Steam & Oak Halla 120 Barrel Cold Plunge Tub

The Halla 120 is the traditional one: a round banded barrel, Ø120 cm, with stainless steel bands, a PVC liner and a timber ladder over the side.

If the thermowood boxes look too much like appliances for your garden, this is the honest alternative.

The barrel, done properly

A banded barrel is the oldest form of cold immersion tub there is, and it still works: the staves and steel bands hold the shape under water pressure, the round form is efficient, and it looks like it belongs in a garden rather than a gym.

The liner is PVC rather than a moulded acrylic shell, which is what keeps the price down — it is more forgiving of the shape and easier to replace than a bonded liner if it is ever damaged.

A timber ladder is included. On a round tub of this height that is not optional, and we would rather include it than list it as an extra.

Specification

Filling it, and adding a chiller later

Without a chiller you fill the tub and add ice. That costs nothing to run, and plenty of people are perfectly happy with it — a bag or two of ice brings 470 litres down quickly, and in a British winter the ambient temperature does much of the work for you.

The honest limitation: in summer you will be buying ice regularly, and the water will not hold temperature for long.

This tub is built to accept a chiller later. If you find yourself plunging more than once or twice a week, we sell the same tub with a chiller and filter unit fitted — and we can retrofit one to this tub rather than you needing to replace it.

Water care

Cold water still needs looking after, but far less than a hot tub. Without a chiller there is no filter, so you will change the water more often. You will also want a sanitiser — we stock tablets — and to change the water periodically depending on use.

Cold water holds bacteria far less readily than hot, so maintenance is genuinely lighter than most people expect. It is not zero.

Siting it

A firm, level base. Water weighs a tonne per cubic metre — a 470 litre tub is nearly half a tonne before anyone gets in. Paving slabs, a concrete pad or a rated deck. Not soft ground, and not a lawn.

Drainage. You will empty it periodically, so think about where several hundred litres will go.

Power. None needed — this tub is self-fill. If you add a chiller later it will need an RCD-protected outdoor socket.

Cold and heat together

Contrast therapy — hot then cold — is the traditional Finnish pattern, and the reason a plunge tub next to a sauna gets used far more than one on its own. If you are building both, put them close together: the walk between them in a British winter is exactly the friction that stops people bothering.

See our garden saunas and the off-grid gas heaters that let you put one at the far end of the garden without a trench.

2-year warranty

Two years on the tub. Covers manufacturing defects and workmanship.

Lead time — please ask before you order

Lead times vary with stock and specification — anything from 2 to 12 weeks. Ask us before you commit and we will give you the real date.

Delivery

Delivered on a pallet. Assembly is straightforward but the liner needs care on installation — our team can fit it if you would rather not.

Images are manufacturer renders. Photographs include installed builds.