How To Make A Chest Freezer Ice Bath At Home – Cold Plunge DIY

For choosing a chest freezer with the right lid configuration, you will want to get one that has a lid that will remain open without holding it. Generally speaking, most chest freezers have a lid that stays open but this is something you will want to make sure of. The reason for this is that if you are in the ice bath and the lid closes for any reason, you NEED to be able to open it from the inside for obvious reasons. Look for a chest freezer without a self-locking mechanism on the lid.

Budget is another important metric to consider when looking for the right chest freezer for ice bath conversion. There are some expensive chest freezers out there, usually the size, brand and the power of the chiller unit determines the price. You can definitely achieve a suitable chest freezer for cold plunge that is under $1200. The chest freezer that we recommend will cost you about $600-1200 depending on the brand and size.

Read Also: Best Portable Inflatable Cold Plunge Tubs of 2023

Let’s get into the list of equipment you will need for your chest freezer ice bath conversion.                                                         

Equipment Needed For Converting The Chest Freezer

Below is a short list of equipment needed to convert your chest freezer ice bath. Each item has many variations that can be bought from a few different locations like hardware stores and also online on Amazon, we just recommend one variety.

Chest Freezer

Sealant

Digital Temperature Controller

Switch Timer

Water Pump Filter

Ozone Generator

There are also a few optional items that you may need to buy for the optimal running, filling and maintenance of your chest freezer ice bath. These are listed below:

Garden Hose

Water Freshener

Water Scoop or Skimmer

Power Adapter

Outdoor Power Board Cover

Zip Ties

Step Stool

Building A Chest Freezer Ice Bath – Step By Step Guide

The great thing about the process of building an ice bath chest freezer is that the majority of the guide involves plugging in the pieces of equipment that have been purchased for the running of the ice bath and ensuring they are electrically safe from water.

Before we show the steps for converting your chest freezer ice bath, a quick disclaimer. Be aware that when making modifications to a chest freezer, you will be effectively voiding any warranty associated with the product. In making modifications to a chest freezer, you are not using the product for its intended purpose, which comes at its own risks.

Please consider that making an ice bath from a chest freezer involves mixing electricity with water which involves dangers and health risks for which we take no responsibility or liability.

Step 1 – Sealing The Edge Seams

As mentioned earlier, much of converting a chest freezer into an ice bath involves plugging the various bits of equipment into the adapter and filling the ice bath. The most labour intensive part of making an ice bath chest freezer is the sealing of the edges or seams with some sort of water proof sealant.

Despite what you may think, a freezer is not completely waterproof and filling the freezer full of water without sealing the edges is the quickest way to destroy your chest freezer. By sealing around the edges internal of the freezer, you are preventing any water from leaking through and damaging the electrics and also adding an element of safety to the conversion. The more you can contain the water in the actual tub, the safer the ice bath will be.

The product that we recommend using is the JB Water Weld, however you can also use a bathroom silicone to achieve a similar result. Bear in mind, if you are using the JB Water Weld product, I went through roughly 30 tubes to seal the perimeter of the chest freezer, or you could buy about 2 tubes of silicone from Bunnings to achieve a similar result.

To seal the edges, mix the JB Water Weld and spread a strip around the internal joins of chest freezer, not forgetting to seal up the drainage hole if the ice bath has one of those too. If you are using silicone, we recommend squirting a reasonably thick line of silicone around one edge, squirting it with soapy water, then levelling it off with a rubber silicone edging/scraping tool. Youtube for the best way to do this as it can get messy fast. Once you have nailed one edge, move onto the next until you have sealed every edge of the chest freezer.

Step 2 – Fit Digital Temperature Control

Chances are, you will want to control the temperature of your ice bath. Especially if you are new to cold plunge, you will not want to take your first ice bath with a solid chunk of ice on the top that you need to break apart to get in. People often ask, “how cold should an ice bath be?”. Cold water exposure is a practice that you should take slowly and start at a temperature that is uncomfortable but still safe for you.

By fitting a temperature control that is digital, you can set your desired temperature on the device and the small sensor that runs into the water will automatically switch of the ice bath when it gets down to your set cold plunge temperature.

To connect this correctly, all you have to do is plug the chest freezer power plug directly into the digital temperature control unit and have the sensor running into the water. This will act as a thermostat and turn the ice bath chiller unit on and off to keep at a good temperature for you.

Step 3 – Setting Up Water Filtration

One of the most important ways to keep your chest freezer ice bath running smoothly is by having good water filtration. Adding a water filtration to your chest freezer is very simple and will make sure that your ice bath is always clean and ready for cold plunge.

Despite that fact that you might (and should), clean your feet and have a quick rinse of the body before getting into your chest freezer ice bath, you will be surprised at the amount of debris, skin and hair builds up in the ice bath. To combat this we use a water filter. A water filter also serves to keep the water moving around the ice bath which is great for breaking the thermal layer of the skin to increase the benefits of the cold water exposure.

To add a water filtration unit like the one we recommended, simply place the water filter in a spot where the most debris build up, and run your cable out to a suitable spot, linking the cable for digital temperature gauge to keep it all neat – this is where the zip ties come in handy.

NOTE: for the highest degree of safety, ensure you either turn of the filter or remove it from the ice bath when you are using it to avoid electrocution. 

Step 4 – Ozone Sanitation Unit

Although the water filter does a great job of cleaning the water, you still require some form of water sanitation in your chest freezer ice bath to keep it as clean and hygienic as possible.

What will happen if you don’t use any form of sanitation in your ice bath? Eventually, a film of slime will start to build up on the surfaces of the ice bath and that will progresss into algae which you definitely don’t want in your ice bath.

Basically, an ozone generator pumps a small amount of gas into your water which has a strong sanitising effect. Many people also use chemical or salts as a form of sanitation but this can then effect your water filter and change the crisp feel of your ice bath. 

There are loads of different ozone generators and each one has the ability to service a different volume of water. The one we have recommended should be enough to keep your chest freezer ice bath water clean and pure. If you find the water is getting a little too dirty, it is time to empty the water and refill again.

Like the ice bath and the water filter, you can also connect the ozone generator to run on a timer switch. We recommend running the ozone filter for a few hours a day at least, along with the water filter that can be run 24 hours a day (except when you are using the ice bath). To add the ozone generator to your ice bath, you can simply set up the actual unit outside the chest freezer somewhere and run the tube into the water along side the water filter cable so that when you take the filter in and out you are taking the ozone out too.

Step 5 – Levelling The Chest Freezer 

The step is about positioning your chest freezer ice bath in a location and way that will give the most structural integrity to the base of the ice bath, since most chest freezers do not have the weight specs to hold a human.

The majority of chest freezers will come with wheels or some way to raise or lower each corner. If your chest freezer comes with wheels, we recommend removing them, to close the gap between the bottom of the chest freezer and the hard surface you have the ice bath set up on. Ideally, you should have the base of the chest freezer in direct contact with the floor, which will lower the possibility of causing pressure marks from your feet when getting in and out of the ice bath.

If it is not possible to remove the feet from the chest freezer ice bath, what I have done is placed some old tiles or timber blocks under the base distributed across the whole surface to provide an even support for the base.

Step 6 – Boxing the Components