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Roma Steambath

This isn’t going to be a very long review. If you have been reading my other reviews you will start to realize how similar if not identical some of the Tier 1 brands are. Roma is no different. They don’t really have any unique patents or features vs. their competitors. I would say though their warranty is a limited 10 year which while it might seem inferior to the competitors Lifetime one has to really do their homework when reading what these other “Lifetime” warranties really do cover.

Roma actually has one of the most robust warranties in the industry. In general the things that can potentially go wrong after 10 years are things that are not usually covered by most company’s lifetime warranties. Just statistical analysis shows that it is more likely to be the homeowners fault, one example could be power surges in the house do to a storm or bad electrical wiring or overloading a line with other devices.

The truth about companies that do the highest quality components and generators is that they generally last a long time, in general the things that go wrong are not with the hardware equipment itself. This is why it is important to grill the customer service people about the warranty on the brand you are considering to be perfectly clear about what types of scenarios would be covered under the warranty and others not. Better companies will not be looking for any excuse they can to wiggle out of responsibility for repairs or servicing.

Roma has excellent customer service and seems to have modeled its efforts actually on Thermasol. As I said in the Thermasol review however, over the last 8 years or so Thermasol’s customer service went down a bit (although has since gone through a major department overhaul), and during those years Roma Steambath really stepped up their customer service efforts.

Since we are on the topic of both those brands the thing that everyone notices is the vast difference in price with Roma’s products being significantly lower priced. Roma actually designed their package and accessories to be suitable for the deluxe luxury steam bath appearance but at Tier 2 pricing. In fact I recommend that anyone who wants that highly customized look consider a Thermasol and Roma. Consider the Thermasol if you don’t have a tight budget and consider the Roma if you want that look and feel but don’t want to break the bank. In my experience however not a lot of folks are that overly concerned with accessories and deluxe packages and how they all look. In fact most people tend to make their purchase based on price, service/warranty, and quality with the main focus on making sure steam is filing up space. In other words you can get a good steam generator and experience the very best steam quality and be in a $4,000 remodel or spend $15,000 and experience the same steam quality.

The goal is to have a therapeutic experience so I try to help folks focus in on what really matters which is steam quality and customer service. Ultimately if they like another company’s chromotherapy or sound system more that is up to them to decide.

One thing about Roma Steambath products that is rarely talked about is that they tend to perform better in higher mineral areas. This is pretty counter intuitive as most generators actually perform better in lower mineral areas.

The only other main difference worth noting in the generator itself comes with the instant steam function standard and also has Teflon coated tanks. Again if you live in a higher mineral water area this is a nice feature to extend the longevity of the generator as itself cleans and doesn’t require all the constant automated backflushing that most brands do. It's important to get a full water analysis of a home’s water supply before every choosing a steam generator to purchase.

Analysis of generator performance

The dryness fraction of the steam was about on par with the SteamSpa unit I tested a couple months earlier. I actually expected the unit to be a little superior due to pricing and their giving me the impression they were in higher end spas but their claims didn’t measure up quite as they claimed.

Don’t get me wrong the steam quality was excellent and the latent heat index had me sweating within 5 minutes even. This also led to a very rapid temperature increase to the set temp about a minute faster than Mr. Steam and 2 minutes faster than Whirlpool and Kohler. The difference was quite noticeable and you can see in the pictures that I was able to reach 100 degrees with the appearance of much less steam than the other couple brands had to produce. I prove there is less steam as well after the 5 minute mark because the humidity level was about 8% less than those other two brands at that same time stage. The only way this is possible is with a dryer steam with more latent heat.

After 10 minutes I opened the door and walked in and got blasted with a radiant heat wave which again felt nearly identical to Steamspa. It’s like opening a dishwasher fast or an oven and getting that intense wave right in your face.

The other tell tale test was when I took my laser thermometer and read the marble walls I have in my bath setting all brands to 100 degrees and took readings after 10 minutes (never opening the door once until I tested the walls). I got a 82 degree reading for Roma. I tracked the Steamspa wall temp closest at 83 degrees, Thermasol at 86, Mr. Steam at 79, Whirlpool and Kholer at 72, Steamist at 75, and Amerec at 87.

Doing a floor temp/humidity check versus steam at the ceiling level after 20 minutes, I found that the humidity levels and higher steam temp that was able to remain at the ceiling after shutting off the generators and waiting 10 minutes were most similar between these brands: Amerec, Steamspa, Thermasol, Roma. There was enough of a difference between them to note.

The sound of the unit was amongst the lowest I read on my Sound Meter so there should be no concern if you have to put the generator right next to a shared wall with a bedroom.

The overall conclusion with Roma Steambath is for the price it offers a lot of performance and value and generally a person should choose this one if accessorizing their steam bath is more a priority versus just producing high quality steam in a functional and simple less costly total design package.

Which steam generator best serves You? I compile useful information to help you make a decision.