How the Sauna Database Is Verified
What this database is
A reference of home sauna specifications, with the electrical requirements first. Every value on a model page is copied from a source we can link to, and shows that link, a grade and the date we read it. Where no source we could read states a single value, the page says Not verified and lists the question to ask the seller instead of guessing.
Where values come from
- The manufacturer's own product page. Graded Listed.
- The manufacturer's own manual or specification sheet, linked from its own site. Graded Documented. A figure in a manual counts for a model only when the manual ties it to that model's number.
- A distributor the manufacturer names, when the manufacturer publishes nothing itself. No value in the current database comes from one.
Retailer pages are never used as evidence, including InHouse Wellness's own product pages. Two brands, Maxxus and Dynamic Saunas, are sourced from their parent company's site because the parent's own published warranty documents state that it manufactures or distributes them; each of those records links that document.
When a source states two different values for the same thing, or the value depends on an option the buyer chooses, we publish neither. When a page states a capacity both as a range and as a single figure inside that range, we publish the widest range the manufacturer states and label it as theirs.
Grades
- Certified
- An independent certification body's listing states this value.
- Documented
- The manufacturer's own manual or specification sheet states this value.
- Listed
- The manufacturer's own product page states this value.
- Reviewer measured
- An independent reviewer measured this value and published how.
- Owner measured
- An owner measured this value and reported how it was measured.
- Modeled
- This value is calculated from other values rather than stated by a source.
- Claimed
- The manufacturer's own term, shown as their claim and not as a verified measurement.
- Not verified
- No source we could read states a single value for this, so we show none.
- Not applicable
- The field does not apply to this model, such as a stove rating on an infrared-only sauna.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence. Verification, scoring, rankings, the Transparency Index and certification checks apply identically to every brand, including brands InHouse Wellness sells. Results are published even when they are unfavorable to InHouse Wellness or its suppliers. Commercial relationships may affect which retailer is featured, never what a record says. InHouse Wellness's own product pages are never treated as independent evidence; every value cites its original manufacturer or distributor source.
Gaps
Every gap on a model page reads Not verified. It means no source we could read states a single value for that field. It does not mean the manufacturer never states it: a value may be printed somewhere we have not read, or stated in a way we could not attribute to one model. Each model page turns its electrical gaps into questions to ask the seller.
What gets a page, and what does not
A model gets a page only when its manufacturer's sources give us a verified heat type, capacity, exterior dimensions and at least one electrical value. 131 models meet that today:
- Almost Heaven: 23
- Clearlight: 6
- Dundalk LeisureCraft: 2
- Dynamic Saunas: 25
- Golden Designs: 6
- Maxxus: 12
- Redwood Outdoors: 13
- Salus: 30
- Sun Home: 14
105 more models are in the dataset without a page because at least one of those is missing. Counted by what is missing (a model can miss more than one):
- electrical: 58
- exterior dimensions: 46
- capacity: 19
- heat type: 17
27 further records are held back entirely: 20 because the manufacturer's sources do not let us tell the model apart from another one, and 7 because the manufacturer's own stated values are inconsistent with each other. 18 models we track have no page on their manufacturer's own site that we could match, and 7 more belong to 3 manufacturers whose sites we could not read within our fetching rules.
How we fetch
We read each site's robots.txt first and never request a page it disallows, send at most one request every two seconds to any site, identify ourselves in every request, and never bypass a security error.
Corrections
If a value is wrong or out of date, email data@inhousewellness.com with the page address and the source that shows the correct value. Corrections are made from the manufacturer's own sources, whoever reports them.