Cold plunging is expensive, especially if you decide to buy a premium cold plunge. This blog post will talk about different DIY ideas for cheap cold plunge.

Easy and Cheap DIY Cold Plunge

There are many ways to create your own cold plunge or ice bath for cold immersion therapy.

At home in your bathtub Cold Plunge

• If you have a bath tub big enough to fit in, fill it up with cold water and buy bags of ice. See my experience with water temperatures in my first blog post.

• Purchase an Ice Barrel – Cold Therapy Training Tool
  • These Ice Barrel’s are awesome training tools and come in two cool colors (Black and Tan)
  • These hold 105 gallons of water and have an easy drain system at the bottom of the barrel.
  • Ice Barrel’s also come with a Lid, Barrel Stand, Protective UV Cover, and Step Stool.
  • Ice Barrel’s have great reviews!! Check the customer reviews.

• Buying bags of Ice can be expensive! The cheapest ice that I have been able to find in my area is $3.49 for a 20 lb bag. One ice bath a day would cost over $1,200/year. I would suggest buying an ice machine that you can keep at your house. See the two linked products below.

• 33 Pound Capacity Commercial Grade Ice Machine

• 39 Pound Capacity Commercial Grade Ice Machine

Buy a Rubbermaid 150 Gallon Tank and store this in your backyard or outdoors.

• During the winter months, the water should stay cold enough for a daily cold plunge. Just be sure to change out the water once a week because stagnant water can become moldy.

• During the summer months, you would have to buy bags. Again, buying bags of ice can get expensive! See the two links for Ice Machines above.

Build a Cold Plunge using a Water Trough or Rubbermaid 150 Gallon Tank and water chiller.

• This project would include boxing the trough in with treated lumber and wrapping in Cedar to give it a nice high quality look.

• You will also need a water chiller. I would suggest getting at least a 1/4 horsepower unit.

• You will also need to purchase a water pump to effectively pump water in to the water chiller.
  • Make sure you get the appropriate pump for the water chiller you decide to purchase. See picture below for GPH pump data for each water chiller

• See step by step instructions on how to create a DIY Cold Plunge by Mr. Build It.

Use an old Deep Freezer as a DIY Cold Plunge

• Either buy a new deep freezer or find an old repaired unit for cheap. Make sure you buy a freezer with a plastic liner rather than aluminum. The aluminum can easily dent and cause leaks in your unit.

• Also be sure to seal all joints inside the freezer with marine grade silicone.

• There are also youtube videos showing how to make a DIY Cold Plunge using a deep freezer. ***Please make sure to unplug the unit before getting in!!***
• See the YouTube video below by Levi Allen

Outdoor Plunges

DIY Cold Plunge Accessories

There are many things that you can buy with a Cold Plunge. See those products here

I personally use a ThermoPop 2 by ThermoWorks because they are accurate to +/- 1 degree fahrenheit and are very affordable (I also use a ThermoPop for grilling and smoking meat).

I would also recommend a Pool Rake so that you can easily clean any debris in the cold plunge. I prefer shallow netting on the pool rake because it’s much easier to empty debris.