"Cold Plunge Pool Planning Guide: Size, Shell, Chiller, Drain"

Sauna Dekor Spa Solutions engineering team, Istanbul · project and press enquiries: Alican Aykaç, Managing Partner

Updated: 10 November 2026

We build cold plunge pools for water temperatures from 2 to 15 °C.

Sized to the people who use it at once, usually 1 or 2 in a villa and 2 to 4 in a gym or hotel spa. The depth lets an adult sit or stand with water at shoulder height; steps and a handrail take part of the footprint. A larger pool is not better: every extra litre is more water to chill and filter.

A few steps from the sauna or steam room, with a shower in between, indoors or under solid shade. Direct sun adds heat the chiller must remove all day. The order of hot and cold rooms is explained in our guide to sauna and cold plunge.

A Finnish sauna next to it runs at 80–100 °C, so the walk between them should be short, dry and non-slip.

Each of the 3 common shells works. Stainless steel arrives in 1 piece and needs a delivery route or a crane. Tiled concrete is built in place and fits any shape. Acrylic is light and quick. All 3 need insulation on the outside, so the shell does not sweat into the room or the slab below, and all 3 use the same chiller, filtration and drain.

From 4 inputs: water volume, set point, the heat the water gains from air, sun, ground and bathers, and how fast it must recover after use. In hot climates the heat gain is the largest input, so shade, a cover and shell insulation reduce the chiller more than anything else. The step-by-step method is in our note on choosing among cold plunge options.

The chiller sits in a ventilated space within the pipe length its maker allows, away from bedroom windows, with room for a technician to clean the coil.

With continuous filtration, a sanitiser as the equipment maker specifies, a cover between sessions and a shower before entry. A weekly filter check, a water balance check and a water change at the maker's interval complete the routine for 1 villa or 1 studio; busier sites check daily. If you are deciding between a tub and a pool, see ice bath vs cold plunge pool.

A drain for emptying and filter backwash, drawn before the screed, and a floor around the pool that falls to a gully. A dedicated electrical supply with residual-current protection and an isolator serves the chiller and pump, sized from their datasheets by the electrician. For the range of set points used in studies, see our page on cold plunge temperature.

In 6 steps: services, shell or recess with insulation, membrane and flood test for built-in pools, finishes and steps, chiller and filtration, then commissioning to the set point. The chiller is connected near the end, so it is not exposed to site dust.

1. Drain, water, power and pipe routes to the plant position.
2. Shell placed or built; insulation on sides and base.
3. Membrane and flood test (built-in pools).
4. Tiles or finish, non-slip rim, steps and handrail.
5. Chiller, filter and pump connected; cover fitted.
6. Pull-down to the set point and handover of the water-care routine.

The cold plunge pools we build, built-in and stand-alone, are on our cold plunge pool page.

Sauna Dekor Spa Solutions is a sauna, steam room, hammam and pool manufacturer since 1987: 40 years of manufacturing in Istanbul (İkitelli OSB), a team of 19, TS EN ISO 9001:2015, and 5,000+ projects in 41+ countries, including 577+ hotel and resort projects, with 732 documented references in 32 countries and territories. Chillers are made by their manufacturers, whose certification belongs to them. Our full range is on our products page.