It all started when Earl, one of the owners of Powerhouse Gym in Mt Gravatt, sent me a DM on Instagram:
“What’s the lowest legal temperature ice baths can go to?”
My first thought was; that’s a bit of a weird question.
But it turns out, the installer they’d gone with told them it was illegal for an ice bath to be colder than 12°C.
Which we know is just not true.
The Problem: Great-Looking Ice Baths That Weren’t Icy
Powerhouse had built this amazing recovery area, but their “chillers” were a huge letdown.
They were actually just heat pumps, and they couldn’t get the water below 12°C.
The owners were frustrated and, understandably, a bit skeptical when I came in.
They’d already been burned by a system that didn’t come close to the mark.
The Fix: One Chiller to Chill Them All
After a couple of calls, I went down to meet Earl and the team.
It was pretty clear right away that all three of their ice baths could run on a single one of our larger chillers.
I knew they were apprehensive, so I told them about our guarantee. I had no doubt whatsoever that we could get them the temperatures they were after.
They gave us the green light.
The next Friday, we got it installed. It all went smoothly.
We took the old heat pumps they were using and had them moved to the hot pools (which were also struggling).
Then we hooked up one of our chillers to all three ice baths.
Once it was all in place, we cranked it down to 5°C. It pulled the temperature down overnight, easy.
There was a small hiccup – the chlorinators they were using weren’t built for water below 10°C, so the temp sensors started failing.
But their pool company sorted that out.
Funnily enough, after a few people said 5°C was actually too cold, they ended up settling on 8 degrees.
The Result: It Just Works.
Ever since then, the chiller has been running perfectly. It cycles on and off just like it’s meant to, doing its job without them checking on it.
And that’s it. The chiller just sits there doing its thing, and the ice baths are always at the right temperature.
They get a service every six months to keep things clean and running smoothly, but other than that, the owners don’t have to think about it at all.
And that’s exactly how we want it.
You shouldn’t have to think about your chiller day-to-day.
This is a prime example of the problem Bergs solves.