Secrets to a Happy Toronto Winter: #3. Saunas can fit in condos
A private shvitz might be the ultimate winter indulgence—just ask Rodney Palmer, the former CTV foreign correspondent who founded SaunaRay, a Collingwood company, a decade ago. He and his wife are apostles of the health benefits of infrared heat. They build saunas using technology developed and materials collected within 100 miles of where the units are assembled. SaunaRay makes them in four sizes—the smallest of which is no bigger than a shower stall—but will also custom-build to fit any space. They’ve sauna’d up the Ottawa Senators’ physiotherapy room, and the homes of Belinda Stronach, Michael Budman, Cindy Crawford and Michael Douglas. From $3,300. By appointment. 877-922-1100, saunaray.com.
1 Made from Ontario basswood harvested outside Collingwood and hand-finished in beeswax.
2 The windows open, so you can adjust the heat.
3 Cages around the heat source are designed to stay cool to the touch, so units are all kid-friendly.
4 The heat comes from ceramic tiles hidden in the corners of the units, so no one part gets too hot.
5 Units come pre-assembled and plug directly into a wall outlet.
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A private shvitz might be the ultimate winter indulgence—just ask Rodney Palmer, the former CTV foreign correspondent who founded SaunaRay, a Collingwood company, a decade ago. He and his wife are apostles of the health benefits of infrared heat. They build saunas using technology developed and materials collected within 100 miles of where the units are assembled. SaunaRay makes them in four sizes—the smallest of which is no bigger than a shower stall—but will also custom-build to fit any space. They’ve sauna’d up the Ottawa Senators’ physiotherapy room, and the homes of Belinda Stronach, Michael Budman, Cindy Crawford and Michael Douglas. From $3,300. By appointment. 877-922-1100, saunaray.com.
1 Made from Ontario basswood harvested outside Collingwood and hand-finished in beeswax.
2 The windows open, so you can adjust the heat.
3 Cages around the heat source are designed to stay cool to the touch, so units are all kid-friendly.
4 The heat comes from ceramic tiles hidden in the corners of the units, so no one part gets too hot.
5 Units come pre-assembled and plug directly into a wall outlet.){kind=link}
Yes, a private sauna might be the height of winter indulgence, but you really shouldn’t waste your money on an infrared enclosure. Infrared “saunas” will never give you the same environment as a real, genuine, traditional sauna. You also won’t have sauna rocks on which to sprinkle water, which is integral to any sauna bath. We’ve heard infrared enclosures compared to closets with space heaters and “glorified bread toasters”. Make sure you know what you’re getting before you spend your hard earned money.
Mr. Palmer and SaunaRay also subscribe to a host of rank medical quackery, like natural as opposed to “toxic” materials, detoxification, the harms of magnetic fields and the supposed health benefits of using his/its saunas. Hint: anecdotes about helping diabetics are dangerous and quotations from naturopaths are not scientific evidence. I would also like to know what a “medical grade” sauna is? Marketing blather & pseudoscience are not reasons to buy a sauna from anyone, least of all Mr. Palmer’s firm.