It’s an age-old question! “Why are we here?”, “What is the meaning of life?”, and “What is the monthly running cost of a hot tub?” Hydropool North West is here to tell you all the answers!
It’s a complex and difficult question to answer but in this article we’re going to try and break it down into three simple sections:
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Electricity & Heating
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Chemicals & Watercare
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Water Usage
We’ll finish this off by looking at a rough daily estimate of what it costs to run a hot tub, and see how energy prices have changed the situation.
1. Electricity & Heating a Hot Tub
Your hot tub is only as efficient as your insulation…and pumps…and heater…and location… Okay, so it’s not so simple. But at least we can take a quick look at those factors on our economical and energy efficient hot tub.
INSULATION
So this is the big one, and every hot tub manufacturer does it differently. But there are three main categories:
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Full foam
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Partial foam
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Insulating wrapped
Each of these has its pros and cons, and if you want to take an in depth look at insulation types and how they compare, take a look at our article on Types of Hot Tub Insulation.
Needless to say, the better insulated your hot tub is, the less heat you’re throwing away, especially during winter - but bear in mind that you also want your hot tub to be accessible, serviceable, and to stand the test of time.
Not all insulation is created equally. Cheaper hot tubs have cheaper ways of insulating, this goes for all other parts as well. In the case of hot tubs, you truly get what you pay for. Higher up front cost means less ongoing maintenance and headache.
Hydropool hot tubs are triple wrapped in a heat reflective thermal blanket, this offers a fantastic balance of heat insulation, pipework support, and accessibility; that you don’t find with full or partial foam.
PUMPS
Your hot tubs pumps will use a reasonable amount of its overall energy consumption, and while you still want to ensure your Therapy Pumps (the ones that run the seats) are low amperage and efficient, it’s the circulation pump, that helps heat and filter your water that will be running the majority of the time. The most efficient hot tubs are the ones with dedicated circulation pumps. These pumps are not in any way connected to the therapy side of your spa, and so do not have to be as powerful. They can chug along all day and use a fraction of the power a standard pump would.
If it doesn’t have a dedicated filtration pump, make sure the pumps are considered “low amperage”.
We’d recommend checking your filtration times too! Before you commit, make sure the filtration times are as fully customisable as possible, then you have complete control over how many hours a day your spa is running, or set up just for weekends!
HEATING
Heaters are standard in most hot tubs - in the majority of cases you’ll have a 3kW heater built in.
The determining factor of heater running costs is the temperature you keep it at (and the location, which we’ll touch on in a second).
Hydropool Self-Cleaning hot tubs have a completely customisable water care system. You can set up exactly what days of the week you want the spa up to temperature or when it should run in economy mode. Additionally, you have the option to control the spa via an app, should you want to adjust the temperature or filtration setting while at work, or on holiday.
Another option is to run your spa using an Air Source Heat pump. While the initial cost for the Heat Pump is something to consider, in the long run they are much, much more efficient. Below you can see the savings in kWHs on our own rooftop Hydropool 670.
Roughly £30 Average Saved per Month with Energy Prices at the Time
LOCATION
This is often a factor that many people don’t consider; where your spa is located can have a big impact on the running costs.
Ideally you want to consider the amount of sunlight your spa will get and the protection from wind and rain. Every little bit of sunshine your spa gets will help keep the overall temperature up. During the summer months you may actually find that the water temperature is higher than what you set it to!
2. Chemicals & Water Care in a Hot Tub
Clean water is long lasting water. We want to keep your hot tub clean and fresh and ready to use! After all, the cleaner the water, the fewer hours it needs to filter, and the less we need to keep refilling it!
Most hot tubs will use either chlorine or bromine, and they are two of the most cost effective sanitisers out there. We recommend bromine to the majority of our customers - it tends to be easier to use, works well for the water here in Greater Manchester and the North West, is a little less harsh on your skin, and doesn’t smell as bad when things get a little dirty!
It’s very hard to determine how much chemical you will use, as it depends on the usage of your hot tub. However, there are a few little considerations when it comes to reducing chemical usage:
SHOWER BEFORE YOUR SPA
It’s as simple as it sounds. If you can wash away any sweat, skin creams, shampoo, conditioners, lotions and potions before you get into your hot tub you severely reduce the contaminants going into the water. Therefore: fewer chemicals needed!
AUTOMATIC DISPENSING
Whether via a floating dispenser or the Hydropool Self Cleaning dosage system; using a tablet form of your preferred sanitiser can help control the amount of chemical you use, as opposed to continually adding granules to the hot tub directly.
OZONE & UV
Hydropool Self Cleaning hot tubs come with UV and Ozone sanitising as standard, which kills 99.9% of bacteria entering the system. This system also reduces the amount of chemical sanitiser needed by up to 50%, by boosting the efficiency of the small amount of chemical you do add.
You will always need to add some form of water balancing chemical to your water, such as pH, calcium hardness, or Total Alkalinity. But by using consistent care when using the spa this can be greatly reduced. Need some help with water chemistry? Check out our post on Beginner’s Guide to Water Care.
3. WATER USAGE IN A HOT TUB
The average, medium sized spa holds something between 1,200 - 1,500 litres of water. It’s quite the amount of water, especially if you’re on a water meter! Hydropool Serenity hot tubs need their water drained and refilled every 3-4 months, which is around the industry standard. A Hydropool Self Cleaning hot tub usually gets 4-6 months; with proper care.
Okay, you've read this far! Or maybe Google brought you to this exact paragraph, and highlighted the answer. Time to crunch numbers. The old adage “37°C for just pennies a day” has fallen on hard times here in the UK. So what are the prices now?
ELECTRICITY
Back in 2019, you’d be looking at a yearly average cost of £1 a day to run a Hydropool - a little less in the Summer, a little more in the Winter. However, with energy prices reaching an all time high, we can all expect to be paying a little more.
On average you’re more likely to be paying £2 - £2.50 a day, depending on the size and model of your hot tub - and taking all of the factors mentioned above into account.
With some tweaking to your filtration, economy settings and temperatures, you can of course bring these costs down to suit your monthly budget. On the other hand, that’s the cost of a small coffee in most high street coffee shops, and we can guarantee you’ll get far more enjoyment out of some hydrotherapy right in your own backyard.
If you’re considering buying a hot tub, and you’re worried about choosing the most energy efficient and cost effective spa, take a look at our Hot Tub Buyer’s Guide.
CHEMICALS
Depending on how often you use the spa you could be spending anywhere from £15-20 a month on chemicals. Most of this cost will go towards sanitisers, pH adjusters, and test strips. Hydropool North West provides a starter chemical kit with each new hot tub or swim spa purchase, which can last up to 3 months.
TO SUM IT UP
On average the monthly cost for a hot tub will range from £75 - £95 (including chemicals), depending on the season and usage. Cheaper than going to spa every month! We’d recommend checking your electricity bills for your cost per kWh and compare to the UK average to get a better idea. Consider buying and installing a heat pump, which we use on our home tub ourselves, to lower costs even more.
