Sauna and Cold Plunge Sets

A sauna plus a tub

This is the classic setup and the cheaper one. Any sauna works as the heat: a $119 steam tent, a fold-flat infrared unit, or a hemlock cabin. Any tub works as the cold: an inflatable with a bag of ice, or a chilled plunge that holds 45°F on its own. The SaunaBox recovery bundles are the pre-matched version: a SmartSteam steam sauna or a Pulse infrared sauna boxed with a PlungeBox cold tub, from $449 for the PlungeBox XL Recovery Bundle, with the Pro and Elite bundles stepping up the sauna and the tub. They are being published to the store and will appear in the grid as soon as they are; the bundle contents are listed on each product page. To build your own, pick the heat on Home Saunas or Portable Saunas and the cold on Ice Bath Tubs (ice, from $59.98) or Cold Plunges with Chiller (set-and-hold, from $1,699). Plan for both to sit within a few steps of each other, a floor that tolerates drips, and an outlet for each.

One tub that heats and cools

A hot-and-cold plunge system has a chiller and a heater on the same tub, so it runs anywhere from about 36°F to 107°F and you switch between a cold plunge and a warm soak on the controller. It is one footprint, one purchase and one warranty, and it suits a spa room or a clinic. What it does not give you is dry sauna heat at 150°F or more; the "hot" phase is a 100°F to 107°F soak.

• Natural High Extreme Cold and Hot Plunge System, $2,489: 36°F to 107°F, ozone, app control, insulated. The entry point.
• Natural High Premier Cold and Hot Plunge System, $6,490: acrylic, 35.6°F to 107°F, ozone.
• MedEq Acrylic Cold and Hot Plunge Pool With Massage Jets and Chiller, $6,250: cold, hot and jets.
• MedEq Cold and Hot Plunge Pool With Integrated Chiller and Heater, $9,550: the wood-clad stainless pool.
• Therasage TheraFrost Cold Plunge System, $4,988: 1.75 HP chiller with ozone and app; we are confirming with Therasage whether it also heats, and until then it is listed here as the cold half of a pairing.

A note on the name: "contrast bath" in a clinic usually means a hand or foot moved between two buckets. This page is the whole-body version.

There is no official protocol, but the routine most people settle on looks like this:

• Order: heat first, cold second. The sauna warms you through, the plunge is short and sharp, and the air between is where you notice the contrast. Some people reverse it at night so they finish warm.
• Heat: 10 to 15 minutes in the sauna at whatever temperature you normally use, 20 minutes as the usual upper limit for a round. Leave when you have had enough, not when the timer says.
• Transition: a minute or two in the air, a sip of water, then in.
• Cold: 1 to 3 minutes in water at 45°F to 55°F; 50°F is where most people land. Breathe slowly for the first thirty seconds and the rest gets easier. Beginners start at the warm end for a minute.
• Rounds: two or three. Finish on cold in the morning if you want to feel awake, on warm in the evening if you want to wind down; both are common.
• How often: two to four sessions a week to start. Daily is common among people who have built up to it, with the cold phase kept short.

A full session with three rounds takes 40 to 60 minutes including the pauses. Drink water throughout, keep the plunge short at first, and treat dizziness or shivering that does not stop as the signal to end the session. Equipment-wise, this is why a tub that holds temperature matters: a chilled plunge is at 50°F when you step out of the sauna, while an ice tub needs its ice added before the first round.

Heat and cold in quick succession are a real stress on circulation, which is the point and also the reason to check first in some circumstances. Talk to your clinician before starting if you are pregnant, have a heart condition or blood pressure that is treated or unstable, have had recent surgery or an injury that is still healing, take medication that affects how you handle heat or cold, or have any condition you are unsure about. Do not do it alone the first few times, and never after alcohol. None of this is medical advice; it is the list of situations where the answer should come from someone who knows your history.

Studio or home

A sauna-and-plunge studio is a membership and a drive; a home setup is a purchase and a routine. Studio contrast sessions run $40 to $80 a visit in most cities, so a $449 bundle pays for itself in a couple of months of weekly use and a $2,489 hot-and-cold system within a year of twice-weekly sessions. The trade is that a studio has the big sauna and the chilled plunge from day one; at home you choose how far up that ladder to start.

What contrast therapy does for you beyond the routine is a question for the research and your clinician; we do not make claims for it on a product page.

• Smallest and cheapest: a SaunaBox recovery bundle (from $449): fold-flat sauna, inflatable tub, both store in a closet.
• Already own a sauna: add a tub. Ice-only from $59.98 on Ice Bath Tubs; set-and-hold from $1,699 on Cold Plunges with Chiller.
• Already own a cold plunge: add heat from Portable Saunas (from $119) or a cabin from Home Saunas.
• One unit, cold and hot: Natural High Extreme ($2,489).
• A fixture for a spa room or clinic: Natural High Premier ($6,490) or the MedEq pools ($6,250 and $9,550).
• The full build: a hemlock cabin plus a chilled plunge, from about $5,000 for an infrared cabin and an Icebound bundle to $17,000 for a traditional cabin and a pool.

What to compare

For the sauna: type (steam, infrared, traditional), temperature, heat-up time, outlet or circuit. For the tub: ice or chiller, gallons, lowest temperature, filtration, and whether it heats. For both: where they will sit, what the floor and the outlets can take, and who handles the warranty.

Buying from us

Every unit is new, with the manufacturer warranty handled through us as your US point of contact (1 year on SaunaBox, Natural High and Therasage; MedEq terms confirmed at quote). Free shipping to domestic USA addresses in the lower 48, by freight for the systems; Alaska, Hawaii and international by quote. 30-day returns on eligible products in original condition.