You obviously have a huge misconception between ceramic and carbon heaters. Good ceramic heaters are not cheap and I personally believe they are better than carbon. There are two ways carbon heaters are made; first a thin layer of carbon is sprayed directly onto a sheet of plastic. The second, carbon heaters are made by sandwiching a piece of carbon cloth between two pieces of plastic. If you like plastic in your sauna I would recommend carbon heaters.

There are three different kinds of ceramic heaters. This first are Ceramic/Metal Rod heaters, the heaters consist of a pencil thin metal rods that are coated with approx 1/2" of ceramic. You get approx 80% FIR (Far-Infrared-Sauna) emission from this heater. Ceramic/Metal Rod heaters are a good except the heat generated can be too hot. The second type of ceramic heaters are Aluminum Plate w/Ceramic coat, these heaters have a larger surface area than most, but because of this it cannot be made of solid ceramic or it will crack under its own weight, therefore a solid aluminum core is necessary. Since the majority of the heater is aluminum, the FIR (Far-Infrared-Sauna) emission is very low, about 15%. The last kind of ceramic heaters are Solid Ceramic Heaters which operate at 163 watts. Solid ceramics operate at a low wattage which will allow you to stay inside the sauna for a longer period of time allowing you to sweat more. The infrared wavelength emitted from these heaters 96% of its heat in FIR (Far-Infrared-Sauna) form and 80% to 85% in the 8-12 micron range which is the wavelength of infrared the human body emits. Remember as long as the wattage is below 200 watts on this heater, you get a highly therapeutic heater.

Two saunas which I am familiar with that use solid ceramic heaters are the TheraSauna and the Saunagen. Each uses the same 163 watt heaters.
http://www.promolife.com
has a great sauna comparison page which will show you the differences with most of the heaters used. If you are thinking a purchasing a sauna it can be really helpful.

daermo,

Hi I am just reading posts and I wanted to ask you, does your statement mean that even though your head is not inside the little portable sauna unit, your head area was still sweating?

I have simply been using two portable FIR (Far-Infrared-Sauna) space heaters that I sit between in a small bathroom. And I go in the room when the heat reaches 105 degrees and have the heaters about 18 inches from me front and back. I sweat like crazy in about 5 minutes. I do have to keep moving around till I start sweating as the heaters create hot spots on the body until the sweating takes place.

Does the portable create hot spots on the body before you start sweating or is it comfortable sitting there until you sweat? I would not think you could move around at all in a portable.

Jim