Hot then cold, or cold then hot? People argue about it as if there were a rulebook.
There is a tradition, and there is a little research. Neither is a rulebook. This article shows what each says and what the setup costs at home. For the hot half, see the home sauna buying guide. For the cold half, the cold plunge buying guide.
Short answer: the traditional order is sauna first, then cold, and you can repeat the cycle. No source used here proves one order is better for your health. If you have a heart condition or high blood pressure, skip the cold water and ask your doctor.
What the tradition says
Finland’s official country guide describes the sequence. After the hot room, you “jump in a lake or roll in the snow.” Then: “Stay in as long as you feel comfortable, and return to the sauna several times if you wish.”
So the pattern is heat, cold, repeat. The cold is how you cool off between rounds.
It also keeps expectations low for beginners. For most foreign visitors, it says, you can “simply take a shower.”
What the research says
One study looked at people who do both. Published in Cell Reports Medicine in 2021, it describes the Scandinavian winter-swimming culture as one that “combines brief dips in cold water with hot sauna sessions.”
The researchers studied experienced winter-swimming men who did this 2 to 3 times a week and compared them with controls. They reported differences in how the swimmers regulated body temperature, and they “propose winter swimming as a potential strategy for increasing energy expenditure.”
Read that carefully. The study was small, involved young, healthy men only, and didn’t test one order against the other. “Potential strategy” is the authors’ own wording. It is not evidence that the routine treats anything.
So which order?
Here’s my reading, labeled as opinion.
Sauna first fits the tradition and the logic of cooling off. You are hot, so cold water feels like relief, and you go back to the heat when you start to chill.
Cold first isn’t wrong. Nothing in these sources forbids it. It is a harder start, and you lose the cooling-off purpose.
What you finish on is a preference. The sources here don’t settle it. thisisFINLAND’s only rule about the end is to get dressed after your body temperature has returned to normal and you have stopped perspiring.
The safety line
This is the part to take seriously. thisisFINLAND states: “People with heart complaints or high blood pressure should avoid swimming in cold water after leaving the hot room.”
Cleveland Clinic adds, for the sauna itself, that people with heart conditions or who are pregnant should check with a provider first, and that nobody should use a sauna after drinking alcohol.
This is general information, not medical advice. Don’t do contrast sessions alone, keep each cold dip brief, and get out if you feel dizzy.
What it takes at home
You need a heat source and a cold one. The range of what that costs is wide.
| Setup | Hot | Cold | Combined price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry | Dynamic Andora infrared cabin, $2,210.99 | The Cold Pod ice bath, $119.99 | $2,330.98 |
| Traditional | Almost Heaven Salem barrel sauna, $4,176 | Ice Barrel 400, $1,149.99 | $5,325.99 |
| Chiller | Almost Heaven Salem, $4,176 | The Plunge Original, $8,490 | $12,666 |
The combined prices are my arithmetic from the listed prices. They leave out electrical work, delivery, and ice.
The ice baths need manual ice and no power. The Plunge cools to 37°F with its own chiller and wants a dedicated 120V/15A circuit. The Salem’s 6kW heater needs a 240V, 30-amp circuit.
My rule of thumb: put them close together, because a long walk between the two is the first thing you will skip. And remember the free option. A cold shower does the cooling-off job the tradition asks for.
Bottom line: sauna first, cold second, repeat if you like. That is tradition, not proven medicine. Clear it with your doctor if you have any heart or blood pressure concern.
Sources
- thisisFINLAND, “Bare facts of the sauna in Finland,” accessed October 12, 2026: finland.fi
- Søberg S, et al., “Altered brown fat thermoregulation and enhanced cold-induced thermogenesis in young, healthy, winter-swimming men,” Cell Reports Medicine, October 2021 (abstract, via Europe PMC): europepmc.org
- Cleveland Clinic, “Get Your Sweat On: The Benefits of a Sauna,” August 12, 2024: health.clevelandclinic.org
- Dynamic Saunas, Almost Heaven, The Cold Pod, Ice Barrel, and Plunge listings (price, power), checked September and October 2026