I'm wondering if anyone knows whether it is possible to buy a heat/chill pump that could turn an outdoor spa/jacuzzi thing into a cold plunge pool when desired (but also make it really hot if so desired)? I looked at this: https://amchiller.com/cold-plunge-spa-chillers/ and this: https://thecoldplunge.com/products/plunge-xl-pro?variant=41691237875869 I would prefer to not have to buy an extra thing that takes up space (we already have an outdoor pool and spa/jacuzzi in the house we just bought), so if there were a way to make the existing spa really cold (not just a few degrees colder than whatever the outside temperature is), then that would be "cool". For many years, I have always showered hot and cold (at the end, always cold). I realized that that isn't even really possible in Florida because the water is already kind of lukewarm even on the coldest setting. So that's why I was thinking of this cold plunge pool thing. Any advice appreciated.
I don't have any experience with cold plunge pools, but I did look into some industrial water chillers for food processing purposes. It's essentially the same as the amchiller in your post. It's not something easy to do since water has so much heat capacity. It's going to be hard to beat the efficiency of a air-cooled condenser/evaporator system. It just takes so much energy to cool down that water. You'll need a unit that's 1-2 tons cooling minimum to cool down a spa in a reasonable amount of time. I did some back of the envelope calculation and found that even a 1 ton chiller will need 6 hours to cool 200 gallons (3 person spa) down from 75F to 40F in ideal conditions. You'll need 400lb of ice to do the same. You wont' be able to find anything small that can do what you would like. I think it makes more sense to get one or two small personal sized stand alone unit like 'The Cold Plunge'. Then you can keep that water constantly cold or hot rather than constantly trying to chill and warm up the same water.
I've done this. Fill your bathtub halfway up with cold water. Go to the convenience store and buy 50 pounds of ice and dump it in and voila cold plunge tub.
A neighbor took an old large chest freezer and uses it to freeze water. He then climbs into it and sits for a few minutes.. Not my cup of tea, but it works for him.
Found this - I think I am going to buy it. https://www.renutherapy.com/ There is also this, but it doesn't get the water of the spa cold enough. Probably also nicer to be able to use the hot spa and the ice cold tub right after each other, rather than just having one jacuzzi that's either hot or "cool". https://azhottubco.com/product/spa-...ot-spring-cool-zonetm-hot-tub-cooling-system/
Yep. Drag one of these under a shade tree, put in 5 or 6 blocks of ice, fill with water, enjoy your 105 degree August afternoon.
Yes, that would be a solution if you only want to do this once in a while, and don't mind dragging tons of ice from the store there with you. I'm looking for something that I can do at least once a day.
The temperature of the water coming into a home will be determined by the ground temperature that the water line is in. Another redneck way 1. Food Safe 275 Gallon IBC Tote 2. Cut the top off 3. Figure out the plumbing with the opening for the drain line already built in at the bottom of the Tote. 4. Insulation around the Tote. 5. Wood Fence type of stuff to cover the outside and hide the cut on the top of the IBC Tote. 6. Countertop ice maker or maybe even two to save having to go and buy ice. 7. If the water is still too warm, then put the setup in a small shed with a room air conditioner.
I understand and you appear to have the funds to be able to do it in style while the Redneck/Hillbilly way isn't that stylish. Here is a hot tub version using an IBC Tote.
Hey now, I find myself to be quite stylish. Do a google search for stock tank pool...some of them look pretty sweet. I'm tempted to to some deckwork and install a larger permanent one. For example:
Go for it. Since the IBC Tote is small, it reaches capacity with two people while the stock tank can handle a larger party.
I can live with that decision. ****************************** I thought about this some more and the ground temperature that the water supply passes through. Some (a few?) people embrace the use of Earth/Coolth Tubes for home cooling. Basically digging a deep trench and putting in 100 - 150 feet of pipe for air to flow through. In warmer climates, the minimum depth would probably need to be at least 10 feet to reach the layer of the earth that is fairly stable in temperature. The relatively mild temperature in caves illustrate the concept. If building on raw land, the costs to do this might make sense. The economics are less favorable for doing it in developed locations with landscaping needing to be redone and possibly having to route around buried utility lines.
soil temp in florida is over 65F at 30 feet now. Not really going to do you any good. I think this is just like any other home addition. The amount you spend should correlate directly with how much you plan to use it and how long you plan to be in the house. At some point it would have to be worth it to rip out what you have installed and get a dedicated hybrid cold/hot contrast pool
What's that? We have a (small) pool and a spa/jacuzzi there. The heat pumps for both are broken, so I need to get them replaced. So I'm buying two of those already: https://dgpoolsupplyandservice.com/...-classic-series-heat-cool-heat-pump-140k-btu/ as well as something to be able to upgrade to iAcqualink 3.0 and be able to control it all via app. But these Rheem pumps can only cool it down to 55 F or so, I think. And then I wouldn't have a hot Jacuzzi from which I could jump into the cold plunge pool, it would be either/or. So now the plan is to have the pool at a pleasant temperature all the time, the spa quite hot, like 102 F or something and the cold plunge pool next to it at 39 F. All bases covered, I guess? Of course, there is also the country club itself which has a huge water playground, resort style pool, etc., but it's nice to have it just at your own house so you can just jump in there every day, without having to get in the car.
