Ice bathing at home has never been easier. Why? Because there are simply so many ways to set it up to suit your needs. Regardless of whether you only have a shower or bathtub, a small balcony or a small garden. In this comprehensive article, we’ll show you lots of quick and easy ways to create your own ice bath at home, whether it’s a store-bought or DIY solution.
Table of contents
Ice or rain barrels
A very good option for ice bathing at home is to use a rain barrel or a barrel, e.g. on your balcony or in the garden. The water can either be fed into the barrel via the drainpipe of a rain gutter or via a water connection. The outdoor water connection should have a volume compensator so that it does not freeze over in winter and you run the risk of your water pipe bursting.
Materials for the rain barrel / ice barrel
Most rain barrels or ice barrels are made of plastic, predominantly polyethylene (PE) or polypropylene (PP). There are also barrels made of wood. These are usually made of oak, but some are also made of acacia or robinia wood. Some people like the look of wood better than plastic and it is also a good eye-catcher for the garden. However, there are also beautiful imitation barrique barrels made of PE or PP.
When choosing a wooden barrel, you should make sure that it is made of the hardest possible wood, such as oak. Wood is a natural material and “works” accordingly. Hard wood has the property of swelling or swelling less quickly than soft wood. This has advantages if the wooden barrel is left empty for a while and then refilled. Basically, a plastic rain barrel is easier to care for and cheaper than a wooden barrel. Nevertheless, a wooden barrel has a beautiful appearance and many ice bathers would rather have natural materials in their garden than plastic barrels. The wooden barrel also has the disadvantage that it weighs approx. 100 kg when empty. This means that it cannot be easily moved around, but should remain in a fixed place. If you have one, however, it is a stylish accessory for any garden.
And here you can see a few of our users taking an ice bath in their gardens or balconies in various rain barrels.
Advantages and disadvantages of rain / ice barrels
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|
| Nature feeling | Requires ladder / stool or some acrobatics to get started |
| Inexpensive to purchase | Some tinkering with the connection |
| Requires little space in the garden / balcony | |
| Use throughout the year | |
| No additional water / energy costs | |
| Convenient & close to your home |
Inflatable tub
Inflatable tubs are very popular and many users buy one for their garden, balcony or to take with them. Because ice bathing is especially nice when you can change locations.
The inflatable ice buoys are super easy and quick to set up and require no special knowledge. It shouldn’t take longer than 5 minutes. The ring is inflated with a small hand pump, so you can also place your arms on it, for example.
These inflatable tubs are also very space-saving, firstly because they are smaller than fixed tubs and secondly because you can simply fold them up when you don’t need them and put them in the cellar. Most inflatable tubs are available in sizes 75cm x 75cm and upwards. As you can see in the photo below, there is enough space to sit in a 75 x 75 tub. The tubs are also insulated, so they can retain the cold a little longer.
You can buy our Chief Ice Officer ice tub below, with all the accessories you can think of included. The ice tub is triple insulated and comes with two lids, a pump, patch kit, carry bag and fashionable design. It has a top price-performance ratio and is one of our most popular bestsellers. The tub can is suitable for all sizes and has a diameter of 80 cm.
And there are also larger inflatable tubs that fit more than one person or are suitable for stretching out your legs. In the smaller tubs, only one squatting position is possible. Oval, elongated tubs are therefore more suitable for very tall ice bathers. These are also very light and also better insulated, as both the outer wall and the lid are fully inflated and therefore keep the water cold for a longer period of time.
Advantages and disadvantages of inflatable ice tubs
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|
| Can be set up quickly and without prior knowledge | Somewhat limited durability |
| Very inexpensive to purchase | |
| Require very little space | |
| Can be taken on the move | |
| Convenient & close to your home | |
| Suitable for almost any body size | |
| Insulated |
Cooling an ice bath at home
There are various ways to cool the ice bath in summer. We have put together a good overview here with the advantages and disadvantages of ice bathing in warm temperatures.
Continuous flow cooler
These are very popular and allow the ice bath to be cooled down quickly and easily at higher temperatures. The principle is a pump that draws the water from a (usually) random container and pumps it back into the pool through a flow-through cooler. This is very efficient and also relatively inexpensive.
Professional cold pools
Cold pools are also a good method, cool quickly and have a built-in water purification system. However, they tend to be priced in the upper range. However, they are visually more attractive and are often suitable for outdoor installation.
We have also written an article on the subject of chill tubs. Chill tubs are professional cooling pools with a great design, robust cooling machines, remote control via app and professional water filter using ozone and particle filters.
Converted freezer
Freezers or chest freezers are very well suited for ice baths at home. As they are insulated by nature, the cold is stored for a very long time. Freezers and chest freezers come in all different sizes and many appliances have dimensions that can easily accommodate an adult lying down (see the picture of Joe below). However, you don’t really need a freezer of this size, as you can see below, much smaller freezers are also very suitable.
The water in a freezer can be cooled directly, so no additional effort is required, such as adding ice. The appliances can be kept at the right temperature all year round, they are flexible in terms of time and very convenient to use. The amount of energy required to cool a small chest freezer to below 5 °C is very manageable. In our large test, the freezer requires less than 100 watts of power consumption and a total of approx. 1 KwH to cool down, which corresponds to around EUR 0.35 at current electricity prices.
We have written a great guide on how to customize your freezer yourself, from size to energy consumption. Here you can find more information on how to use a freezer for ice bathing.
Advantages and disadvantages of freezers for ice bathing
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|
| Very well insulated by nature | No mobility |
| Can be easily tempered down | Somewhat bulky and space-consuming |
| Stable setup | With (little) tinkering involved |
| Manageable energy costs | |
| Suitable for every body size | |
| Can be installed indoors and outdoors | |
| Programmable in terms of time and temperature |
Ice bathing in the bathtub
Almost everyone has a bathtub at home and can use it for ice bathing. This is certainly one of the most pragmatic ways of practising ice bathing in your familiar surroundings. In principle, you only need two components: Water in liquid and frozen form. Tap water has a temperature of around 15 °C, so you need to cool it down a little with ice.
Filling quantities of ice and water for your bathtub
Bathtubs have approximately the following capacities:
Small bathtub – approx. 200 liters
Medium bathtub – approx. 250 liters
Large bathtub – approx. 300 liters
A good guideline is to fill the tub about 3/4 full with cold tap water and 1/4 full with ice. And of course, the bath does not have to be full to the brim. For a medium-sized bathtub, for example, about half of the total filling quantity is enough, i.e. 125 liters, which is made up of about 95 liters of cold tap water and about 30 kilos of ice. This gives you a good mix that brings you very close to the ice bath temperature of 5 °C. Depending on whether you want it even colder, you can of course play with the ice/water ratio. You can find a complete overview of how to cool your ice bath in summer here.
Below you can see a few examples of bathtubs filled with large ice blocks and ice cubes. The large ice blocks take longer to release the cold, but it is easier to produce them in the freezer at home. The smaller ice cubes release the cold into the surrounding water within 15 minutes, so you can get in quickly and have a good cold stimulus.
Advantages and disadvantages of bathtubs for ice bathing
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|
| In many cases already present in the house or apartment | No mobility |
| Inexpensive, as no additional purchases are necessary | Limited possibility to cool the water (only with ice) |
| Fresh water inlet and outlet | No nature experience |
| Large enough for full-body bathing |
Ice bathing in the IBC tank
An IBC (Intermediate Bulk Container) tank or IBC container is a lattice tank, a so-called intermediate bulk container, which is often used in industry for the transportation and storage of mostly liquid substances such as chemicals, foodstuffs or pharmaceutical products. The shape is rectangular with a capacity of 300-1,000 liters. Of course, this should not stop you from setting up an IBC tank in your garden at home, as these containers are also available for private individuals. And there are now countless DIY instructions on the internet for converting an IBC container into an (ice) basin. Rebekka Lütke-Frauer from our community has also created what she calls her little “feel-good oasis”. The IBC container is right next to the house, in winter the water cools down to a pleasant ice bathing temperature without any additional help and it even fits two people at the same time.
The most common IBC containers are the 1 square meter versions, which fit exactly on a Euro pallet with a base area of 80×120 cm or 120×120 cm. The material is usually very robust and often made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE), similar to the material used for plastic rain barrels.
Advantages and disadvantages of IBC containers for ice bathing
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|
| Rather in the lower price range | Very unattractive appearance in the original |
| Mostly with drain cock | Lots of space and water consumption |
| Plenty of space, suitable for 2-3 people | Thin material, susceptible to cracks |
| Experience nature if set up outside | Craft work |
Alternatives from waste containers to grazing troughs
Our ice bathing community shows how it’s done – in principle, you can practise ice bathing in any container, from garbage cans and wine barrels to grazing troughs and cisterns. It may not always be the most convenient option, but it’s always possible if the container is big enough and you’re not too fussy 😉
Gobi Grablax from our community has made more than one attempt to create optimal conditions for ice bathing at home. It all started with the purchase of a 240-liter waste container for just 89 euros. Gobi got the idea from an article that reported on Arsenal FC players practicing ice bathing in converted garbage cans. However, as the picture below shows, this solution was suboptimal for Gobi – with a height of 190 centimeters, the waste container was simply too small.
After further research, Gobi came across grazing troughs, which seem to be very popular among American ice bathers. The popular Rubbermaid product was not available in Germany, but fortunately similar products could be found. Today, Gobi bathes in a 1,000 liter capacity grazing tub and can now stretch out properly. At around 450 euros, the purchase costs for a grazing trough are considerably higher than for a waste container, but the experience of ice bathing is much more pleasant.
Of course, you can also practice ice bathing in a pool. Few of us will have a pool built simply because of the space required and the high purchase costs. But for those who already have a pool on their property, it definitely makes sense to use it all year round. That’s what Johann Egger from our community does: at the beginning of December, he switched off the heating for his saltwater pool, and by mid-December the water temperature was only around 7 degrees – ideal conditions for Johann, who is still relatively new to the world of ice bathing. Incidentally, if you live in Graz and the surrounding area, you should keep your eyes peeled, as Johann has already invited ice bathers from the area to enjoy a winter swim together. His pool certainly offers enough space for this. And how often do you get the opportunity to join a pool party in the middle of winter?
What volume and size should your ice bath have?
Rain barrels come in all kinds of shapes, colors and sizes. The color is of course purely a matter of taste, but you can be a little more pragmatic when it comes to the shape. A round water butt is the most economical in terms of space consumption and requires the smallest dimensions, as you can’t make the best use of the space in square barrels. This means you can use a smaller barrel and therefore consume less water and energy.
The volume of your ice bathcan should be at least 180-200 liters. Ideally between 300-500 liters. In terms of dimensions, you should make sure that the ice bath is around 70-100 centimetres high so that you can fit in easily in a squatting position. A diameter of at least 70-80 centimetres should be guaranteed to fit in comfortably.
Comparison between ice tubs, ice barrels, IBC containers, freezers, pools and alternatives – our conclusion
As you can see, there are lots of options for ice bathing at home. And even more if you get creative. Now that we’ve shown you which ideas the ice bathers from our own community and from other countries have come up with, we’d like to finish with a brief summary of which option we think is best for ice bathing.
Our favorite of the above options is ice bathing in a barrel or tub. Tubs are easy to set up, mobile and inexpensive, but they don’t last forever. Rain barrels and ice barrels are also inexpensive and robust and you can use them in a variety of ways both in summer as rainwater storage and in winter for ice bathing. You get that fresh air feeling with both variants and also a good price-performance ratio.
If you also want to do ice bathing in summer, there’s no getting around a freezer or a special freezer/barrel combination. However, this allows you to extend your ice bathing for the whole summer season, which is of course a huge advantage.
Finally, depending on how much time and effort you want to put into it, the various DIY solutions are not bad either.
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