural earth elements and are the original infrared sauna technology. This is what heats every SaunaRay unit.
8. Does It Have a Transformer?
Carbon fiber heaters usually require a transformer to step down the voltage. This can generate high EMF or electromagnetic fields.
Some carbon-based heaters can generate 70 to 90 milligauss at the heater surface. The safety guideline used in Swedish studies is 3 milligauss.
People report headaches, vertigo, and dehydration in high-EMF saunas, symptoms which can be mistaken for heat exposure, but the cause may be high electrical fields in their sauna.
9. How Long Will It Take to Arrive?
An offshore sauna can spend weeks on a container ship, wait at a port, then travel by truck to a warehouse or drop ship to a home without the seller ever touching it. Buyers of imported saunas report waits of three to five months when international shipping is delayed.
Another sober reality is the ecological toll of these global shipping lanes. They directly overlap with critical migratory and feeding routes for whales, dolphins, sea turtles and other marine life, creating severe acoustic disruption and the constant risk of death from direct collisions.
10. How Long Has the Sauna Company Actually Been Around?
Because websites can be built in a day, a new sauna importer can appear overnight with slick “designed in North America” language. To check how long a company has actually been in business, just type their website into the Wayback Machine that archives the internet (web.archive.org). This shows when a company’s website first appeared. Trust the archive, not the website.
SaunaRay has been building infrared saunas, and only infrared saunas, since 2003. More than 20 years later, we still handcraft every single unit here at home ensuring safety, transparency and a footprint you can feel good about.
Find a Locally Built Infrared Sauna for Your Home
At SaunaRay, we manufacture every infrared sauna in Ontario, Canada, using solid Ontario basswood and medical-grade ceramic infrared heating elements. We have sizes for every home, along with custom options for unique and commercial spaces.
Explore our Canadian-made infrared saunas or call us directly at 1-877-992-1100.
Sources
Green Magnolia LLC et al. v. Sunlighten, Inc. — Riverside County Superior Court, California. Filed August 11, 2023. Complaint alleges a fire on January 6, 2021, with over $733,242.90 in insurance payouts.
https://unicourt.com/case/ca-riv2-casebb55100027d9b2-146027
Adams et al. v. Sunlighten, Inc. — U.S. District Court, Western District of Michigan. Case No. 1:17-cv-00868. Docket includes “Sept. 14, 2016 Fire Investigation Sign-In Sheet” as Exhibit 1. Case settled in 2019 without admission of liability.
Radiant Health / Sauna360 — Important Safety Notice and Stop Use Notification, August 7, 2026. Voluntary recall application filed with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada for “a potential fire risk due to a possible short-circuit condition” in infrared sauna product lines shipped since January 2013.
https://radianthealth.com/safety-notice
Found Space Trading Pty Ltd / iHealth Saunas / Vortex — ACCC Product Safety Recall, July 2024 (updated May 2026). Recall issued for “faulty heater elements and ceramic electrical connectors that do not have sufficient ventilation” posing fire risk. The ACCC confirmed fires with property damage have occurred. The supplier has ceased trading and entered liquidation.
https://www.productsafety.gov.au/search-consumer-product-recalls/far-infrared-saunas-updated
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) — Protecting Blue Corridors Report, 2022. Global commercial shipping lanes heavily overlap with critical marine mammal migration routes, leading to significant risks of ship strikes and habitat disruption.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are there documented fire risks or recalls for offshore infrared saunas?
Yes. Public regulatory and legal records show documented safety incidents for certain imported saunas. For example, in August 2026, Sauna360, which manufactures for several online brands including Radiant Health, issued an immediate “Stop Use” directive and initiated a Fast Track voluntary recall with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), citing potential short-circuit fire risks. Additionally, Australia’s ACCC previously recalled multiple imported far-infrared brands due to faulty heating elements that caused property damage.
What legal cases involve electrical safety issues in imported saunas?
Publicly available court records include lawsuits regarding sauna fires. This includes the California case Green Magnolia LLC v. Sunlighten, Inc. involving a 2021 insurance payout dispute over a fire, and the Michigan case Adams v. Sunlighten, Inc., which concluded in a 2019 settlement. These dockets are matters of public record and highlight the importance of verifying where the sauna was built.
How can I verify the actual country of origin of an infrared sauna?
By law, every electrical appliance must feature an official certification label stating where it was manufactured. This label is typically located on the roof of the sauna. You can request a photo of this electrical label from the seller to see if it states “Made in Canada,” “Made in USA,” or “Made in China/Vietnam.”
Does “Designed in Canada” mean the sauna was built locally?
No. The phrase “Designed in Canada” or “Designed in the USA” is a marketing term that indicates the product was likely manufactured offshore, frequently in Asian factories, and imported. If you wish to ensure a sauna was physically built in North America, look for “Manufactured in Canada” or “Manufactured in USA.”
If North American wood is used in an infrared sauna, is it an indicator of where it was built?
If an infrared sauna is constructed from Canadian hemlock, it was most likely manufactured in China. Importantly, hemlock is regulated under the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) due to invasive pests like the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid. Raw timber crossing international borders frequently requires strict heat treatment or chemical fumigation.