Where to buy a cold plunge around Toronto

The first kind is a portable tub. Calore Health and Wellness sells its portable cold plunge tub for $799 as "tub only", and for $3,499 as a bundle with a chiller. A chiller is a small refrigeration unit that keeps the water cold, so without one you cool the water with ice.

The second kind is a cedar tub with a chiller bought separately. SaunaFin in Concord lists cedar plunge tubs from $4,390 and a chiller from $3,085, and says chillers are sold separately. Its page describes the Leisurecraft Glacier tub as a cedar outer skirt around a stainless steel or plastic interior.

The third kind is a tub sold with its own chiller. Hot Tub Outlet, an online store with a showroom, lists the TAKETHEPLUNGE Deluxe at $6,000, an insulated acrylic tub that comes with a chiller, pump and filter. It also lists a Cold Plunge Tub at $7,999.99, sold as a package of tub and chiller. Calore lists The Elite Luxury Cold Plunge at $10,250 and describes it as "plug and plunge", with water as cold as 3°C.

The fourth kind does two jobs. Hot Tub Outlet lists a Cold Plunge / Hot Tub unit at $15,999, with one cold side and one hot side.

Which kind suits you depends on how permanent your spot is. A renter with a balcony is usually looking at the portable kind, because the others need a place that stays theirs and power close by. A deck also raises a weight question. Hot Tub Outlet lists its $7,999.99 tub at 308 pounds dry, gives a second weight of 1,440 pounds, and puts the water volume at 454 litres. Ask the seller which figure is the filled weight and whether your deck can carry it.

Often not, and two tubs on the same shelf show why you must check. Hot Tub Outlet lists the Arctic Plunge Tub in clear red cedar at $7,685.63, and its product page says the chiller, cedar steps and lid are included in that price. The same tub in knotty red cedar is $7,057.13, and its page marks the chiller, steps and lid as not included. Bought separately at the same store, those three items add $4,059.50: $3,461 for the Penguin chiller with filter, $319 for the knotty cedar steps and $279.50 for the lid.

SaunaFin sells its tubs and its chiller separately. Its chiller is rated 3/4 HP (horsepower) and 7,500 BTU/hr, which is how much heat it can pull out of the water in an hour. Hot Tub Outlet also sells a Coldture chiller with fittings at $5,063. Coldture is one of the companies listed in this index. Add SaunaFin's chiller to its knotty cedar tub and the pair starts at $7,475.

Before comparing two quotes, write down what each one includes: the tub, the chiller, the steps, the lid and delivery.

Calore Health and Wellness puts the five-year cash cost of a chiller plunge at roughly $8,000 to $26,000. It builds that from about $6,000 to $20,000 or more for the equipment, about $1,500 to $4,500 for electricity, and about $600 to $1,800 for filters and ozone supplies (ozone is a gas some units use to keep the water clean). Calore says the electricity figure varies by provincial rate.

The wide range is the useful part. The same kind of product can cost very different amounts to own, depending on the unit, your power rate and how you keep the water clean. Most of that is decided when you buy. Ask the seller what the unit draws and what its filter needs, in writing.

Small items add up too. Hot Tub Outlet lists a cold tub sanitizer kit at $142.50, a 36-inch round lid at $279.50 and three-tier cedar steps at $319. A lid matters on a chilled tub, because open water trades heat with the air and the chiller has to make up the difference.

None of the sources on this page gives an installed price for a plunge, so this page gives none. The product pages do spell out the power each unit needs. Hot Tub Outlet says its $7,999.99 tub needs a standard 120V, 15 amp household circuit and comes with a 10 foot cord and a GFCI plug, a plug that cuts power if current leaks. It recommends an electrician if no outlet is within 15 feet. Its $15,999 plunge and hot tub needs two such services, and the store says electrical service is not included. SaunaFin lists its chiller as a 110-120V, 450 watt unit with a GFCI-protected cord.

Hot Tub Outlet says backyard transfer and setup can be arranged for an extra fee, so ask for that line in the quote. A basement install and a backyard install are different jobs with the same product in the middle. The cold plunge cost guide keeps the site's sourced figures in one place.

Of the 39 companies in this index, 22 are listed under Cold Plunge & Ice Baths and 17 are not. A company outside those 22 has not described plunge work anywhere the index could find. Only Ice Works Bath Co., filed under Newmarket, is a plunge company alone; the other 21 also sell saunas.

Eight of the 22 are on the two area pages. In Vaughan that is Sauna Central, SaunaFin, Saunas by DreamSauna and Coldture. On the Toronto page, filed under Willowdale, it is Botanical Saunas, Thermatov, Sauna Depot and North Valley Saunas, although two of those four have Concord street addresses. The rest are spread thin. Healthy Body HQ in Mississauga, Thermal Cove in Queen West and VTC Spa Accessories in Mimico carry no rating at all. The methodology page explains where these records come from, and the index holds no stock lists, so call before you drive.

SaunaFin and Coldture appear both as listed companies in this index and on this page's price list. SaunaIndex does not sell saunas or plunges and earns nothing from the retailers or companies named here; the about page explains how the site is run. If an ice-filled tub is still on your list, the guide to plunging without a chiller covers that route, and the cedar plunge tub guide compares the wooden tubs.