The purchase price is on the product page. The question people ask us on WhatsApp is the other one: what does it cost to keep a plunge at 4°C, all year, in a British garden? Here are honest numbers.
Electricity
A well-insulated plunge with the lid on uses far less than people assume, because the chiller only runs to hold the temperature, not to create it from scratch each day. Typical figures for an insulated unit with an integrated chiller:
- Winter, outdoors: ambient air is close to the target, so the chiller barely runs. Around 0.4 to 0.7 kWh a day.
- Spring and autumn: around 0.8 to 1 kWh a day.
- Summer heatwave, outdoors, lid on: 1.5 to 2.5 kWh a day. Still less than a tumble dryer cycle.
At a UK price of around 25p per kWh, that is roughly £4 to £8 a month averaged over the year, up to £15 in the hottest weeks. A poorly insulated inflatable with a small chiller can use two to three times that, because it is fighting the air.
Water
A 350-litre fill costs around 60p on a UK meter. With proper ozone filtration you change the water every three to six months, so budget a couple of pounds a year. Without filtration, on a DIY setup, weekly changes add up to 15 to 20 cubic metres a year, and a lot of Saturday mornings.
Filters and chemicals
Filter cartridges last one to three months depending on use and cost £10 to £20 each. Water balance products are a few pounds a month. Call it £8 to £15 a month all in.
The yearly total
| Per year | |
|---|---|
| Electricity | £60 to £100 |
| Water | £2 to £5 |
| Filters and balance | £100 to £180 |
| Total | £160 to £285 |
Compare that with ice: a daily ice bath at £5 to £10 of bagged ice is £1,800 to £3,600 a year, plus the driving.
Cost per plunge
Take a £3,500 plunge, five years of use, four sessions a week, plus running costs. That is roughly £3.50 to £4 per session. A single drop-in at a recovery studio in London is £25 to £40. Own it, and by year two it has paid for itself against the studio.
What makes running costs go up
- Leaving the lid off. Evaporation is the biggest heat loss by far.
- Thin insulation. Inflatable walls are not insulation.
- An undersized chiller running flat out all summer and still not reaching temperature.
- Direct afternoon sun on a dark unit. Shade helps.
The Nordrime Fjord is specified for a British garden: 50 mm closed-cell insulation, an insulated lid, and a chiller sized to hold 4°C in July without running all day. Real figures are on the product page.