Ice Bath Chiller: Do You Need One for Your Tub?

What is an ice bath chiller?

A chiller is an electric unit that sits next to the tub and connects to the water through hoses. Its pump draws water from the tub through the unit, which cools and filters it, then sends it back into the tub. The circuit runs continuously: the water stays cold without adding ice before each session. That is what separates the two terms you see everywhere. 'Ice bath' emphasises the ice added just before you get in, with the water then slowly warming up. 'Cold plunge' is often used for tubs cooled by a machine. Either way, it means immersion in cold water.

For the tub in our kit, the answer is simple: it has no chiller and is not designed to take one. It is a round, foldable, insulated tub held up by 6 vertical support tubes, and only the ring at the top is inflated. Its two drains, a side hose with a valve and a plug in the base, are there to empty it, not to connect a device. You cool it with ice, and you keep the cold in with its insulated lid.

Which tubs take a chiller?

Tubs designed to work with a chiller are mostly rigid inflatable tubs, known as 'drop stitch'. They hold 500 to 800 litres and weigh 16 to 19 kg empty. The foldable tub in the kit is in a different category: 330 litres, 3.8 kg empty, 85 cm across on the outside and 75 cm tall, with a zipped carry bag to store it. These figures describe two different uses. On one side, a larger set-up, meant to stay in place with its unit. On the other, a tub you put up on your own, without tools, then empty and fold away when the season or the space calls for it.

More litres also means more water to cool and a heavier load on the floor than the roughly 330 kg of the kit's tub when full, not counting the person. On a balcony or an upper floor, ask the building manager or managing agent what load is allowed. Before buying a separate chiller, check with the seller of the tub and the seller of the unit that the two are designed to work together.

What a chiller changes, and what it asks of you

The gain is clear: the water stays cold without ice. No more bags to buy, carry and tip into the tub before each session, and a temperature that no longer depends on how much ice you have to hand. For someone who gets in every day, that is a real difference in organisation. In return, the unit has a price, it takes up space next to a tub that is already bigger, and it runs on mains power. Above all, an electrical device near water needs a suitable electrical installation: have it checked by an electrician before switching on for the first time.

Noise and power use depend on the model: go by the unit's spec sheet and manual, not by a general promise. Think about the location too: the unit runs while you are away, next to a tub full of water, often outdoors. It is not something you move around from one weekend to the next. Before choosing, go through these four points, ideally with the electrician who will check the installation.

• A socket and an electrical circuit checked by an electrician for use near water.
• Floor space for the tub, the unit and its hoses, and a floor able to carry the whole set-up.
• The noise of the unit, as stated on its spec sheet, especially near a bedroom or a neighbour.
• The maintenance set out in the unit's manual, on top of the tub's own.

What it costs: orders of magnitude seen on 28 September 2026

The prices below are public prices recorded on 28 September 2026, by category and without brands. They are orders of magnitude on a given day and may change from one week to the next. A rigid inflatable tub compatible with a chiller was around £399 in the UK, without the unit. Complete tub and chiller sets were only recorded outside the UK, so we have no UK figure for them, and we do not convert a foreign price into pounds: taxes and delivery vary from one market to another. To show the gap, bare round foldable tubs sold on their own, without a kit, were around £30 to £50 in the UK the same day.

These amounts do not tell the whole story. For a chiller, add the electrician's visit and the electricity used, which depends on the model and on how you use it. For a tub cooled with ice, the recurring cost is the ice itself, bought or made in the freezer. So compare a full budget over a season, not just the price shown on the day you buy.

When ice is enough

For occasional use or a few sessions a week, ice and an insulated lid do the job. The temperatures often quoted for an ice bath sit around 10 to 15 °C, and it is advisable to start less cold and short. The amount of ice can be worked out. Melting 1 kg of ice absorbs 334 kJ, and cooling 1 litre of water by 1 °C takes 4.186 kJ. This gives: ice (kg) = V x 4.186 x (starting T - target T) / (334 + 4.186 x target T), with V the volume of water in litres.

For 250 litres of water, which is the tub filled while leaving room for the person, that gives the orders of magnitude below. In practice you need more, because the air, the ground and the sun warm the water: keep the lid closed, put the tub in the shade and add the ice just before the bath, not the night before.

• From 20 °C to 15 °C: about 13 kg of ice.
• From 20 °C to 12 °C: about 22 kg of ice.
• From 20 °C to 10 °C: about 28 kg of ice.
• From 15 °C to 10 °C: about 14 kg of ice.

When a chiller makes sense

A chiller becomes the logical choice when ice turns into a daily chore. That is the case if several people use the tub every day: you would then have to cool the water again and again, bag after bag. It is also the case in a hot climate, where the water in an insulated tub warms up in summer and does not hold the cold like a tub cooled by a machine. Finally, you need a budget that covers the tub and unit together, the electrician, the electricity, and a fixed spot where the set-up can stay all year round.

On the other hand, to try the practice, for a balcony, for a rented flat or for a tub you want to put away in winter, ice remains the simplest option. That is the use Ice Bath Tub has in mind: the shop sells a single portable insulated tub with a lid, as a complete kit (the contents of the box: the tub and its 6 tubes, lid, dust cover, pump, cushion, drain, repair patches and carry bag), delivered free from stock held in your region.

With or without a chiller, the same safety rules

Equipment changes nothing about the basic rules. See a doctor before your first ice bath if you have heart disease, high blood pressure, a heart rhythm disorder, a circulatory disorder (including Raynaud's syndrome), diabetes or epilepsy, if you are pregnant or if you are on medical treatment. Never take an ice bath alone: someone present and attentive must stay close by. Cold water shock can happen in water at 15 °C or below: it takes your breath away and makes the heart beat faster. So get in gradually, breathe calmly, start with 1 to 2 minutes and keep your head above the water.

Get out immediately if you feel dizzy or have chest pain, numbness or uncontrollable shivering. No alcohol, no drugs and no medicine that makes you drowsy before or during the bath. Ice baths are not for children: lid closed when not in use, tub emptied when no one is watching it, and never a child nearby without an adult. With a chiller, you also have an electrical device near water: installing it remains a job for an electrician.