Something in the world of floating have you stumped?
Show Highlights
How much does a float tank cost?
Short answer — roughly $18 – 43K.
The slightly longer answer — listen to today’s episode.
Show Resources
Listen to Just the Audio
Transcription of this episode… (in case you prefer reading)
Graham: Alright, welcome, everybody. Our question today from one of our listeners is: “How much is a sensory deprivation tank?”
Ashkahn: Okay. How much does a float tank coast, huh? It’s a big range, right? I think the full scope of the range, I would say, is probably $10 000 at the lowest to $80 000 at the highest, for a commercial tank. There’s a tank, there’s the Zen Tent, which is $1,900 something. But that’s not really made for commercial use.
Graham: Right. So I guess just to clarify; I assume, since this is a show for commercial float center owners, that this is more on the commercial side. On the commercial side, about $10,000 to $80,000, from the very lowest to the very highest.
And so then the more median range in there, the average range of tanks that people are investing in, what do you think those are?
Ashkahn: There’s only a handful around the $10,000 range, and there’s I think an even smaller handful in that higher $70-$80,000 range. So, really, the bulk of them are somewhere between 20 and 40. Maybe slightly under 20k and 40k, and slightly over 40k, like 17-43k or something is gonna be the large majority of commercial float tanks out there.
Graham: Yeah, I think $17,000 to $43,000 was actually weirdly the numbers that I had in my head. And that’s also for getting commercial set up for the filtration side of things, too.
There are some of these tanks that you can get that have the lower priced models and the higher priced ones, or ones that are meant for home use and ones that are more for commercial settings. So that price range also includes that backside, too; the filtration system and everything that you’d need to be able to put in.
Ashkahn: Yeah, there’s one or two manufacturers out there that will even just sell a tub and you can kind of build the rest of it, so we’re not exactly counting those into this list.
Graham: I’d even say that the shipping and installation is kind of worked into that, too, or if you work that in, maybe it goes just a tiny bit higher.
Ashkahn: Those are good things to consider. I mean, if you’re buying a float tank, those are the things that you might not be quite expecting right off the bat and can vary a lot from tank to tank. Like, if you’re buying a tank that’s being manufactured down the street from you versus being manufactured on a different continent. The shipping cost is probably gonna be different across those two models.
Some manufacturers require for you to pay for installers to come out, so two people will come out and be there and install the thing and teach you how to do it. Other ones will send you the equipment and you can install it yourself.
Graham: I should say that literally before doing this episode, we went and looked at our own tank comparison chart to get a sense for exactly where those numbers were. I totally recommend you go to Float Tank Solutions and download the tank comparison chart and actually get a good look at exactly what these tanks are, and kind of the full range there. You can actually view all the individual units in addition to just having this broad view of price.
Ashkahn: Outside of that, it’s really hard to break it down much further. You might think that cabins are more expensive than pod-style tanks, and I feel like that can be true. You definitely see more cabins in the higher end than you do in the lower end, but there are some cabins out there that are in that $17-18k range.
And there are some tank or pod models out there that are in the $30K-something range, so that’s not necessarily a completely true statement, either.
Graham: And I think that’s all there is to say about that.
Ashkahn: Yeah. Alright. Ship it.
Graham: Lick it and stick it.
Recent Podcast Episodes
How Best to Heat Your Float Tank – DSP 180
In this episode, Graham and Ashkahn break down the pros and cons (not Kahns) of different types of heating typically used in float tanks. Aside from going over the most common types of heating, they also provide tips and tricks for keeping your tanks warm that don’t have to do with water temperature and making sure you’re providing a comfortable experience for your customers.
Tips on Managing Staff – DSP 179
Float On, for all its quirks, has ended up being very traditionally structured as a business. There are managers, co-managers, and employees who all have different responsibilities and commitments. Graham and Ashkahn break down how they came to structure the company this way, despite aggressively fighting against that mentality of a corporate, top down structure.
What’s the Difference Between Loans and Investments? – DSP 178
The financial cost to opening a float center is huge at the startup, given the high ticket cost of float tanks themselves, as well as the expensive technical construction that comes along with making your rooms sound/water/saltproof. It’s rare for a float center to open entirely self financed, so what are the best options for getting funding? Loans versus investments.
Graham and Ashkahn break down the differences in these two approaches weigh the pros and cons to both for float centers.
What About Vertical Float Tanks? – DSP 177
So for those of us who’ve wanted to float in a vertical tank ever since seeing Luke Skywaker use one in Empire Strikes Back, Graham and Ashkahn dish out what they know about vertical float tanks.
Fortunately, another one of Float On’s owners, Christopher Messer, actually makes vertical float tanks, so the guys have the inside scoop on all things vertical.
What Would Utilities be for a Float Tank Center in Maine? – DSP 176
If you wanna stump the Float On boys, you have to try harder than asking about the cost of utilities for a float center in Maine. They tackled this episode prepared and take the rare opportunity to show specific numbers for utility usage at Float On and what that breakdown would look like in Maine, with help from special guest Jake Marty.
Latest Blog Posts
It’s All the Same Day
The Float Conference has come and gone, but if this last year is any indication, it will come around again in what seems like no time at all. Sometimes, even the last four years seem like they've only been a few months. Other times, I can't remember a life that's not...
How to Monitor a Niche Industry… Like Floating!
A few years ago, if someone published information online about floating, chances are that it would spread quickly. There wasn't much available and what was available only had a small tight-knit circle to disseminate through. As the industry is growing, there are float...
Know Your Market – A Guide to Gathering Data
Have you ever tried to look up market statistics or information for float centers? If so, you’ve probably been left a little disappointed. Mining for float industry data means coming to the unfortunate realization that the internet doesn’t actually have everything on...
The Float Conference Podcast – Talks About Nothing
In the float industry, we believe there is no such thing as too much information. The more salt-filled information "floating" around, the more we are able to educate our customers about the different benefits of spending time in the tank. On August 9th and 10th we...
