Red light therapy masks and panels: what they cost to own over three years

How the three-year estimate works

Where a panel’s power draw and schedule are known, electricity adds about $1 to $8 a year, or about $3 to $23 over three years^{6, 10, 32}. The masks and the BON CHARGE, Joovv and Kala panels lack a usable power figure or schedule, so their electricity cost stays unknown^11–13. Below, we explain the calculation, walk through an example and list what each maker publishes.

Every red-light review has a three-year estimate built the same way. Three-year cost = purchase + installation + 3 × annual consumables + 3 × annual other costs + electricity. Electricity is (watts ÷ 1,000) × hours per day × 365 × 3 × your price per kWh.

Watts should be the power a panel draws from the wall. Don’t use irradiance or an LED wattage class. Hooga, for example, gives the PRO1500 a 1,500 W rating. Its product page lists 530 W of power consumption, and its comparison chart says 300 W^{1, 2}. Hours per day is a budgeting assumption from the maker’s suggested schedule, not a recommended dose.

The calculator starts at $0.18 per kWh, an editable assumption rather than your local rate. Use the rate on your bill if you know it. Enter zero only when a cost is known to be zero. A missing value leaves an incomplete subtotal, not a smaller total. Taxes, shipping, financing and resale value are left out unless you add them.

A worked example

These made-up numbers show the math, not a real product. Take a $500 purchase with $100 of installation. Add $60 a year in supplies and a $20 yearly fee. The device draws 50 W for 8 hours a day. Electricity costs $0.20 per kWh. Over three years that comes to $927.60, and $87.60 of it is electricity.

At the $0.18 default, electricity costs $78.84 instead. The total falls to $918.84. If the installation cost were unknown, the known subtotal at $0.20 would be $827.60. That’s an incomplete figure, not the full cost of owning it.

Mask or panel: what three years of red light costs

Running costs are so small that the three-year estimate stays close to the price. A mask costs $349 to $649.99 up front^{3, 4}. No mask maker publishes power draw, so electricity stays unknown. For scale, one full charge of CurrentBody’s 9.62 Wh battery is under 0.01 kWh³³.

Small panels add a few dollars. The MitoPRO 300X comes to about $452.45, including $3.45 of electricity⁶. Nothing else is added, because Mito’s app is free on the App Store³⁷. The BIOMAX 300 comes to about $667.51, including $8.51 of electricity⁷.

Among full-size panels, the Hooga PRO1500 comes to about $1,211.54 over three years¹. The MitoPRO 1500X comes to $1,310.55, and the BIOMAX 900 to $1,322.18^8–10. The BON CHARGE, Joovv and Kala estimates are incomplete, because power draw, a session schedule, app fees or installation is unknown^11–13. Their known subtotals are just the prices: $1,599, $1,699 and $1,139.99. Joovv’s and Kala’s are sale prices^{12, 13}.

Recurring costs across the lineup

The table lists the parts, refills, subscriptions and power draw each review records. Panels come first, because that’s where electricity adds up. Electricity uses each review’s own wattage and hours per day at $0.18 per kWh. The hours assume the top of the maker’s suggested schedule for one body area. For the MitoPRO 1500X and 300X, that’s six sessions a week, the top of the 4 to 6 in Mito’s manual³⁸. Mito’s product page says 4 to 7⁸. The 750X review uses that page’s top figure, so it assumes a session every day¹⁵.

Panels: electricity is the only running cost

No panel in the guide lists bulbs, filters, refills or a subscription. Electricity stays small because sessions are short. Mito reports that LightLab measured the MitoPRO 1500X at 418.7 W from the wall⁹. At 0.14 hours a day (10 minutes, six days a week), that’s about 21 kWh a year, or $3.85 a year at $0.18 per kWh.

The BIOMAX 900 has the highest electricity estimate in the guide. PlatinumLED lists 490 W in Solo mode and suggests up to 20 minutes per area^{10, 32}. At 20 minutes, five days a week, it uses about 43 kWh a year, or about $23 over three years. PlatinumLED allows two or three areas a day, which would multiply it¹⁰.

Three panels have no electricity estimate. BON CHARGE lists 1,500 W, which equals its 300 LEDs at 5 W each, and doesn’t recommend how many sessions to do¹¹. Joovv publishes no power figure¹². Kala’s only wattage figure, ‘385W (231*5W)’, doesn’t match its own math, since 231 × 5 W is 1,155 W¹³. Even at a full 1,500 W, a 10-minute session would use 0.25 kWh, about 4.5 cents at $0.18.

Joovv doesn’t say whether its app is free¹². Mito’s App Store listing shows its app as free, with no in-app purchases³⁷. Mito’s panels also have a touchscreen for direct control⁶.

Masks: the battery is the part to watch

No mask in the guide needs a refill or subscription, and charging costs very little. The cost to watch is the battery wearing out. None of the five makers publishes a price for a replacement battery^{3–5, 17, 18}.

Warranties don’t help much here. Omnilux counts batteries as consumable parts, so normal wear isn’t covered by its 2-year warranty¹⁹. Therabody’s 1-year warranty excludes battery wear unless a defect caused it²⁰. HigherDOSE’s one-year terms don’t mention the battery, and Dr. Dennis Gross doesn’t state battery life^{17, 21}.

Add-ons are optional. CurrentBody’s kit adds five hydrogel masks and a green tea serum for $80 more⁵. HigherDOSE sells the mask with its Glow Serum for $418, against $349 alone^{3, 35}. Omnilux sells a $29 hydrogel mask but doesn’t say how many come in a pack¹⁸.

Stands, mounts and returns

Most panels hang over a door with a kit in the box, and the 300X comes with a tabletop stand⁶. So their estimates count installation as zero. A stand costs extra. Mito’s floor stand costs $139 and its universal stand $349⁸. For floor use, the 300X needs the universal stand, which brings it to $798⁶. PlatinumLED’s tabletop stand for the BIOMAX 300 costs $119⁷.

Two installation costs are unknown. Joovv’s product page lists no box contents and doesn’t show what its setups cost¹². Kala doesn’t say what its hanging kit attaches to¹³. Kala’s roller boot and stand setups cost $310 to $610 more than the hanging-kit version’s sale price^{13, 36}.

Returns aren’t in the estimate, but they can cost real money. PlatinumLED charges a 20% restocking fee, and you pay return shipping²². The fee alone is $131.80 on a BIOMAX 300 and $259.80 on a BIOMAX 900. Kala charges a $15 restocking fee, and you pay return shipping²³.

Hooga takes return shipping out of your refund²⁴. Mito and BON CHARGE leave return shipping to you^{25, 26}. Mito covers it only if you bought its optional return protection at checkout.

Mask return terms vary too. HigherDOSE gives you 120 days and a prepaid return label²⁷. Therabody pays standard return shipping²⁸. Omnilux deducts a $15 return fee, and Dr. Dennis Gross charges $10 for device returns^{29, 30}. CurrentBody won’t take back an opened mask for a change of mind, and you pay return postage³¹.

Sources

1. PRO1500 Red Light Therapy Panel Hooga · manufacturer
2. PRO Series Panel Comparison Chart Hooga · manufacturer
3. Red Light Therapy Face Mask - FDA Cleared HigherDOSE · manufacturer
4. TheraFace Mask (Red Light LED Mask) Therabody · manufacturer
5. CurrentBody Skin LED Red Light Therapy Face Mask: Series 2 CurrentBody · manufacturer
6. MitoPRO X | Red Light Therapy Panel Series (MitoPRO 300X) Mito Red Light · manufacturer
7. PlatinumLED BIOMAX Series red light therapy panels (BIOMAX 300) PlatinumLED · manufacturer
8. MitoPRO X | Red Light Therapy Panel Series (MitoPRO 1500X) Mito Red Light · manufacturer
9. Red Light Therapy Panel Irradiance Data: Independent ISO/IEC 17025 Lab Reports Mito Red Light · manufacturer
10. PlatinumLED BIOMAX Series red light therapy panels (BIOMAX 900) PlatinumLED · manufacturer
11. Super Max Red Light Therapy Device BON CHARGE · manufacturer
12. Joovv Solo 3.0 | Full Body LED Red Light Therapy Device Joovv · manufacturer
13. Kala Red Light Elite Panel Kala · manufacturer
14. BIOMAX 900 summary test report LLIA002639-004A (hosted by PlatinumLED) LightLab International Allentown, 2025
15. MitoPRO X | Red Light Therapy Panel Series (MitoPRO 750X) Mito Red Light · manufacturer
16. BIOMAX 300 intensity testing report LLIA002684-001 (hosted by PlatinumLED) LightLab International Allentown, 2025
17. DRx SpectraLite FaceWare Pro 3-Minute LED Device Dr. Dennis Gross · manufacturer
18. Omnilux Contour Face Omnilux · manufacturer
19. Warranty Policy Omnilux · manufacturer
20. Warranty Terms Therabody · manufacturer
21. Warranty HigherDOSE · manufacturer
22. Refund policy PlatinumLED · manufacturer
23. Kala Return Policy Kala · manufacturer
24. Refund policy Hooga · manufacturer
25. Returns, Refund and Warranty Policies Mito Red Light · manufacturer
26. Refund policy (returns, faulty products and extended warranty) BON CHARGE · manufacturer
27. Return Policy HigherDOSE · manufacturer
28. Return Policy Therabody · manufacturer
29. Returns Policy Omnilux · manufacturer
30. Returns and refunds Dr. Dennis Gross · manufacturer
31. Shipping & Returns CurrentBody · manufacturer
32. FAQ PlatinumLED · manufacturer
33. K250966 510(k) summary: CurrentBody Skin LED Light Therapy Mask Series 2 U.S. Food and Drug Administration · regulator
34. K230293 510(k) summary: TheraFace Mask U.S. Food and Drug Administration · regulator
35. Red Light Face Mask store listing (variant prices) HigherDOSE · manufacturer · data file
36. Kala Red Light Elite Panel store listing (variant prices) Kala · manufacturer · data file
37. MitoRedLight app (App Store listing) Mito Red Light, via Apple App Store · manufacturer
38. MitoPRO X user manual (January 2026) Mito Red Light, 2026 · manufacturer