Commercial tanning beds come in two basic formats. Horizontal tanning beds are the tanning beds you most often see in both residential and commercial settings. These capsule or clamshell tanning beds consist of a lid lined with tubular ultraviolet lamps, and a glass or plastic “bench” contoured for optimal relaxation. Simply lie down, close the lid, and allow the UV light to penetrate your skin. Turn your body over one time halfway through your session for even tanning.

Vertical tanning beds are also known as tanning booths or stand-ups. The interior is lined with ultraviolet light bulbs in a 360° pattern. Just step inside and close the door. Since your body is exposed to UV light on all sides, there is no need to turn your body over halfway through your session; therefore a tanning booth tans twice as fast as a clamshell tanning bed.

High-pressure tanning beds blast you with more tanning rays (UVA) and fewer burning rays (UVB). The lamps are made of quartz, which allows their internal air pressure to be higher than conventional ultraviolet lamps, thus filtering out more unwanted UVB rays. High-pressure tanning beds sport a sleek, “open cage” construction with no doors. They are suited to intermediate and dark skin tones. Most commercial tanning beds include high-pressure lamps at least in the face area.

All UV lamps are marked with a UVB percentage. For example, a lamp marked 5%UVB emits five percent UVB rays and ninety-five percent UVA rays. This is a particularly low UVB percentage, which means that tans produced by its radiation will be brown and not burned. This is a good thing.

Most UV lamps have a lifetime between 500 and 1000 hours. However, you should replace the lamps at half depletion, since the quality of their light weakens over time.

The FDA requires that all commercial tanning beds include a timer that automatically turns the lamps off at the set time.

The newest technological advance in commercial tanning beds is cooling systems, which keep you even more comfortable during tanning.