Tips For Running A Hot Tub

So you have just been paid your annual bonus and you want to rush out and buy that hot tub that you have been after for years? Well before you do then pause for breath and have a good think about what you want, and what you need, as the two things can be very different, and get it wrong and you could have spent thousands on the wrong hot tub, or even one that you cannot afford to run.

Speaking of which let us look at the running costs first of all, it’s a bit like considering buying a fast car, you might be able to afford to buy it, but can you afford to run it?

That said the running costs of a modern hot tub are a lot less than you think, but you do need to budget for the electricity to heat it if it is an acrylic tub, you also need to think if you want it nice and hot all the time and ready to jump into straight away, or do you just want it to heat up for the weekend? The two scenarios will use vastly different amounts of power.

Also if you live in a rural location you may want to consider not buying an acrylic tub, but buying a cedar wood hot tub instead, the reason for this is that whilst an acrylic tub can only be heated by an electrical heater, a cedar wood tub can be heated by electric heater, or more importantly if you live in a rural location, it can be heated by a wood fired stove.

Indeed a lot of people opt for cedar tubs with wood fired stoves as they heat up so quickly.

In a rural area the chances are that you will have greater access to cheap, or even free firewood. This suddenly makes a cedar tub look very attractive when it comes to running costs, as free wood equals free heat for your hot tub, which is well worth considering.

The other thing to think about when it comes to the running costs of your hot tub is the chemicals that you will need to use almost daily to treat it. You will need to test the pH level daily with test strips and add pH plus or minus accordingly. You will also need to test the chlorine level, and add chlorine as required to keep algae from growing. You will also need to use anti-foam spray from time to time.

All of these chemical costs add up, and you need to consider them and the heating costs when buying your hot tub.