Cold Plunge Running-Cost & Water Care Planner

What does your cold plunge really cost each month: ice or a chiller? This planner shows you how to work it out with your own power rate and ice price, and how to keep the water in good shape.

$7 · instant download · 14-page PDF + printable logs + Excel / Google Sheets calculator

The quick answers

• Ice vs chiller: in the worked example (4 plunges a week, 40 lb of ice each), bagged ice comes to about $274.56 a month. A small 1/3 HP chiller adds about $16.34–$32.69 a month at the US average home electricity price (US EIA, August 2026: 18.16¢/kWh).
• Payback: on those numbers, a $569 tub-and-chiller bundle (Plunge Chill sale price, checked 27 Oct 2026) earns its price back in about 2.2–2.4 months. The calculator redoes this with your numbers.
• Water changes: what Canuck Cold, Ice Barrel and Plunge Chill say about how often to change the water, quoted word for word and credited.

What's inside

• Ice cost, step by step: bags per plunge, plunges per month, price per bag, with a table for 4 to 20 plunges a month.
• Chiller cost, step by step: kWh per day × your rate, what to do if the maker only lists watts, and the first cool-down.
• Side-by-side table and payback chart: month by month over a year.
• Fill-in page: your own ice, chiller and extras (water refills, filters).
• What moves your number: your rate, hot weather, lids and covers, tub size, tap water.
• Water care from the makers: water changes, filters, covers, cleaning, draining, winter. Chemicals and sanitizers: follow your maker's manual.
• Printables: 4-week care checklist, water-change log, filter and maintenance log, 12-month running-cost log.
• Calculator spreadsheet: type in your numbers and get monthly and yearly cost, payback months and a 2-year total. Works in Excel and Google Sheets.

Every number is dated and sourced (US EIA, store and maker pages checked 25–27 Oct 2026), or clearly labelled as an example to replace with your own. No brand paid to appear.

What this is not: health advice, or a guide to how long or how cold to plunge. It covers cost and upkeep only.

Not medical advice. Ask your doctor whether cold water immersion is right for you. For chemicals, sanitizers and electrical setup, follow your maker's manual.

Free 4-page sample, no email needed: https://renvolife.com/downloads/cold-plunge-planner-sample.pdf

Guide page: https://renvolife.com/guides/chiller-vs-ice-cost-per-month/