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If you've typed "ice baths for sale" or "buy ice bath UK" into a search engine, you've found a market that runs from under £70 to several thousand pounds with very little explanation of why. This page is our attempt to explain the price bands honestly: what you get at each level, what's missing, where the extra money goes, and which one we'd buy first. Our own range is in the ice baths collection, and the tub we'd point most people to is the Plunge 320 at £109. We'll tell you where that isn't the right answer too.
Broadly: under £75 buys a bare tub, £75 to £150 buys a complete fabric tub with a lid and accessories, £599 and up buys a chiller to go with it, and the several-hundred-to-thousands bracket is rigid steel or wooden tubs, sometimes with built-in cooling. Our tubs sit in the first two bands at £69 and £109; our chillers start at £599; our bundles are £649 and £899. Beyond our own range we haven't priced other sellers today, so we describe those bands rather than quote them.
The important thing is that the bands are not really about quality. They're about what's in the box and what the tub is made of. Read the included-items line before the price on any listing and most of the confusion goes away.
This is where the Plunge 80 lives at £69. It's a round, foldable, sit-in cold plunge tub, 80 × 75cm according to the supplier. That's the whole listing: the tub, no lid, no accessories. It's how it stays at our lowest price.
What that buys you is the core of the thing. Fill it from the cold tap, add ice if you want it colder, get in. What it doesn't buy is anything to cover it between sessions, a pump, or a drain hose. If you already have a tarp and a length of hose, fine. If you don't, you'll end up spending on those separately, and the maths gets close to the next band.
Delivery on an order under £100 carries a flat £4.95 fee, shown at checkout before you pay. It's tracked, and the listed delivery window is 10 to 16 days.
Our cheap ice bath guide is a longer look at what £69 does and doesn't get you.
This is the Plunge 320 at £109, and it's where we think most first tubs should be bought.
It's the same category of tub, round and foldable and sit-in, slightly bigger at 83cm across and 73cm tall, holding more than 380 litres according to the supplier. The difference is what comes with it and what the walls are made of. The walls are triple-layer insulated fabric, which the supplier says helps the water hold its temperature for longer. In the box: the tub, an all-weather elasticated lid, six support legs, an inflatable seat cushion, a hand pump, a drain hose, a seal ring and the manual. An inflatable ring forms the rim and doubles as a headrest.
The lid is the item that matters most day to day. It keeps leaves and insects out and slows the sun warming the water. It's a debris cover, not a filter. The drain hose is the second most useful thing: 380 litres of water weighs close to 400kg, since a litre of water is almost exactly a kilogram (Wikipedia, litre), and you empty it with a hose, not by tipping.
At £109 the order clears the £100 threshold for free tracked delivery. Listed delivery is 10 to 16 days.
The jump from £109 to £599 is the one that surprises people, and it's because a chiller is a different kind of object. It's a refrigeration unit that pumps water out of the tub, cools it and returns it, holding a set temperature so the ice runs stop.
Our three are the Chill Core 300 at £599 (rated by its supplier for up to 300 litres, cooling to about 15°C), the Chill Core 500 at £799 (up to 500 litres, about 4 to 9°C) and the Chill Core Pro at £999 (up to 900 litres). The sizing rule is simple: the chiller's rated volume has to be above the litres in your tub. The Plunge 320's 380-plus litres means the 500 or the Pro; the Plunge 80 filled below 300 litres can run on the 300.
Whether you need one at all depends on how often you plunge. Once or twice a week from October to April, a UK cold tap and a bag of ice do the job. Most days, year round, a chiller pays back in convenience quickly. Running cost is the other question, and we won't invent a figure: the supplier publishes cooling capacity in watts, not electrical draw, so the honest method is a plug-in meter and your unit rate. Ofgem's price cap for 1 October to 31 December 2026 puts the Direct Debit electricity unit rate at 26.32p per kWh. Our chillers buying guide has the full explanation.
If you know you want a chilled tub from day one, the bundles are cheaper than buying the pieces, and the pieces are already matched.
The Starter Bundle is £649: Plunge 80, Chill Core 300 and a Wireless Floating Thermometer. Separately those come to £697, so the bundle saves £48. Fill the tub below 300 litres to stay inside the chiller's rating.
The Performance Bundle is £899: Plunge 320, Chill Core 500 and the same thermometer. Separately that's £937, a saving of £38. This is the one for colder water and the bigger tub.
Both bundles are listed at 10 to 20 days for delivery. The items come from different suppliers and can arrive as separate parcels, each tracked. Bundle prices are also the only place on our site you'll see a compare-at figure.
Above our range sits a different market: rigid stainless steel tubs, cedar barrels, and all-in-one units with the chiller built into the tub. They're heavier, permanent, and they look like furniture. Steel is durable and easy to clean but conducts heat, so good ones are jacketed. Wood insulates on its own but needs care. Built-in units save you plumbing two hoses but tie the tub and chiller together for life.
We haven't checked those prices today, so we won't put numbers on them here. Our best ice bath UK comparison has the sellers we did check, with the dates. What we'd say is that if you're spending at that level, you've already decided cold plunging is part of your life, and that's not the person who needs a price-band guide.
When two tubs look the same in the photos, this is the order we'd check.
Five minutes with that list beats an hour of reading reviews.
Search for "ice bath sale" and you'll see a lot of struck-through prices. Some are genuine end-of-line reductions. Some are compare-at prices that the item never sold at. We can't police other shops, but we can tell you what we do: the two bundles carry a compare-at price that is exactly the sum of the three items bought separately on our site, and the individual tubs and chillers carry no compare-at price at all.
If a sale price elsewhere tempts you, two checks: what does the box include (lid, pump, drain hose, legs), and what is the return policy in writing. A cheap tub with no lid, no pump and a short warranty is a different product from a complete tub, even when the photo looks the same.
Whatever you spend, the water does the same thing. Machado and colleagues' 2016 meta-analysis in Sports Medicine found the best results for muscle soreness at water between 10 and 15°C for 10 to 15 minutes. Bleakley and colleagues' 2012 Cochrane review, across 17 trials and 366 participants, found some evidence that cold water immersion reduces delayed onset muscle soreness compared with rest, while rating the study quality as low. Nothing in that literature depends on the tub costing more than £109. A steel tub at 12°C and a fabric tub at 12°C are the same 12°C.
What money buys is convenience and longevity: a lid, insulation, a chiller so you stop buying ice, a rigid tub that lasts a decade. Those are real. They're just not the cold.
Every order is tracked and you get a tracking number by email when it ships. Orders over £100 have free delivery; under £100 there's a flat £4.95 fee shown at checkout. Tubs and chillers are listed at 10 to 16 days; bundles at 10 to 20. If you're ordering from Ireland or the euro area, the Ireland and EU delivery page covers that.
On returns, we're straightforward because the law is. Under UK distance-selling rules you can tell us within 14 days of receiving the item that you want to cancel, you then have 14 days to send it back, and the refund is due within 14 days of it arriving with us (GOV.UK, accepting returns and giving refunds). Return postage is at your cost. Our suppliers don't accept change-of-mind returns beyond that, so we don't offer an extended returns window. If something arrives faulty or damaged, we replace or refund it, and chillers are covered for faults under the Consumer Rights Act.
The practical upshot: measure your space and read the included-items line before you order, because "it didn't fit" is a return you'll pay the postage on.
If you're in an upstairs flat with no drain and a shared floor, hold off. A full tub is a few hundred kilograms of water and it has to go somewhere when you empty it. Cold showers are free and our ice bath vs cold shower article is honest about what you give up.
If you want to lie flat, neither of our tubs is for you; they're sit-in, knees-up tubs. Long tubs are a different band.
And if you're buying because of a promise you read about fat burning, immunity or curing anything: don't. The evidence we cite is about muscle soreness, it's rated low quality, and nobody selling you a tub should be telling you otherwise. Our are ice baths good for you article sets out what the research does and doesn't support.
For a first tub, the Plunge 320 at £109: complete, insulated, lidded, free delivery, and ready for a chiller later. For the cheapest way to find out if you like cold water, the Plunge 80 at £69. For a chilled setup from day one, the Performance Bundle at £899.
Browse the whole range in the ice baths collection. Then fill it from the cold tap, put a bag of ice in, and give yourself ten minutes at 12°C before you think about steel.
This article is for general information and does not constitute medical advice. Cold water immersion carries cardiovascular and hypothermia risk. Consult a doctor before starting, never plunge alone, and stop immediately if you feel unwell.
This article is for general information and does not constitute medical advice. Cold water immersion is not a medical treatment. Consult a professional if you have cardiovascular conditions.
Our tubs are £69 (Plunge 80, tub only) and £109 (Plunge 320, complete with lid and accessories). A chiller, if you want one, starts at £599 for the Chill Core 300. A tub-plus-chiller bundle is £649 or £899. Steel and wooden tubs from other sellers cost considerably more; we haven't priced them today, so we don't quote figures.
The Plunge 80 at £69 plus a bag of ice from the supermarket. It's a round 80 × 75cm foldable sit-in tub with no lid or accessories. Orders under £100 carry a flat £4.95 delivery fee shown at checkout.
Our bundles are the only place we show a compare-at price: the Starter Bundle is £649 against £697 bought separately, and the Performance Bundle is £899 against £937. Beyond that, the tubs and chillers carry no compare-at price. If a seller's 'was' price looks too good, check what the tub actually sold at last month.
Not at tub prices. A chiller is a separate refrigeration unit. Our Plunge 320 at £109 comes with a lid, legs, cushion, pump and drain hose, but no chiller. The Performance Bundle at £899 is where the tub and chiller come together.
You have your legal right to cancel: tell us within 14 days of receiving it, return it within 14 more days, and the refund follows within 14 days of it coming back (GOV.UK). Return postage is at your cost, and our supplier doesn't accept change-of-mind returns beyond that. Faulty or damaged items are replaced or refunded.
Tubs and chillers are listed at 10 to 16 days, bundles at 10 to 20 days because the items come from different suppliers and may arrive separately. All tracked; free over £100.
The best ice bath in the UK depends on budget and how often you plunge. Seven tubs compared by category, with every price checked on the maker's own page.
Ice bath cost in the UK, all in: the tub, ice or a chiller, electricity, water and small parts. How much an ice bath costs in year one, with worked sums.
Setting up a home ice bath: the tub, a thermometer and optional chiller, where it goes indoors or out, and what an ice bath at home costs, with real prices.
How Kaldera and Lumi Therapy compare on tub and chiller prices, bundles, delivery, returns and warranty, re-checked against Lumi's own site on 30 September 2026.
