Icetubs

4.7 · 2,600+ owner reviews across our brands

4 products

Icetubs builds the plunge that belongs in a room people see. Thermowood and stainless, Dutch built, with water care designed for the tub rather than borrowed from a pool.

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Dutch built cold plunges that hold their own temperature

Icetubs engineers and builds its plunges in the Netherlands, and every model carries its own 1 HP cooling engine rather than a separate chiller you bolt on afterwards. Fill it with a garden hose, plug it into a grounded circuit and it holds 37.4°F on its own, with a built in ozone generator and a 5 micron filter keeping the water clear for weeks at a time. Four models, all authorized, all free freight to the lower 48.

Icetubs IceBarrel XL cold plunge installed on a garden patio
37.4°FMinimum water temperature
1 HPCooling engine, included
6 minFull water turnover
2 yearsPrivate use warranty

The Icetubs range, model by model

Four tubs, two postures. The two barrels are upright and you sit in them. The two IceBath sizes are full length and you lie back in them. Every one uses the same engine, the same water care and the same warranty, so the choice comes down to shape, room and what each asks of your floor.

Upright, stainless

IceBarrel

The compact one. A 30.6 inch Thermowood barrel with a 304 stainless interior and seat, holding 92.5 gallons. You sit upright and go under to the shoulders. Smallest footprint of the four at 30.6 by 53 inches including the engine, and the highest floor loading at 250 pounds per square foot.

26.8 in inside 92.5 gal 250 lb per sq ft Stairs optional

Upright, fiberglass

IceBarrel XL

The wide one. 35.1 inches across inside, which is 8.3 inches more than the standard barrel, with a fiberglass insert rather than stainless. Holds 113.6 gallons. Icetubs describes the fiberglass insert as lightweight and highly insulating, and gives a floor loading of 170 pounds per square foot.

35.1 in inside 113.6 gal 170 lb per sq ft Stairs optional

Full length, stainless

IceBath

The one you lie back in. A 304 stainless trough 66.1 inches long, with the head end raked at 60 degrees and the engine standing at the foot end. 88.9 inches overall and 106.7 gallons, at 83 pounds per square foot filled.

60° backrest 23.2 in wide inside 106.7 gal 83 lb per sq ft

Full length, stainless, larger

IceBath XL

The same reclining design with more of everything: 73.2 inches of tub, 26.6 inches wide inside, 96 inches overall and 132.1 gallons. It needs eight feet of floor plus engine clearance, and has the lowest floor loading of the four at 79 pounds per square foot.

26.6 in wide inside 132.1 gal 79 lb per sq ft 96 in long

Which Icetubs cold plunge to buy

Our picks, and who each one is actually for.

Icetubs IceBath Thermowood and stainless steel cold plunge tub

IceBath

Best overall. Lying back rather than bracing upright lets your legs go fully under, and the sides stand only 25.2 inches tall, so getting out on cold legs is a low step. At 83 pounds per square foot it shares the two lowest floor loadings of the four with the XL, though any deck still needs a structural check. You need about 7.4 feet of run plus engine clearance.

View the IceBath
Icetubs IceBath XL Thermowood and stainless steel cold plunge tub

IceBath XL

Best for the most room lying down. 73.2 inches of tub and 26.6 inches of width inside, more than the standard IceBath on both, with the lowest floor loading of the four at 79 pounds per square foot. The catch is length: it needs a full eight feet of run.

View the IceBath XL
Icetubs IceBarrel Thermowood and stainless steel cold plunge tub

IceBarrel

Best for a small space. 30.6 by 53 inches including the engine is the smallest footprint here by a wide margin, and it still gives you full shoulder submersion because it goes down rather than along. The catch is 250 pounds per square foot, so it belongs on a concrete slab unless a structural engineer has cleared the deck.

View the IceBarrel
Icetubs IceBarrel XL Thermowood and fiberglass cold plunge tub

IceBarrel XL

Best if you are broad. 35.1 inches across inside is the most room of any model here, and it is the one to pick if a 26.8 inch barrel sounds tight across the shoulders. Icetubs describes its fiberglass insert as lightweight and highly insulating. Stairs are worth taking on this one.

View the IceBarrel XL

Monthly payments are available at checkout. At this price most buyers spread the cost. The plans you qualify for, the exact monthly figure and the terms are all shown to you at checkout before you confirm anything, and they are set by the lender rather than by us. Subject to credit approval. Our financing page explains how it works.

The range compared at a glance

Same engine, same warranty, same water care throughout. These are the rows that actually differ.

  IceBarrel IceBarrel XL IceBath IceBath XL
Posture Seated upright Seated upright Lying back Lying back
Interior 304 stainless Fiberglass 304 stainless 304 stainless
Room inside 26.8 in across 35.1 in across 23.2 in wide 26.6 in wide
Footprint 30.6 x 53 in 40.2 x 62.3 in 27.5 x 88.9 in 31.8 x 96 in
Height 46.2 in 46.4 in 25.2 in 28.1 in
Water 92.5 gal 113.6 gal 106.7 gal 132.1 gal
Floor load, filled 250 lb per sq ft 170 83 79
Shipping weight 375 lb 421 lb 390 lb 445 lb
Stairs available Yes Yes No No

Footprints include the cooling engine, which stands beside the barrels and stands at the foot end of the IceBath. Allow at least 20 inches of clearance around the engine for the airflow. Base configurations: with stairs the IceBarrel ships at 428 lb and the IceBarrel XL at 474 lb. Weighing cold water against a chamber? Our cryotherapy versus cold plunge comparison sets out the difference.

What sets Icetubs apart

The engine is part of the tub, and still serviceable

Most cold plunges at this level are a shell plus a chiller you buy separately, match yourself and plumb in. Icetubs supplies a matched 1 HP engine with every tub, with published cooling capacity, noise and current figures rather than adjectives.

It is still a separate unit, connected by two hoses, so if it ever fails it gets collected and replaced rather than the tub being written off. Compare that against the rest of our cold plunges with chillers, where the chiller is usually bought and matched separately.

Heat treated Thermowood

Icetubs describes Thermowood as heat treated softwood designed to resist swelling, shrinking and moisture absorption.

Sun and weather still turn it gray over the years, so the manual asks for oiling once a year. That weathering is how the material behaves rather than a fault, and it is excluded from the warranty.

Ozone and 5 micron filtration, built in

A built in ozone generator putting out 200 to 300 milligrams an hour breaks down organic contaminants continuously, while the pump turns the whole tub over roughly every six minutes through a 5 micron filter.

The practical result is water that stays usable for weeks rather than days, without chlorine. Chlorine is in fact prohibited, because it pits stainless steel.

Sitting up or lying down, and why it changes the session

Upright, in a barrel

You step over the rim, sit down on a seat and the water comes up to your shoulders. Your knees are up and you are braced a little, which some people prefer because it keeps the session deliberate and short.

The real advantage is floor space. A barrel occupies four to five feet of run against seven or eight for a bath, so it fits a corner, a balcony or a garage bay where a full length tub will not go. The tradeoff is load: the same weight of water on a much smaller base means 170 to 250 pounds per square foot.

Full length, in a bath

You get in like a bathtub and lie back against a head end raked at 60 degrees. Your legs are fully under without folding them, and the backrest takes your weight instead of your arms.

The IceBath tubs are the lowest of the four, 25.2 inches tall on the IceBath and 28.1 on the XL, so getting out is a low step rather than a climb over a barrel rim. The cost is length: you need about 7.4 to 8 feet of run including the engine, plus clearance around it. In exchange you get the two lowest floor loadings of the four.

The engine, and what your electrics need

Every Icetubs cold plunge uses the same cooling engine, so the electrical requirement is identical across the range. This is the single thing to settle before you order.

110 volts, 60 hertz, and 14.5 amps at maximum draw. Icetubs requires a grounded outlet protected by a GFCI breaker in the main panel, on a circuit breaker that meets your local regulations. The engine can draw up to 14.5 amps while pulling the water down and runs for hours at a time, which is a lot to share with a household circuit, so our advice is to plan on a dedicated one and have a licensed electrician set the rating. You will see these described as plugging into a standard outlet. We would rather give you the amperage.

What it does

It cools to 37.4°F. Icetubs also lists a heater option that takes the same unit up to 100.4°F. It is specified with the tub rather than added later, so ask us to confirm it for your order before buying. 2.18 kW of measured cooling capacity, R32 refrigerant, 1.35 kW drawn while running and 1.7 kW at peak.

How you control it

On the engine's own panel or from the Icetubs app over Wi-Fi, including timers and an automatic mode that holds a set temperature and cycles the compressor rather than running it flat out.

Where it can sit

It needs at least 20 inches of clearance around it, because it dumps the heat it pulls from the water into the air. It makes 60 decibels measured at one meter, about three feet, so not under a bedroom window.

Winter, and the rule that catches people out

A cold plunge in a cold climate sounds like the easy case. It is the opposite, and the requirement is a warranty condition rather than advice, so it is worth reading before you choose a model or a location.

Ambient temperature What Icetubs requires
34°F and above Normal. The engine can be switched off
23°F to 34°F The engine must run in automatic mode, around the clock, with no timers, so the water never freezes
Below 23°F Detach the engine and store it indoors, drain the tub and leave it empty
Above 104°F Outside the engine's operating range

The middle row is the one that surprises people. Between 23 and 34 degrees you cannot simply switch it off for a week while you travel, because a burst pipe from frozen water is explicitly not covered. Below 23 degrees you are into a proper seasonal shutdown.

Most of the northern United States sees nights below 23 degrees through a normal winter, so for plenty of buyers this is an outdoor cold plunge with a winter storage routine rather than a year round one. That is a reasonable trade and many owners make it happily. It is not reasonable to discover it in January, which is why it is on this page rather than in the small print.

Water care, filters and what it costs to keep running

Electricity

Cooling a full tub from tap water the first time is roughly 4 to 6 kilowatt hours depending on the model, which is under a dollar at the current US residential average, and roughly three to four and a half hours of waiting.

Holding temperature costs much less, because once the set temperature is reached the engine no longer runs at full power. Icetubs publishes no standby figure and we are not going to invent one.

Filters

A new 5 micron cartridge monthly in private use and weekly in light professional use, and a working filter fitted at all times is a condition of the warranty. Three come with every tub.

Changing one takes seconds. Protecting the pump and the heat exchanger from a blockage is the reason it matters more than the water clarity does.

Water treatment

AquaFinesse is the only treatment Icetubs approves for these tubs. It opens the biofilm so the disinfectant can reach the bacteria living in it, which is what makes a low dose work in cold water.

Chlorine, bromine, salts, magnesium, shock doses, flocculants and homemade mixtures are all named warranty exclusions, because they corrode stainless steel.

Light professional use, and where the line sits

Icetubs covers business use, but on different terms and with a published ceiling, and it is worth being straight about that before a gym or a clinic orders one.

A 6-Month Limited Warranty rather than 2-Year Limited. Icetubs defines light professional use as a business where the plunge is not the primary revenue generating equipment, and gives a small studio, a clinic or an office as the examples. Filters go weekly rather than monthly in that setting. The published limits of fifteen bathers a day and three an hour are a condition of the warranty in any use, private or professional, not only commercial.

A dedicated cold plunge studio falls outside this warranty entirely. If the tub is the business, Icetubs asks for separate commercial terms rather than selling you consumer cover that would not apply. Tell us before you order if that is your situation and we will get you the right terms, and see how we handle commercial orders and the rest of our commercial cold plunges.

Speak to a cold therapy specialist

Ten minutes on the phone settles the three things that are expensive to get wrong: whether the footprint fits where you want it, whether your circuit can carry 14.5 amps, and what your winter does to the running plan.

Call (888) 500-5675

Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm ET.

Before you order an Icetubs cold plunge

Measure the route, not just the spot

An IceBath XL is eight feet long and the crate weighs 445 pounds. Check every gate, turn and doorway between where a truck can stop and where the tub will sit.

Settle the circuit

14.5 amps at 110 volts, grounded, GFCI protected from the main panel. Get an electrician to confirm the circuit rating before you order rather than after.

Pick a surface that drains

A concrete slab, timber decking or any surface that does not hold moisture. Icetubs specifically rules out bare soil and synthetic grass, because moisture wicks up into the Thermowood and shortens its life.

Check the floor if it is a deck

Icetubs gives 79 to 250 pounds per square foot filled, depending on the model. Decks and upper floors are built to a specified load, so have yours confirmed first.

Mind the pool and the coast

Do not site one beside a chlorinated pool. Within 12 miles of the sea, rinse the stainless with fresh water every few days. Corrosion on a tub sited within 10 miles of the coast is a named warranty exclusion.

Inspect before you sign

Note any damage on the delivery receipt before you sign and photograph it the same day. Icetubs wants visible transport damage reported within twenty four hours with photographs. Our return policy sets out what happens next.

What Icetubs asks of you in the water

Their own user guidance, worth reading before the first session rather than after. It ships with every tub in chapter 8 of the operational manual.

Keep it short

One to three minutes a session, five minutes maximum, and out sooner if discomfort increases. Icetubs asks you to focus on controlled exposure rather than pushing endurance.

Head above water, and not alone

Submerge to the neck with your head completely above water at all times. Enter and leave slowly rather than jumping or diving in. Icetubs asks you never to use the tub alone.

Medical clearance first

Icetubs says cold immersion is not for everyone. Avoid it unless a healthcare professional has cleared you if you are pregnant or have a serious heart or circulatory condition, uncontrolled high blood pressure, epilepsy, fainting, Raynaud's, peripheral neuropathy, a respiratory condition or a recent surgery or injury, and skip a session with a fever or infection, open wounds, after intense exercise, within an hour of a heavy meal or after alcohol or drugs. Children under 12 only if medically advised and closely supervised.

Explore the rest of the cold therapy range

All cold plungesEvery plunge tub we carry, across every brand and price. Cold plunge chillersStandalone chillers, if you already have a tub. Every brand we carryWho makes what, and what each one is good at.

Icetubs cold plunges, questions answered

Who makes Icetubs and where are they built?

Icetubs B.V. is a Dutch company that engineers and manufactures its cold plunges and saunas in the Netherlands. Recovery Room Direct is an authorized dealer, supplied through the brand's US distributor, so the tubs and the warranty come through the official channel.

Do Icetubs cold plunges need a chiller?

No. Every model comes with its own matched 1 HP cooling engine, which is the main thing that separates these from tubs sold as a shell plus a chiller you source separately. Its published range runs from 37.4°F, and the engine is included in the price.

What electrical supply do they need?

110 volts at 60 hertz, drawing up to 14.5 amps, on a grounded outlet protected by a GFCI breaker in the main panel. Icetubs also asks for a circuit breaker that meets local regulations. Because 14.5 amps is close to the working limit of an ordinary 15 amp circuit, we recommend a dedicated circuit confirmed by a licensed electrician rather than sharing an existing one.

Can I use one through a freezing winter?

Within limits that are warranty conditions rather than suggestions. Down to 34°F the engine can be switched off. Between 23°F and 34°F it has to run in automatic mode around the clock so the water never freezes. Below 23°F the engine must be detached and stored indoors and the tub drained. A burst pipe from frozen water is not covered.

Which model should I choose?

Decide posture first. If you want to lie back, choose between the IceBath and the IceBath XL, and length decides it. If you would rather sit up in a shorter footprint, pick a barrel, then choose between the 26.8 inch stainless IceBarrel and the 35.1 inch fiberglass IceBarrel XL on shoulder room. If the tub is going on a deck, read the floor loading row in the comparison table first, because the IceBath is a third of the load of an IceBarrel.

How long is the warranty?

A 2-Year Limited Warranty in private use and a 6-Month Limited Warranty in light professional use, covering manufacturing defects and component failures in the tub and the cooling engine. Filters and water care are consumables, and Icetubs also lists the ozone generator and the water pump as non warranted components. Labor for removing or refitting a part is excluded. A replaced part carries the remainder of the original term rather than starting a fresh one.

Is Recovery Room Direct an authorized Icetubs dealer?

Yes. We buy through the brand's US distributor, and the 2-Year Limited Warranty runs from the day the tub is delivered. That is also why we can open a warranty claim on your behalf rather than sending you to the Netherlands, and why the freeze protection and water care conditions on this page come from the manufacturer's own documents rather than from a spec sheet someone copied.

What does shipping cost and how does it arrive?

Free LTL freight to the contiguous 48 states on every Icetubs cold plunge. It arrives palletized on an LTL carrier and is delivered to the curb by appointment. The lightest crate of the four is 375 pounds and the heaviest is 474, so arrange help or request a Professional Setup and Assembly quote on the product page and a crew will unpack it, assemble it, position it on site and take the packaging away. Canada is a set rate; Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico are quoted case by case.

Not sure which Icetubs plunge fits your space?

Tell us the footprint you have, the circuit you have and what your winter does, and we will tell you which of the three works and which one does not. No pressure either way.

Call (888) 500-5675 Send us the details