Cold Plunging has gained popularity in recent years for its long list of physical and mental health benefits. The number of different ways to engage in cold plunging range from commercial facilities with community pools or individual pods to at-home cold plunge setups for single use, privacy and convenience.
If you're like many new to cold plunging and curious about the benefits, we recommend starting with ice as it's easily accessible at your local grocery store, reasonably priced and can help you start a new routine in order to reap the benefits. After a couple weeks of feeling the effects cold plunging can have on your body and wellness, you may be ready to invest in a longer term solution. Ice is a great starting point but there are constraints such as temperature control, inconvenience and messiness involved in buying ice and overall setup time required.
Some things to consider with ice:
- When using ice, cooling time and desired temperature may vary based on the temperature outside. The hotter the temperature outside, the more ice required to lower the water's temperature.
- Consider the cold plunge setup. When using a tub, as opposed to a pod or a barrel, more ice is required as the surface area of the water exposed to the air is greater which can lead to faster degradation of ice and an increase in water temperature.
- Ice has no mechanism to filter debris from water. Consider investing in a skimmer and frequently replacing the water in order to keep it fresh and clean.
- As there is no mechanism to remove and kill bacteria, we recommend changing your water every 3-5 cold plunges to keep your water fresh and clean. Alternatively, you can use chemicals designed to remove unwanted bacteria from the water.
- Ice is mainly for single use application of one individual. As soon as ice touches water, the melting starts so it is imperative to get in the water as soon as possible. You only have a matter of minutes before the ice starts melting and the water temperatures begins to rise.
- Have a water thermometer handy to gauge water temperature and adjust ice levels as needed to reach your desired cold plunging temperature.
How many bags of ice is needed? How much will it cost?
There are a few assumptions that need to be taken into account when gauging how many bags of ice is needed: the size of the cold plunge, the starting water temperature and the ambient temperature.
The assumptions below are based on a starting water temperature of 70°F, a desired cold plunging temperature of 55°F in a 100 gallon pod setup.
- 5 bags of ice, 16 pounds per bag = 80 pounds of ice
- $4.19 per bag of ice
- $21 per cold plunge session
- 4 plunges per week for a year = $4,358
- 3 plunges per week for a year = $3,268
- 2 plunges per week for a year = $2,179
Consider Osone™ Water Chillers as they start at $1599 and can cool water temperatures down to 37-39°F. For fresh, clean, cool, iceless water, learn more here.