In today’s video we’re going to talk about your heating unit options. Why there are different options out there today and what’s the safest option for you.

It’s very important that you choose a heating unit that can hold water. Water is the only safe medium that you can adjust temperature and control it accurately. And when you are dealing with people’s health issues, contraindications and considerations, you have to know the exact temperature of your hot stones or you can cause harm.

So our choice here is the Spa Pro. We have the 18qt unit as well as the smaller unit for facials, pedicures and manicures. These hold water. These have a thermostat that can be adjusted from warm to very hot. By taking the temperature with a calibrated thermometer you’re going to be able to know the exact temperature of this water. Later on we’ll learn about that…how to calibrate that thermometer.

On the market now days there’s all different types of options. There are options that have like an electric griddle, there’s the George Foreman type griddles that don’t have any water. This one you can put water in if you wanted to but it doesn’t have very much water in it and it’s not deep enough so the stones wouldn’t be totally submerged in the water. This one wouldn’t be able to carry water at all. It would be just like a pancake griddle. There’s also heating blankets and those towel warmers that they have for estheticians and in spas. None of the options that won’t allow you to have water are appropriate for stone massage. You can’t have a safe application of heated stones if you’re not using water.

Another thing is in different department stores or retail stores you can buy turkey roasters that will hold the water and you can adjust the thermostat. The only thing is their wire is not gauged to be on all day long. This gauge wire is 16-gauge. Which means it can be on all day long and this wire is not going to get hot. But if you use one of those say $39 or $49 turkey roasters it’s about a 12-gauge wire and it’s going to get hot. You can’t leave it on eight to nine hours a day. It’s only designed to be on for two to four hours. So the safety aspect of that heating unit isn’t appropriate for all day stone massage.

You want to make sure you choose a unit that’s been designed (and is appropriate) to be on all day long for you and to have water. I can’t emphasize that enough. You don’t want to use a towel cabby or those towel warmers because you’re not able to control the temperature. You don’t know what the core temperature of that stone is going to be. You don’t want to use a microwave. You can’t control the core temperature of that stone. The mineral composition of the stone will determine how hot it gets on the inside. And it will stay hotter longer so you are more apt to burn somebody in the stone placement then you would if you had it in the water because the stone will be equally the same temperature all the way around when it is heated in water.

And those are your options for heating units. Make a good choice.