Pressurized Tanning Beds

a few things you should know about high pressure tanning beds before you buy

Types of Indoor Tanning Beds

Low Pressure

Low pressure tanning beds are the most common home and salon type installed by tanning bed manufacturers today and the usually employ 100-120 watt fluorescent type bulbs.   The number of lamps in low pressure tanning beds range from 16 to 32 or more and a low pressure tanning bed may also include up to three 400 watt high pressure facial bulbs but still be considered a low pressure tanning bed.this is picture of a high pressure tanning bed

 

High Pressure

There are "high pressure" tanning beds that generate primarily UVA (99.9%) with some UVB by using highly specialized quartz lamps, reflector systems and filters. These are less common and much more expensive, thus less commonly used. High pressure bulbs typically begin at 400 watts (these are the most common type of “facial” bulbs in low pressure tanning beds. 

 

Other high pressure beds include 500 watt, 1000 watt, and even 2000 watt units.

These high pressure tanning beds require special filter glass to remove the UVC and the majority of the UVB that is emitted and are difficult to manufacture because the alignment of the lamps is more critical than in traditional low-pressure tanning beds. They are generally large units, with a padded area to lie on or an acrylic and 6 to 36 lamps in a canopy or canopy and bench configuration, the tanning effect is much deeper and requires only a maintenance exposure of about 2-3 times per month compared to every 48 hours for regular tanning beds. They are much more expensive to operate, thus more expensive for the user. Retail prices in the $20,000 to $35,000 range are common with individual sessions costing $20 to $45, depending on the market.

High pressure tanning beds have no or very little UVB light and 100% UVA light which interacts with melanin in the top layer of skin to turn it brown.  Therefore, if you do not already have melanin present in your dead skin layer you will see no results from a high pressure tanning bed session.  Therefore, a person with creamy white skin should consider stimulating their melanin by first tanning in a “starter” bed with at least 5% UVB blend.

 

Starter Beds

This term refers to the standard beds, or level 1 beds, which have a 5% UVB blend which is considered ideal for the first few tanning sessions for those looking to develop a deep, dark tan without reddening or burning.  The concept of starter beds is that someone with little or no melanin present in their top layer of skin should begin the tanning process with the proper blend of UVB and UVA and start with just a few minutes of tanning time and slowly build up to 20 minute maximum sessions before advancing to the 2nd or 3rd level or high pressure beds.

  

High Intensity Tanning Beds

This term refers to commercial tanning beds with tanning lamps containing a % of UVB in the 7.5-8.5% and is usually in the second tier of most 3 and 4 tier tanning systems at large tanning salons.  Keep in mind that the high pressure beds could be referred to as high intensity because they employ the 160-220 watt tanning bed bulbs but they usually have the “bronzing” bulbs which have a 2% UVB or lower.\

  

Bronzing & Ultra-Bronzing Tanning Beds

Bronzing refers to UVA light interacting with melanin in the dead layer skin to turn it brown, therefore, tanning beds with bulbs which contain a 2% UVB % or lower are considered “bronzing” bulbs and thus, bronzing beds.  The most common bronzing bulb is the Cosmolux Cosmedico VHR 9K90 series in 160-200 watt configurations.

  

Turbo, Mega, & Super Beds

These terms usually refers to the level 3 and 4 beds in a tanning salon and may include the high pressure tanning bed class as well.  A tanning salon may indiscriminately refer to their tanning beds in any of these and several other nicknames to describe their different level of tanning beds offered in the salon.

 

Stand Up Tanning Booths

Also known as stand up tanning beds, tanning huts, and tanning verticals in Europe.  Brand names include Hex, Sundome, SouthBeach, & Ergoline.  Stand up tanning booths usually contain between 48-60 bulbs which are 160 to 220 watts each.  The stand up tanning booth has many distinct advantages to lay down tanning beds, such as these:

More hygienic – lay down tanning beds may transfer diseases if not sanitized properly, especially if a crack in the acrylic forms

As your body falls – does not create weird tan lines and tans your body as if you were walking on the beach and as you would normally would be seen in a bathing suit, etc.

Body isolation tanning – with straps to hold onto above your head and plenty of room to maneuver, you can tan various parts of your body in short concentrated time periods, such as your underarms or hips

Most powerful tanning device – most of the time, the stand up tanning booth is the most powerful tanning unit in a salon.  With 54 or 60 bulbs at 160 watts each, there is 9600 watts of power versus 2800 watts for a level 1 starter bed.

Fastest tanning times – some standup tanning booths have 8 and 9 minute max sessions so a salon owner can get more clients through for a given time period and a tanner can get a great tan in the shortest possible time.  Great for downtown location tanning salons who may have a  before work and lunch crowd who do not want to lay down or sweat while tanning.

There are also available a high pressure stand up tanning booths like the one pictured here.

 

Tanning Chairs

As the name implies, you sit in a chair that has tanning bed bulbs designed to tan you in a sitting position.  There are few manufacturers of tanning bed chairs like the one pictured here.

 

 

 

Call 888-999-7577 today to find a great deal on pressurized tanning beds!