Nora Vance

Nora Vance has been getting in cold water year round for years, first in a backyard stock tank and now in a chilled tub, and she has tested and installed most of the cold plunges and saunas people ask her about. She started Cold Cedar Co because most recovery content online is either a spec sheet or an ad for the most expensive unit.

For every product she reviews, she lives with it for weeks, tracks the things that actually matter (temperature held, heat-up time, running cost, noise and build quality), and leads with the cheap setup that is genuinely good enough. She is an enthusiast and a tester, not a doctor, so she keeps the health claims honest: she says benefits "may" help, notes where the research is still emerging, and reminds readers to talk to a doctor before cold or heat exposure if they have a health condition. See exactly how we test.