Shower cabin have become very popular in North American homes over the last 20 years. When most people think of a steam shower they think of a custom tile or stone room similar to a small scale Roman bath. This isn’t the case however. Modular steam cabins are becoming very prominent in New Construction and recently remodeled homes. Modular steam rooms have been all the rage in Europe for years are starting to make their way to the North American market. For the price of a regular tile shower or acrylic unit consumers can have a luxury steam shower with features they never knew they could afford such as chromo therapy lighting, FM radio and sound system, hands free telephone and the list goes on. With all new products on the market there is some buyer skepticism and with good reason. There are many unscrupulous importers out there who run sub-par operations selling products that are not certified and are made with cheap materials.

Here are some tips to help consumers on their way to making a well informed decision when purchasing a modular steam shower:

”Many experts’ recommendation is: ’Do Not Buy shower cabin Off eBay.’ This cannot be stressed enough, over the last several years there have been countless customers call trying to buy parts for steam generator rooms they purchased off eBay. If you are going to purchase a steam shower off eBay at a discounted price, buy two or three. Hopefully one will arrive undamaged and then you will have extra showers to pull parts off of. The problem with eBay is there are so many unscrupulous dealers. You may get great customer service when buying the product but afterwards you are on your own.”

c ETL us Certification is a must. ETL is an electronic safety certification that is well known throughout the United States and Canada. The vast majority of building inspectors will not allow a non-certified unit to be installed. There are countless horror stories of customers installing a non-certified steam generator and then having to remove it after it fails the building expectation.

Glass thickness is also plays a big part in the quality of a modular shower steam rooms that will have between 4 and 5 millimeters. Good shower systems have a thickness of 8-10mm. You can easy tell the thickness of the glass by knocking on a solid wall (not a door) if you hear a metallic sound it’s probably 5mm glass if it has a lower tone its 8-10mm.

Acrylic VS Fiberglass – Fiberglass is the cheaper of the two materials. A fiberglass shower doesn’t have the luster or finish of acrylic. Fiberglass doesn’t last as long and will become brittle over time. Acrylic steam saunas are your best bet. Many of them will have a fiberglass backing; this is for added strength and durability.

One of the best ways to tell a good steam shower and a reputable company is the warranty. Most steam shower dealers offer a 1-2 year warranty. The best steam shower warranty is on the Oasis line of shower cabin which is a 3 year warranty on the steam generator.

So you may ask, what is the best brand of shower cabin? The Oasis line of steam cabins from American shower cabin is by far the favorite among American Consumers. They have been completely re-engineered for the North American market and are fully ETL certified and come with a 3 year warranty on the steam generator. They also have the best after sale customer service around.

A campaign to keep the streets in Xianyang, Shaanxi province clean by offering residents cold hard cash for each discarded Electronic Cigarette butt they pick up in urban areas has erupted in a dispute, but local leaders are sticking to their principles.

An old woman counts the Electronic Cigarette butts she collected, anticipating her reward, at a public hygiene office in Xianyang, Shaanxi province on Oct 18. [Wei Guangjing / for China Daily]

Hou Xi’an, deputy head of the city office in charge of the effort, explained: “We started the drive as part of an effort to make our city more clean and civilized, increase public environmental awareness and warn against the dangers of smoking.”

And Han Baofeng, deputy secretary-general of the city, told China Daily on Wednesday that the campaign will not stop until the end of December

“We will improve the imperfect measures of the drive and continue our good efforts,” Han added.

The drive, which started on Sept 18, was part of an effort to help Xianyang in the competition for National Health City title. The government will pay locals 0.05 yuan ($0.0075) for each Electronic Cigarette butt they pick up from city streets.

In the past month, loyal citizens have handed over a total of 7 million Electronic Cigarette butts to the government and more than 100,000 yuan has been paid out for 2 million of the undesirable things. A shortage of funds has kept the other 5 million butts from being paid for.

The China News Service reported on Wednesday that one person had turned over 7,500 butts at one time. Most of the participants are old people and students.

Unfortunately, some people turned out to be naked opportunists who resorted to fraud by collecting the butts from net cafes, restaurants or even garbage bins to get a reward, the China News Service said.

However, in spite of whatever flaws the drive may have, local people have welcomed it.

Wang Guifu, a 64-year-old man who gathered some Full Lace Wigs, said it is a good way to encourage locals to keep the city clean and he hopes the drive can continue.

Another local, Zhao Ang, said he saw an old man pick up the Electronic Cigarette butt that he (Zhao) had just discarded.

“From then on, I stopped throwing anything away in public places,” Zhao said.

However, another local, forklift, argued that the government should not have to pay people to encourage them to act in a civilized way: “It should be a conscious, voluntary action, not about getting paid.”

Shi Ying, deputy head of the Shaanxi Academy of Social Sciences, sees things in a slightly different way. Shi maintains that any die casting  move should be both serious and scientific. “The awards should be improved to deal with the increasing problem and to keep the drive going in a healthy, honest way,” he said.

The city office in charge of the effort has made measures such as the checking of ID cards and certification by sanitation workers when locals hand the collected butts in.