Hot tub. Ya or nay?

[jasondon]

Curious your thoughts and experiences with a hot tub as I've never owned one and I've contemplated one now for several years.
My wife and I are fairly active and I think we would use it. With that said, I am well aware it's basically a sunk cost. So enjoy it, often, or I have just flushed money down the drain.

What has your experience been?

 

[Lmarkow]

Can't comment on owning one, but I won't get in a hot tub. I don't like wallowing in treated water while inhaling chlorine fumes. I have to assume the maintenance is a chore, as friends who have them always seem to be dealing with some sort of water problem or another.

 

[Billski]

Hot tub? Nay. You should have saved your money. Take a shower.

 

[BSAGuy]

Skip it. Expensive to install and maintain and limited utility.

 

[Lightcs1776]

In-laws had a hot tub. It was nice for them, but maintenance became a bother and the novelty wore off.

Sent via mobile - Chris

 

[vacman]

Possible alternative might be a sauna. Home sauna kits are readily available from sites like Home Depot which will ship them to your local store for pickup. Many of the hot tub benefits without the maintenance.

 

[jamesspo]

I'd skip. People that I know that have them say they're a maintenance and nightmare, and never get used. Same goes for pools. Save your money and skip it.

 

[FarmerTan]

My inlaws loved and used theirs every day for 20+ years. Did have a few maintenance issues, but nothing major. They had it on the deck and I was in it once at 15 degrees below zero. Awesome.
If I were to buy one myself I'd opt for a wood fired one, without the bubbles. I heat with wood, and love the smell.
Also: the plumbing is where all the issues come from. I don't really find being beaten by pulsing water to be relaxing. If you can afford it, buy it.

 

[kelbro]

They make me sleep like a baby. Love them. Never owned one though. It's nice to be able to hit it and quit it.

 

[jasondon]

Interesting, thank you for all of the replies. Kind of what I suspected. I do like the shower/sauna idea. Even if only marginally, it's atleast an addition to the house.

 

[DC_MPA]

We have one and love it. Had it for 4 years now. I study and analyze things to death so let me sum up all my research for you.

this is a purchase where brand matters. Sure you can get a Cal Spa, Sundance, Life Spa, etc but one brand stands way above and beyond the rest - Hot Spring.

Hot Spring brand has stronger motors (usually two vs one for more variety in your jets and jet strength), fully foam insulate the underbelly vs just insulating the pipes. Filters are easily acquired anywhere. Top is 4 inches thick yet hydraulic system is easy to lift and put back on with one hand. The acrylic shell is much thicker than the competition.

Hidden fun fact about Hot Spring spas, they own a line called Hot Spot. You get all the same of a Hot Spring but it skips high end novelty features like 4 or 5 filters instead of 1. Why would you want 4 or 5 vs 1? Well 5 filters means every inlet pulling water in goes thru a filter. Seems good and it is good, if you have a very heavy usage like a family of 5 using it 1-2 hours a night. At $30 a filter, you'll get tired of buying $150 in filters once a year. Plus you need to blast the filters routinely (I do it every other week) doing that to five kinda gets old. My Hot Spot by Hot Springs had one large filter. Never had a single problem even during heavy usage. Another feature Hot Springs spas do that they don't on their Hot Spot line is things like full panel back massagers. Sounds lovely but we found the regular setup of jets equally as nice. You'll notice 3 inch wide jets and 1 inch wide jets. 3 inch wide jets can be turned to increase and lower intensity, the one inch are called pinpoint and are a more deep tissue massage. All heir jets can be turned different directions for each persons needs and desires to get that perfect spot.

you'll find a headache of setups. 4 person, 5 person, benches, loungers, full body laying spots to blast your feet up to your neck. What we got was the Hot Spot Tempo. It was the best layout for us personally. It had 1 full body laying spot, 2 deep loungers that have water come up to the middle of your neck, and 3 bench spots where the water comes up to your upper chest. To this day, wouldn't change that design for any other hot tub.

Definitely do a 220/240 vs 110/115. Reason why, sure you'll pay $500-800 upfront in wiring (if you aren't an electrician like me) to install a sub panel box with breaker. The reason why is on refills. 220/240 will heat water at 7-8 degrees and hour from 110/115 at 2-4 degrees an hour.

Doing a 220/240, we have yet to see a single dollar difference in our electric bill and that hot tub is only shut off when I drain it.

Draining - do this every 90 days. Regardless if it needs it or not. You'll reap rewards on your plumbing and equipment. Every 90 days I shut the hot tub down and I bought a $50 2,000 gallon an hour submersible pump. Drains that 450 gallon hot tub in 15-20 minutes. During that time, I bought a soft car wash brush and go around and give the inside a good but quick scrub down. Then I hose the walls down, pump that water out. This entire time I have the filter soaking in an spray that breaks down the oils and gunk in the filter. Once I'm done scrubbing the tub and draining it, I blast the filter and it becomes snow white again and like brand new. I drop the filter back in, then drop the water hose in and fill that sucker up. Once it's filled up, I flip the power back on, toss in the hot tub shock chemical, let it all circulate and come back and do a water test. Just use those easy strips and see if it needs anything. 80% of the time it's spot on. Then I let it heat up and it's ready to go in 5-6 hours.

Once a year I add a chemical to the hot tub that's called Spa Purge. It's like drano made for hot tubs. You run the jets on full and this stuff goes through the pipes, jets, pumps, and basically makes them squeaky clean again.

Chemicals are real reasonable. You'll need a shock, a chlorine, PH up and a PH down, same as a pool but you need much less. For instance, our 450 gallon tub takes 1 tablespoon of chlorine per person a day to stay stable and that's only on days we use it.

You'll want a nice 4 inch minimum (I did 6 inch) rebar grid inforced concrete pad. An easy weekend job if you don't have a big enough back patio to put the hot tub.

Hope you get one, we love ours and even after 4 years it still feels like a luxury that's novelty never dissipated.

 

[AnotherChef]

Rent it.... Don't buy it.

 

[DC_MPA]

And I wrote that sounding like we don't have it anymore, but we do, just heard it kick on to circulate the water.

 

[garyg]

Hot tubs are like pools or boats, best way is that your buddy has one.

 

[Mojo88]

Two of our neighbors have them and I know one couple uses the one they have on a regular basis. We thought about it and decided to get a two person bathtub. It was the best decision for us. You can fill it up and use it when you want. We clean it once a month internally with a cleaner. Low maintenance and always clean, good combination.

 

[dfoulk]

My answer would be ... it depends.

For example, factors such as where you live would have to be taken into consideration since the cost to heat it would vary depending on your location as well as how much you'd probably use it.

We've had one for about ten years now. I bought it brand new and it's served us well. We did it because when we put in a pool we wanted a built in hot tub. Unfortunately, the hot tubs that you find in pools don't really do a great job as far as helping sore muscles. They are more like a heated bathtub. The above ground hot tubs are great at massaging sore muscles. We're in Arizona though so we can use it a lot. It gets used pretty much whenever the pool is too cold to swim in. My wife and I still do use it occasionally and every time we do we say we should do this every night. The kids love it too and it's a regular thing whenever their friends come over. It's really nice sitting in it, with a drink in your hand, staring at the night sky.

As far as what to buy goes, after owning one already, I'd look for a fairly new higher cost one that I could purchased used at a reasonable price. These things are like pool tables because sometimes people buy them and they just sit unused. I'd just fill it and use the Spa Purge chemicals a couple times to clean it out extremely well before using it.

Maintenance is really easy, so don't let that deter you. For the most part you just toss in a cap full of the chlorine/bromine shock after every use and let it run for about a half hour before closing the lid. You can test the PH less frequently using some test strips. If you get yourself into some big trouble you can drain it and fill it easily and quickly.

I'll probably start looking for a replacement sometime in the next year or two in order to get some of the newer technology.

As far as the jetted tub goes, we've had those too and while they are nice they aren't the same. The hot tubs have much more powerful motors and do a much better job on aching muscles. You're also outside staring at the night sky with your spouse and maybe even a couple friends. The jetted tub was nice, but it still felt like a bath. I can count on one hand the number of baths I've taken in the last ten years as I much prefer daily showers so while the jetted tub was nice it wasn't the same.

For me, I really like having it but you'd have to ask yourself how much you'd use it.

 

[bberg100]

We have had two over an 13 year period, didn't move the first one after 8 years when we bought a new house. Wife is in it daily, me not so much. Maintenance has been a non issue, we get ozone injectors for them, a shot of chlorine every time we get out. Check and balance the water every couple weeks. Drain and clean about every 6 months, the water will have a feel when it needs doing. Fortunately our water is such little balancing is needed on initial fill and virtually none while in use.

It is an expensive waste if you are not going to use it, but you won't know until you have one for a while. The boat analogy is a good one.

 

[Doc4]

Would you use it five nights a week, every week? If so, get it. If not, you are wasting your time and money.

 

[jasondon]

Wow, great feedback thank you!

DC_MPA, thank you for your detailed experience. There actually is a dealer of that brand here. If I get serious I will check them out.
If we did decide to purchase, I would most likely purchase from costco though. I had a friend buy one from them, 3 years later there was an issue and they replaced the tub, no questions asked. The hot tub shops in town don't seem to have great reputations, it seems like it is a bit of a slimy business. Online reviews of every shop close by are very mediocre.
Regarless, thank you for your detailed thoughts on the subject. Greatly appreciated.

I like the boat comment. I was thinking, jeez, I need to convince my neighbor to get a tub and I will be set, haha!

We live in Canada with cold winters, and we have two young kids (meaning we don't go out often). Because we are often at home on the weekends, holidays aside, I do feel it would get used....just enough to justify the cost is the big question.

 

[DC_MPA]

Ah that stinks on your dealers being shady/slimy. A good reputable dealer is a major factor. We bought ours from a dealer who has been in this city since 1955 with their three products being swimming pools, hot tubs, and Green Egg grills. The manager lives a few miles from us and has even drove to our house and dropped stuff off I needed because I couldn't make their hours. So yes, a reputable dealer is everything in a pool or hot tub.