To understand what makes Clearlight® superior, it helps to understand its origins.
Clearlight® was founded in the United States in 1997 by Dr. Raleigh Duncan, a clinician and one of the early pioneers of infrared sauna technology. Over the course of nearly three decades, Dr. Duncan has developed patents and patents-pending across much of the technology Clearlight® uses today, contributing more to the advancement of infrared sauna design than perhaps any individual in the industry.
His work spans the full arc of product development, from the science of infrared therapy through to heater engineering, manufacturing and clinical testing, all guided by a commitment to building something that genuinely performs.
Sebastian and Johannes, the co-founders of Clearlight® Saunas International, came to the brand through a combination of personal experience and genuine conviction. Both had backgrounds in environmental management, and both shared a deep cultural familiarity with sauna that came naturally from growing up in Germany, where sauna is woven into everyday life as a practice of restoration, community and longevity.
When they encountered a Clearlight® infrared sauna for the first time, the experience stood apart from anything they had come across before. They recognised immediately that this was a product with the potential to change how people around the world approached their wellbeing, and they wanted to be the ones to bring it to them.
At the time, Clearlight® was available exclusively in the United States. Sebastian and Johannes reached out to Dr. Duncan directly, and what followed was a natural partnership, built on a shared belief in the potential of infrared technology and a mutual desire to bring that innovation to parts of the world that had never had access to it. Clearlight® Saunas International was established in New Zealand and Australia in 2012, before expanding into the UK and Europe, bringing the same standard of infrared technology that Dr. Duncan had spent 15 years refining to an entirely new global audience.
A Clinician's Approach to Infrared Technology
From the start, Dr. Duncan has insisted every sauna deliver measurable wellness outcomes.
Dr. Duncan came to infrared sauna design through his clinical work, observing patients with chronic pain and conditions such as fibromyalgia who were finding limited relief through conventional approaches. His interest was in whether infrared therapy, properly engineered, could offer a more effective and accessible form of support for the body's natural recovery processes.
Rather than adapting existing sauna technology, he chose to develop something from the ground up. The brief was straightforward: a sauna that delivered measurable wellness outcomes, was safe for regular use, and could be trusted by both health practitioners and the people using it at home. Every design decision that followed was made through that clinical lens, and that founding intent remains embedded in every Clearlight® product today.
True Wave® Heaters: Where the Difference Is Made
For anyone researching infrared saunas seriously, the heater technology is where the most significant differences between products emerge, and it is the area where Dr. Duncan's expertise is most clearly reflected in Clearlight®'s design.
Most infrared saunas use either carbon or ceramic heating elements. Carbon panels are effective at distributing heat broadly across a surface, but can lack the depth of penetration that makes infrared therapy genuinely effective. Ceramic elements tend to produce more intense heat, but can run unevenly and at higher ambient temperatures. Dr. Duncan's approach was to combine both materials into a single, patented heater.
Clearlight®'s True Wave® heaters use a proprietary carbon and ceramic blend, engineered to produce a deeper, more penetrating infrared wavelength than either material achieves independently. Heat is distributed evenly across the body at lower ambient temperatures, which most users find more comfortable and more conducive to longer, more regular sessions. True Wave® heaters were designed, tested and clinically approved by Dr. Duncan, and they remain the foundation of every Clearlight® sauna produced today.
It is a level of precision that takes years of refinement to achieve, and one that is difficult to replicate without the background to understand what the technology needs to deliver.
A Commitment to Low EMF and ELF
As infrared saunas became more widely adopted, questions around electromagnetic fields (EMF) and extremely low frequencies (ELF) became increasingly relevant. For a product intended for regular, everyday use, the emissions produced during operation are a legitimate consideration, and one that Dr. Duncan addressed from the beginning.
Clearlight® was among the first companies in the industry to engineer and patent technology that significantly reduces EMF and ELF exposure during use. That commitment has been maintained across every product iteration since, and Clearlight® saunas continue to rank among the lowest EMF and ELF options available on the market. For the growing number of consumers who research this before they buy, it is one of the most meaningful points of difference Clearlight® offers.
Bringing Clearlight® to a Global Audience
When Sebastian and Johannes first encountered a Clearlight® sauna, they understood its potential immediately. Growing up in Germany, where sauna culture is deeply embedded in daily life, the practice of regular heat therapy was not a wellness trend to them but a lifelong habit. What Clearlight® offered was something that elevated that tradition entirely, combining the cultural ritual they had grown up with and the kind of precise, engineered performance their backgrounds in environmental management gave them an eye for.
The opportunity to bring that to a wider audience was one they pursued directly. Reaching out to Dr. Duncan, they established Clearlight® Saunas International in Australia and New Zealand in 2012, before expanding into the UK and Europe, driven by a belief that infrared technology of this standard deserved a global audience.
That belief has since been validated by the market itself. As the body of research around infrared therapy has grown and consumer awareness has deepened, demand has followed. People are seeking out infrared sauna experiences with a greater understanding of what separates a considered product from a commodity one, and increasingly, they are finding their way to Clearlight®.
What Doctor-Designed Means in Practice
As more people invest in their health at home, the decision of which infrared sauna to choose has become a more considered one. Consumers are researching the technology, comparing heater quality, asking about EMF and ELF levels, and looking beyond the surface to understand what a product is actually built on.
Doctor-designed, research-backed, and trusted by health professionals, elite athletes and wellness operators worldwide, Clearlight® has been built on nearly three decades of innovation, refinement and real-world results.
More than 70,000 people worldwide now use a Clearlight® sauna as part of their everyday wellness routine. That number reflects not just the quality of the product, but the integrity of the intent behind it.
Experience the Clearlight® difference for yourself. Explore our range or speak with our team to find the right sauna for your home.
