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Glossary
Ice bath chiller
An ice bath chiller is a cooling unit that chills water with a refrigeration cycle of compressor, refrigerant and heat exchanger, keeping an ice bath at a set temperature without bagged ice.
Also: cold plunge chiller, water chiller, plunge chiller
Updated
How a chiller works
A chiller works like a fridge, only for water. A pump moves water from the tub through a heat exchanger. There a refrigerant evaporates and takes heat out of the water. The compressor squeezes the gaseous refrigerant, a fan releases the heat at the condenser into the surrounding air, and an expansion valve starts the cycle again.
A thermostat switches the compressor to hold the set temperature. Many units can also reverse the cycle or add heat to warm the water.
- Evaporator (heat exchanger): takes heat out of the water.
- Compressor: squeezes the refrigerant and uses most of the power.
- Condenser with fan: releases the heat into the air, so the chiller needs room to breathe.
- Expansion valve: drops the pressure so the refrigerant cools.
Chiller or bagged ice?
Ice cools water too, but it takes a lot of it: to bring about 550 litres from 20 to 3 °C takes, by the numbers, more than 100 kg of ice, and by the next day the water is warm again. A chiller does the same on power and then holds the temperature.
| Tub with bagged ice | Ice bath with chiller | |
|---|---|---|
| Temperature | Drops, then climbs back | Stays at the set value |
| Preparation | Buy or make ice | None, the water is ready |
| Water care | Change the water more often | Filter, ozone, UV in the loop |
| Running cost | Ice every session | Power, see below |
R290 refrigerant
R290 is refrigeration-grade propane. It is a natural refrigerant with a global warming potential (GWP) of 3; older synthetic refrigerants such as R410A sit at around 2,000. More and more fridges, heat pumps and chillers use R290 for that reason. The circuit is sealed and filled at the factory.
The chiller in the Helsi™ Ice Plunge
The Helsi™ Ice Plunge has its chiller built in: a 1.5 hp compressor with R290 that holds the water anywhere from 0 to 42 °C and makes its own ice on low settings. Measured by Helsi: 20 to 0 °C in about 6 hours using 6.5 kWh; holding 3 °C takes about 6.8 kWh a day, about $2.38 at $0.35 per kWh. It runs on a standard 10 A socket.
- Range
- 0–42 °C
- Compressor
- 1.5 hp, R290
- 20 → 0 °C
- about 6 h
- 6.5 kWh, measured by Helsi
- Holding 3 °C
- 6.8 kWh/day
More at Helsi™
Related terms
- Cold plunge vs. ice bathA cold plunge is a short dip in cold water of about 3 to 15 °C, usually in a tub with its own chiller that holds the temperature; an ice bath is the older version, cooled with bagged ice.
- Contrast therapyContrast therapy is the deliberate switch between heat and cold, such as a sauna followed by an ice bath, repeated over several rounds.