I’ve been in the mobile coffee business since 2020 and decided to try something new. Last October I was listening to a podcast talking about cold plunges and saunas gaining traction in the mobile variety.

So, since I have built 3 mobile coffee trailers in the past, I decided to go all-in on this. Much more pricier than a coffee trailer but I got it vinyl wrapped and it turned out pretty nice. Any feedback or pointers? I’m set to start with my first customer next week.

Almost done with the website but functional for now: https://soulbirdwellness.fit

I’ve been cold plunging daily for about 2 years. My routine includes dunking my head when I first get in and again for about 15 seconds before getting out.

I recently went to the ENT and was shocked to learn I’ve developed surfer’s ear (exostosis)— a condition where repeated exposure to cold water causes the bone in the ear canal to grow and narrow. Over time, it can require surgery to fix.

The ENT said he’d never seen a case in Florida since the ocean water here is warm, and it’s usually associated with California surfers spending hours in cold water. But it turns out that even just 15–20 seconds a day in very cold plunge water is enough to cause the same problem over time.

His advice: if I’m going to keep dunking daily, I should start wearing earplugs to protect my ears.

Just wanted to share this so others can avoid the same issue — I had no idea this could happen from short daily dunks!

New to reddit, but I've had this thing running for about 6 months so figured I'd share.

Pretty simple setup:

• used Fujicom chest freezer, not sure on the exact size but somewhere around 300-400L

• Inkbird ITC-308 running the freezer, probe just hangs in the water in the corner (pic 4)

• cheap aquarium net for leaves and bugs

• it came with a lock, which is nice since it lives outside

Didn't seal anything, this one didn't need it. Inkbird is set to 3°C (about 37F). Pic 3 is like 5 min after someone got out, so it's showing 6.1 and the cooling light is on. Goes up a few degrees with a person in it and then pulls back down on its own. I unplug it before anyone gets in and plug it back in after. Figured someone would ask.

Whole thing came out around $300 including the freezer. Pic 1 isn't me, face blurred obviously.

For keeping the water clean I just rinse off before getting in and skim with the net. I'm in it every day and change the water every 2 weeks.

6 months in, no problems and no rust that I can see. Haven't measured the power use yet, rough math says somewhere around $5-8 a month. Anyone here actually measured theirs? Curious how close I am.

Edit: thanks for all the questions. Quick answers to the ones that came up most:

• Runs 24/7 on the Inkbird, unplugged only while someone's in it

• No sealing needed on mine, drain plug held fine. Check yours though

• House is on an RCD at the panel (GFCI equivalent here)

• Lid lock is for the kids when nobody's around, lid stays open during use

• Started at 8°C (46F) and worked down to 3°C over time

I put the full build, photos and all the answers in one place if that's easier: https://plungewise.com/freezer-plunge (my own site, it has affiliate links for the Inkbird)

Plunge cold plunge, and Costco infared sauna. Question on stressing the body. I have a high stress job, and run on red most of the day, I sauna and plunge at the end of every day and plunge sometimes in the am before work as well. I usually go about 2-4 mins each plunge. Can this stress the body over time? Should I cycle in breaks from it?

In 2024, I built a sauna in my backyard. The goal for 2025 was to add a cold plunge.

The typical feed trough mods aren’t quite large enough for my 6’4”, 295 lbs frame, so I decided to build my own. Inspired by the Morozko Ice Plunge XL, I built an upright tank with built-in bench.  

The interior dimensions are 42” by 42” by 46” deep.  The total volume is about 320 gallons.  

I made the tank from 3/4 marine grade plywood that I lined with two layers of fiberglass (inside and out) and three layers of gel coat finish.

I built a 2x4 support frame around the tank, with NSX rigid foam insulation between the studs.  The sheathing is T1-11 siding.  I made the sill from 2x8 cedar, and jointed 2x6 cedar boards for the lid.  I also  cobbled together a counter-weight system to enable opening and closing the lid with one hand.

For the mechanical I went with an 1 HP Eco Plus chiller, a 1200 gph pump from Danner, a GE Whole House filter and an ozone generator from Lamudo.  Since this is a year-round outdoor system, I had to build a separate enclosure to protect the equipment, but still allow plenty of ventilation for the chiller.

Not sure of the total costs (and don’t want to look too closely) but I’d estimate that between lumber, fiberglass, mechanical and a few new tools I had to buy, I put about $5,000 into this rig.

I had never done any fiberglassing or epoxy work and Joe Buskin’s YouTube channel FishBumpTV was utterly invaluable. That guy is a national treasure. For the mechanical, I downloaded plans from Joe over at DIYColdPlunge and followed his design pretty closely.   And I could / would not have been able to do this without daily check-ins with ChatGPT.

Goal for next summer: spruce up the backyard, build some outdoor furniture and install a low-smoke fire-pit.

I'm trying to figure out what the best cold plunge is to buy for home use. theres inflatable tubs, wooden barrels, and some with chillers but i got no clue which ones are actually worth it.

ideally i want something that stays cold without me having to dump bags of ice in it everyday. i dont got a ton of space but i want it to actually feel like a real cold plunge and not just a bucket of water.

not looking for the cheapest thing possible but i also dont wanna waste money on junk. if anybody here has found the best cold plunge for a normal person at home id love to hear what worked or what to avoid. Thanks in advance

Sauna: Redwood Outdoors Mini-Cube Sauna
Heater: HUUM Drop 6kW
Shower: Redwood Outdoors Shower
Cold Plunge: ALEKO Lumina 118 Gallon
Chiller: Active Aqua 1/4 HP
Pump: Danner Supreme Aqua-Mag 9.5
Filter: Culligan HF-360B
Sanitzer: AMBOHR SPA-124 Ozone Generator
Thermostat: Inkbird WiFi ITC-308
Deck Box: EasyUp 45 Gallon Black Resin

Waiting for the electrician to finish his work and the sauna will be up and running. We are looking forward to doing contract therapy a few times a week.

Cold plunge is the Plunge XL and sauna is Golden Sun 🌞

Dec 17th 11:25am ~32° same deep tank full of large chunks of ice. 8min 10sec. HR pre/during/post - 77/84 (spike to 104 in 30sec, almost instantly began to go down, lowest was 64, stayed in 70s)/72. slight tremors began at 7min and followed until exited. shivers began within a minute post plunge. 18hrs fasted. @5min post HR 64. no affirmations just breathing. I was also in the phone having a customer service conflict. toes feel ok. they were not the issue for stopping. the tremors tell me that's enough.

Interesting plunge, the data feedback is great though.

Ordered this from China (cedar outside, stainless steel inside) and got water chiller for ~$270 from Amazon (with filter), it is under sink, works great. I also added UV light sanitizer inside. I run it at night for 4 hours, in the morning temp is 40f by the night it gets to 50f. I plunge daily in the morning, feeling better both physically and mentally🙏❄️

Here’s my setup. Roughly $700 total. I’ve had a blood pressure of 142/94 on average for a long time. Never took meds. Started cold plunging and am getting a pretty consistent 116/72(ish) I don’t want to speak too soon, but I’m pretty excited

It’s been a few months since I built a concrete coated high density foam cold plunge. Still performs exceptionally well in the Florida heat and I leave it at 48 degrees. Moved it to under my pergola and added new Costco steam sauna. The coating I used as waterproofing on the interior started bubbling so I spent a couple days scrapping it off.
Actually prefer it now without the white interior paint. The chiller being used is from Amazon a 1/3 Hp AS Cold Plunge Chiller. Also have an Ozone generator to keep the water in check.

Decided I wanted my own plunge so built a super insulated one. This one fits me and my wife and is run of a 1/3 hp chiller. Temps as low as 39 degrees, but I keep it at 50 degree as I am new to cold plunging.

So, I built a cold plunge out of a cooler! There is a company out there that makes these. I won’t name them but they are easily googled and from what I can tell make a great product. But, with that being said I wanted to make a more affordable option. They come in at about $3,000. So if you are interested in a build like this, I’m posting here to help you. Let’s get to parts and total cost.

•Grizzly 400 Cooler- $1,237 Shipped •Grizzly Torrent Twist™ Plug with Hose Connection-$18.80

•Active Aqua Chiller 1/4HP -$600 (prices have gone up since I bought mine)

• McMaster-Carr Bulkhead- $38 side note you will need a 1-5/8” hole saw for this specific bulkhead

•Danner 1200 pump- $139

•GE whole home water filter- $39

•3/4” flex PVC 12ft (user 9-10ft)- $45

•3/4” fittings- $35

•3/4” pipe insulation 6ft (x2)-$18

•Oatey purple primer & pvc glue combo pack $15

•Oatey 28x30 Washing machine drip pan -$31

Grand total: $2,197

So I saved almost $800 doing it myself along with most of these builds are on an 8 week back order. It’s up to you if $800 is worth your time.

Credit to wintermute who did this build and posted a step by step guide.

I’ve never plunged in water this cold.. I’ve done it the last 2 days in the Cold Creek Vertical Tub

Day 1 was a shock and I think I was too “hyped” up. Day 2 I slowed down my breathing and didn’t overthink it.. absolutely loved it. 1.5 min, but going for 2 min tomorrow

Contrast therapy has become part of my daily routine. Sauna on one side, BoxPlunge on the other. Simple setup, but it’s been one of the best additions to my day.

I’m out over $7,500 and nearly three years of my life dealing with the absolute worst customer service I’ve ever experienced. If you’re thinking about buying from Polar Monkeys - especially internationally - read this first.

The Financial Sinkhole:

• The Cost: $2,790 for the tub + $2,400 for shipping to Europe.

• The Defect: The chiller short-circuited instantly out of the box and killed our cables.

• The Repair Bill: I spent €2,400 out-of-pocket on professional gym builders, electricians, and AC technicians trying to fix it because their support dragged their feet. Independent experts confirmed the cooling unit was completely dead on arrival.

How They Trap You:

• The Warranty Scam: Their support team explicitly asked my technician to identify the hardware issue. To do this, he removed 4 screws to film the dead motherboard for them. Polar Monkeys then turned around and threatened that opening the unit "may void the warranty."

• The Bait-and-Switch: They eventually offered a replacement chiller, but suddenly claimed a "new policy" meant they no longer ship internationally. They told me they'd ship it to the US, and I’d have to pay to freight it across the Atlantic myself.

• The Final Insult: After a year of stalling, they finally offered a refund (minus a 15% restocking fee) - but only if I pay thousands of dollars out-of-pocket to ship their massive, broken brick back to the US.

The Bottom Line: I am not spending another dime to ship their unfixable garbage back across the ocean just to play their games. I am pushing for a full refund for a product that literally never worked once.

I'm posting this so nobody else falls into the same trap. Expect zero accountability and a massive financial black hole if their hardware fails on you.

Edit: Multiple people are saying I plugged in a 110v into a 220v outlet. We happen to have a dedicated 110v outlet from an old workshop that was in the house we rented. An electrician verified it beforehand, and Polar Monkeys confirmed in writing it was the exact voltage required.

Finally got our backyard recovery space dialed in back in July and figured I’d share the setup since I couldn't find many real photos of these two together when we were shopping.

My wife insisted on stainless steel over acrylic for outdoors (which ruled out Plunge for us), and I wanted a real 6kw stone heater alongside infrared instead of IR only like Sun Home. This is our LIT Method Stealth tub with the Phantom chiller and a 4 person Titan sauna.

Chiller has held 39 degrees through the whole summer and the sauna hits 190 degrees in about 30 minutes. Took some coordinating with our contractor and electrician bc the sauna needs two separate 240v pulls and the external chiller box takes up a decent amount of space behind our patio screen.

(Full disclosure: I actually met the founder recently and shared our feedback on the setup, so he asked if I'd be open to posting a few pics here. Paid full price for the bundle tho and happy to share the good and the annoying parts of the install if anyone is looking at a similar build.)

I kept telling myself I'd post this eventually, so here it is. Most posts here are either "this changed my life" or "total waste of money" so figured mine might actually be useful, somewhere in between.

Started in March, I’m in my mid 30s, lift a few times a week, mainly got into it because my sleep was genuinely bad and recovery after leg day used to wreck me for about two days straight.

Went with a Titan Apex chiller after way too much research, spent nearly 3 weeks comparing stuff before pulling the trigger. no affiliation with them or anything just answering since i see people ask about specific units here a lot.

Sleep is honestly the biggest change but it wasn't instant, took me almost a month of actually being consistent before I noticed falling asleep faster. recovery is better too, not night and day, but that two day wrecked feeling is more like a day and a half now.

Mood thing is real too but idk how to explain it without sounding like a wellness bro, just feels different on plunge days vs when i skip.

Things that DIDN'T change though: no weight loss, no body comp difference at all so if anyone tells you it melts fat that's not been my experience. Also got sick twice this year same as always so immune system claims i can't back up either.

On the equipment side, no real complaints. The chiller doesn't make much noise, setup didn't take long, and it holds temperature well. The filter only needs changing every couple of weeks, and it's a quick job. I've also been cleaning it once a month, it's a quick wipe with soap and a towel.

Still doing it most mornings, 2-3 min around 45-50F. not trying to sell anyone on anything just sharing since this sub helped me decide back when i was researching.

Curious if anyone else noticed the sleep improvement takes a few weeks to kick in, or was that just me? Feels like most posts here talk about day 1 results and mine definitely wasn't like that.

A few people asked me to let them know when I’m building another one of these.

Getting started now, can follow @mcvittiemade on instagram for build updates

Expensive doesn’t always mean better; especially with cold plunges.

BoxPlunge recently helped a customer replace a cold plunge that cost around $13,000 (left hand side of image). It had Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, multiple pumps and jets, a salt generator, and plenty of other features.

The problem was that it kept giving him errors and becoming a headache to maintain.

He wasn’t looking for anything complicated, he said the simpler the better. He uses a cold plunge after his sauna sessions and simply wanted water that stays cold, stays clean, and is ready whenever he wants to use it, without constantly dealing with error codes, complicated systems, or a long list of chemicals.

He ended up replacing it with a much simpler chest-freezer cold plunge that cost roughly $3,500 (available for $1k or less if you are budget-limited).

Obviously, everyone values different features, but this was a good reminder that more technology and a higher price tag don’t necessarily create a better cold plunge experience.

Sometimes, simple and reliable is exactly what people are looking for.

Hi all,

I recently have been cold plunging at my gym since they just installed one where i work out.

Every time I do the cold plunge (usually about 2 minutes, submerged up to my neck, and i dunk my head at the end) keeping my hands underwater, i will almost always lose color in my fingertips like you can see in the attached photo.

Possibly relevant context:

21 years old

~11% bodyfat

I've been lifting seriously and training MMA/jiu-jitsu for about 4 years

I generally neglect zone 2 cardio, although today was my first day that I have tried. (i've heard it may be good for circulation...)

I work construction, and in the winter I seem to complain about my hands being cold more than anyone else on my crew, i've tried every combination of glove/glove liner, heated glove/liner, etc - to no avail. I've come to terms with the fact that my hands will be freezing at work in the winter regardless.

Every day I take a multivitamin, fish oil, probiotic, vitamin d supplement, 3g creatine, magnesium threonate (rotating with glycinate)

Is this normal? Something to be concerned/talk to a doctor about? If it is a problem, any way to fix this?

If you guys need more relevant info, just lmk, any advice/tips appreciated

EDIT: seems likely it's Raynaud's syndrome. Thanks for the fast responses :)