Sun Home Sauna Cold Plunge Review – The XL Inflatable Ice Bath For Two
Sun Home Sauna Cold Plunge Review
If you’re in the market for a good cold plunge tub, it’s likely that you have come across a confusing amount of ice bath tub options. Whether you are looking for a portable, inflatable ice or a more solid style fixed installation ice bath, or a DIY cold plunge, there’s definitely a smorgasbord of ice bath alternatives out there.
Luckily, we’ve got a handle on which ones are good and which to avoid, having delved into the features and fine details of many plunge tubs, we’ve got a gold plated solution for those looking for a highly durable, highly portable and highly spacious plunge tub to upgrade their cold plunge practice - The Sun Home Sauna Cold Plunge.
While the vast majority of ice bath tubs out there suit the individual, Sun Home Sauna fill the gap in the market for a larger sized portable plunge tub with quality design technology that suits those looking for an appropriately sized ice bath for two.
As it’s getting harder and harder to distinguish between similar cold tubs, in our Sun Home Sauna Cold Plunge review, we will explore the key features of the Sun Home Sauna Cold Plunge, including why using a portable plunge tub can be beneficial, how drop stitch plunge tubs are made, what's included in the Sun Home Plunge package including the price, warranty, specifications and design of the Sun Home Sauna Plunge vs other competitors.
Why Use a Portable Plunge Tub?
It’s true that portable plunge tubs offer convenience and flexibility. In the past, many portable style plunge tubs offered a more budget approach to cold therapy, but many of the portable options were made of cheap and non-durable materials that didn’t last long.
The portable plunge tub market experienced a shift in product offering, with various portable ice baths offering multi-layer PVC fabric tubs which allowed for a slightly more durable offering, including the drop stitch style portable tubs.
Cold therapy has been associated with various health benefits, including reduced inflammation, improved recovery, enhanced athletic performance, and increased circulation and having a portable plunge tub enables you an at-home solution to incorporate these benefits into the daily routine without the need for an expensive dedicated cold plunge installation or spending big amounts weekly at a wellness space offering cold therapy.
The Sun Home Sauna Cold Plunge is the perfect mix of portability in a plunge tub, with this high tech drop stitch design, similar to those seen in stand-up paddle boards, providing the ultimate strength to weight ratio.
How Drop Stitch Plunge Tubs Are Made
Drop stitch technology is used in the construction of the Sun Home Sauna Cold Plunge. This technique involves interconnecting thousands of polyester threads between two layers of durable PVC material.
The resulting structure creates a rigid and stable tub that can withstand the pressure of the water while maintaining its shape. Why is the Sun Home Sauna Plunge design so strong? The production process that makes this one of the best cold plunge tub solutions involves the following:
Base Material Selection: The process begins with selecting high-quality PVC (polyvinyl chloride) material for the tub's construction. PVC is chosen for its strength, durability, and resistance to water and UV damage.
Cutting the Fabric: The PVC material is cut into two identical fabric panels, which will eventually form the top and bottom layers of the inflatable tub. These panels are typically shaped to match the desired final shape of the tub, such as a rectangular or circular form.
Preparing the Drop Stitch Fabric: A separate layer of drop stitch fabric is created by sandwiching thousands of polyester threads between the two PVC layers. These threads are evenly spaced and extend vertically between the top and bottom layers.
Lamination: The drop stitch fabric is laminated onto one side of the bottom PVC panel using a specialised adhesive or heat bonding process. This step ensures that the drop stitch fabric is securely attached to the PVC layer, forming a strong bond.
Seam Reinforcement: Additional reinforcement strips or patches are applied along the edges of the drop stitch fabric to enhance the structural integrity and prevent the fabric from delaminating.
Panel Bonding: The top PVC panel is then bonded to the exposed side of the drop stitch fabric using adhesive or heat bonding. This forms a complete airtight enclosure, with the drop stitch fabric securely sandwiched between the two PVC layers.
This solid design procedure is probably the reason why Sun Home Sauna are confident enough to offer a 5 year warranty on their plunge tub.
What's Included in Sun Home Plunge?
The Sun Home Sauna Cold Plunge package includes the portable plunge tub, an electric air pump for quick and easy inflation, a repair kit for minor fixes, a drainage hose for convenient water removal, a carrying bag for storage and transportation, and an instructional manual for proper setup and usage.
It has a few impressive features worth breaking down that make it one of the most competitive ice baths out there, even stacked against other strong brands like Cold Plunge, Blue Cube, Renu, Edge Theory and Inergize.
Let's delve into each of these features in detail:
The Sun Home Sauna Cold Plunge comes with a powerful 1HP smart-chiller, providing efficient cooling capabilities. It operates three times faster than other competing products in the same price range, ensuring quick and effective temperature control for cold plunges.
The plunge tub offers the flexibility to adjust water temperature according to your preferences. The energy-efficient motor can rapidly cool the water down to 37.5°F for invigorating cold plunges or heat it up to a warm and relaxing 104°F in just a few minutes.
The Sun Home Sauna Cold Plunge is equipped with a mobile app that allows users to control the plunge tub remotely. With the app, you can easily adjust temperature settings, set timers, and control other features conveniently from anywhere within range.
The tub includes a 24-hour reservation mode, allowing users to pre-set their preferred plunge session in advance. This feature ensures that the water is ready at the desired temperature when you're ready to plunge, providing convenience and flexibility in scheduling. This feature allows you to set an on/off schedule for each individual day of the week and have it ready based on your daily routine which we find incredibly useful.
The Sun Home Sauna Cold Plunge is designed with portability in mind, making it suitable for both indoor and outdoor use. Its lightweight construction and compact size enable easy transportation and setup in various locations, whether it's inside your home, on a patio, or in the backyard.
The plunge tub is constructed using military-grade technology, ensuring exceptional durability. The robust materials and construction techniques used make it more durable and resistant to wear and tear compared to other inflatable cold plunges on the market.
The Sun Home Sauna Cold Plunge offers an XL size, providing ample space for a full-body plunge experience. The generous dimensions make it suitable for professional athletes and individuals up to 6'8" in height, ensuring a comfortable and unrestricted plunge session.
The tub features a built-in high-efficiency UV disinfection system that utilizes ultraviolet light to kill bacteria, viruses, and other harmful microorganisms present in the water. Additionally, an ozone injection sanitization system further enhances water sanitation, ensuring a clean and hygienic plunge experience. Basically, it pumps out ozone gas on a cycle, which breaks down organic material and means there’s no need to add in any harsh chemicals and water treatments products to your water.
The Sun Home Sauna Cold Plunge incorporates a 20-micron filter that effectively captures and removes unwanted debris, ensuring clean and clear water during your plunge sessions. This filtration system helps maintain optimal water quality and hygiene. What’s cool is that these are also washable and reusable if you want to extend their life you can spray a solution on them and essentially clean the filter to double its life.
The tub is insulated to help conserve energy and maintain the desired water temperature for extended periods. The insulation helps to minimize heat transfer, keeping the water at an optimal temperature while reducing energy consumption.
The plunge tub is equipped with a built-in circulation pump designed to optimise water quality. The pump ensures proper water circulation, enhancing filtration efficiency and maintaining consistent water temperature throughout the plunge session. This water circulation is also great at keeping the water moving around your body which breaks your thermal barrier and improves the benefits or effect of your cold plunge session.
The Sun Home Sauna Cold Plunge eliminates the need for complicated plumbing installations. It is a plug-and-plunge system, meaning you can simply connect it to a power source and fill it with water to begin your cold plunge experience without any additional plumbing requirements.
The plunge tub features easy-drain technology, making it effortless to empty and fill the tub. This convenient feature simplifies the process of water maintenance, allowing for easy draining after each use and hassle-free refilling when needed.
Price
For the price, the Sun Home Sauna Cold Plunge actually blows a couple of other competitors away. At $4699 at the time of writing this, the Sun Home Cold Plunge is roughly $800-$1000 cheaper than some of its main portable ice bath alternatives like the Inergize and Edge Theory Labs tubs of a similar size, which is pretty incredible.
You can use code GURU200 for an additional $200 off this price - See Sun Home Sauna Products
Sure, this is still a big chunk of money and thousands of dollars of hard earned money on a cold plunge tub might not be your thing. It is definitely worth considering how often you like to take an ice bath though, because in the long run it might be worth biting the bullet and investing now, rather than once you realise that you spend an average of $2000 on ice bags if you are doing a cold plunge 3-4 time a week the ‘manual’ way.
With the Sun Home Sauna Cold Plunge, your automated chiller might be a pricey piece of kit today, but over the next couple of years of regular, hassle free, always cold and clean ice baths it will show its value for sure.
Warranty
I just don’t think there is a comparable warranty offering on many other ice bath tubs out there. The Sun Home warranty is seriously legit. They are offering a 5 year warranty on both the tub and the chiller unit which is about 5 times better than the vast majority of similar products and even rivals the warranty on many of the other solid high value plunge tubs.
We really can’t say much more on the warranty for the Sun Home Sauna Cold Plunge other than that it is a market leader.
What We Like
Spacious Design: The XL size of the Sun Home Sauna Cold Plunge allows for comfortable use by two individuals, making it suitable for couples, friends or a few athletes.
Portable and Easy to Set Up: The tub can be inflated and ready for use within minutes, and its portability allows for use both indoors and outdoors with a super tough anti-puncture design
Durable Construction: The drop stitch technology ensures a sturdy and reliable tub that can withstand repeated use and water pressure. You can test our how solid these tubs are, I stood on top of it and it does not flex an inch, they pump up rock solid.
Versatile Usage: In addition to cold plunges, the tub can be used for hot baths, hydrotherapy, or as a pool for kids (or an esky for cold drinks)
Easy Water Drainage: The included drainage hose simplifies the process of emptying the tub after use and you can even place one hose in the tub and one hose directed to a drain and the automated chiller unit will pump out the water for you until the tub is empty.
Solid warranty: As mentioned, 5 years, purchase without a worry really.
What We Don't Like
No extras: Many other plunge tub brands offer a number of extras that can be added to the purchase to enhance the cold plunge experience like a step, rubber non-slip mat, water treatment options, cleaning tools and more.
No lock: while the clips offer some degree of safety, if you are looking for ultimate security for keeping your plunge tub out of reach of children, some other brands offer a coded lock combination on their lid clips, Sun Home does not.
Final Thoughts on Sun Home Sauna Cold Plunge
While there’s loads of portable cold plunge options to choose, The Sun Home Sauna Cold Plunge is a standout if you are looking for something sizeable and big enough for a large human or a couple of people.
Its durable construction, easy setup, and spacious design make it a suitable option for a sporting team to have available for recovery post match, or as a semi-permanent installation for an added client offering for a gym.
The Sun Home Sauna Cold Plunge really ticks all the boxes as far as quality, design, warranty, price and size go and for this reason we give it a 4.95/5 rating in the portable plunge tub realm. This plunge tub is really the ideal solution for someone looking to bypass the need to buy ice for every cold plunge or rely on unsafe chest freezers that are difficult to keep hygienic and clean, instead providing an automated and always ready approach to cold therapy.
