Ice baths: types, costs and how to choose

There are four main routes. A portable or inflatable tub is the cheapest and easiest to store, but you top it up with ice each time. A hard-shell cold plunge tub is sturdier and holds the cold for longer. A chiller setup cools and filters the water and holds a set temperature, so there is no ice, at a higher price. A DIY build (a converted chest freezer or a stock tank) is the budget route, but you take on the safety and hygiene yourself. Beginners and small budgets usually start portable; regular users who want no daily ice tend to move to a chiller.

As a guide, portable and inflatable tubs run from about £90 to £250, hard-shell cold plunge tubs from about £300 to £600, a standalone chiller from about £699, and an insulated tub with an integrated chiller from around £4,000 to £6,000 or more. DIY builds can come in at low hundreds, with the safety caveats above. Guide prices, not live prices.

Ice is enough if you plunge occasionally and do not mind the cost and effort of buying ice each session, and you accept the water warming as the ice melts. A chiller earns its price if you use the bath regularly: it holds a steady temperature, filters the water so you refill far less often, and removes the daily ice run. Many chiller tubs also heat, so one unit can double for contrast therapy.

Home users generally aim for cold but not extreme water, commonly in the region of 10 to 15°C, and never below about 4°C. Sessions are short, and the sensible approach is to build up gradually rather than push it. For the full beginner protocol, including exactly how cold and how long, see our guide on how to take an ice bath.

With a chiller and filtration plus a sanitiser, water is typically changed every two to four weeks. Without treatment, you change it every few uses. Keeping a lid on between sessions, rinsing off before you get in and skimming debris all help. Our how-to guide covers water care in more detail.

Without a chiller, the running cost is essentially the ice you add each session, plus water. With a chiller, it is the electricity to run the compressor, which cycles to hold temperature rather than running flat out. As an illustration, a compressor averaging about 0.3 kW for roughly six hours of cooling a day is around 1.8 kWh, or about 47p a day (roughly £14 a month) at the Ofgem price-cap rate of 26.32p per kWh for 1 October to 31 December 2026. Real cost swings with the weather, your target temperature, insulation and whether you use a cover, so treat it as an estimate. Guide figures, correct as of October 2026, and the price cap changes quarterly.

Some chiller tubs include a heat mode as well as cooling, so a single unit can warm for a soak and then chill for the cold plunge, which suits contrast therapy at home. If your tub only chills, you pair it with a sauna for the hot half.

In practice the terms overlap. "Ice bath" is the broader phrase for cold-water immersion at home; "cold plunge" tends to describe a purpose-built tub you step into. We cover the purpose-built tubs in detail on our cold plunge page.

For most healthy people, short cold immersion is generally well tolerated, but it is not for everyone. Cold water triggers a cold-shock response that strains the heart, so check the risks above and speak to your GP first if you have a heart condition, high blood pressure, diabetes, poor circulation or are pregnant. Never plunge alone. This is general guidance, not medical advice.