Cold Plunge
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Build
Followed plans from DIY Cold Plunge. I have lots of photos!
First, getting it home:
Fill it with ice to try it out before building a whole thing.
My little helper:
Framed up:
Chiller has arrived:
Parts from Menards in 1 bag. Only one was picked wrong, and they sent me the right one.
All plumbed together:
Number 2 giving it a test! He loves it, then the runs around like crazy.
Moved it outside Aug 2024, and immediately the outside environment is harsher, but wow is it so nice. Don't have to worry about spilling after.
Sam sealed the boards, which must help. The top is warping, and after a few days it's come apart (the insulation came off). Biggest issue is that right away, I can see quite a bit of water coming from under the plunge. I didn't totally fill the void between the tub and the walls with spray foam, and it must be condensating badly. The cabinet is wet as well, it was even in the basement, without the pipes being well insulated. Maybe I can insulate better, both pipes and walls, when I take out the chiller for winter.
Outside struggles
Grizzly Cooler
The outdoors took a rough few months to do some major damage to my plunge. I might have to rip off the cedar, put more insulation in between the tub and the walls, and redo the outside. A lot of work! I'm considering getting a grizzly cooler (just a big insulated cooler) for the plunge just for the simplicity.
- Grizzly 450 is awesome : r/coldplunge (https://www.reddit.com/r/coldplunge/comments/1d0uhf4/comment/l5s55ad/)
- Grizzly 450 – Grizzly Coolers (https://grizzlycoolers.com/products/grizzly-450?variant=48706115764507)
(Very Incomplete) Log
Been a bit on and off with my plunging. On a good streak for the past couple weeks, I can start the log from yesterday and I'll also throw in day 1 and my record.
Spent a while after I built it working down from 42 to 37. Only did 1 minute. I remember the first time at 37 was so much more hurt.
Log of plunges:
| Date | Temp | Time | Notes | Head Dunk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-06-26 | 40 | 3 | Made up date but that summer, did 3 with matt with ice in the tub | N |
| 2024-07-26 | 37 | 10 | Took a while to warm up! Shivered a lot after | Y |
| 2024-09-11 | 37 | 3 | Morning | Y |
| 2024-09-11 | 37 | 3 | W matt evening | Y |
| 2024-09-12 | 37 | 3 | 11ish between meetings | Y |
| 2024-09-16 | 38 | 3 | After matt, felt hard but easy after (+1deg for second in) | Y |
| 2024-09-17 | 37 | 3 | Late night, 11:30pm, after easy spin on bike. Nice night out. | Y |
| 2024-09-18 | 37 | 3 | After a hard ride and lift, Etta woke up while I was in! | Y |
| 2024-09-19 | 37 | 3 | Felt cold, shivering by the end of the 3 minutes. | Y |
| 2024-09-19 | 37 | 1 | After 30 minutes in the sauna, double head dunk froze the head. | Y |
| 2024-10-13 | 37 | 3 | It had been awhile (though not the full month, I don't think) | Y |
| 2024-11-18 | 40 | 3 | Double dunk | Y |
Records
Longest plunge: 10 minutes @ 37 deg.
Longest streak: 4 days, starting 2024-09-16.