Hot tub running costs
Author
Discussion

Pcot

Original Poster:

863 posts

205 months

Saturday 29th October 2011
quotequote all
I've bought a hot tub, and was wondering if its more cost effective to leave the tub running, or switch it off while not in use.
From cold, its takes approx 10 hours to reach a temperature of 36 degrees.
It will be used approx every other day, or maybe left for 3 days without use.

Paulbav

2,144 posts

258 months

Saturday 29th October 2011
quotequote all
Pcot said:
It will be used approx every other day, or maybe left for 3 days without use.
For the first month...... hehe

caziques

2,808 posts

191 months

Saturday 29th October 2011
quotequote all
The warmer the water the more heat it will lose. Hence maintaining a temperature will cost you more.

Of course the way to reduce running costs is to use a hot water heat pump - only problem is that this is a significant capital cost.

Running costs reduced to 33% versus 1500 pound cost of heat pump.

In the short term always have decent cover fitted when not in use.

Pcot

Original Poster:

863 posts

205 months

Saturday 29th October 2011
quotequote all
Paulbav said:
For the first month...... hehe
You are probably right, that's why i bought a second hand one. It will be up for sale in the new year, if its not getting used.
I'm more concerned about the running costs currently!!

CanadianScot

1,916 posts

189 months

Saturday 29th October 2011
quotequote all
We had one in the States that a friend gave us. It was used about 5 times over 7 years.

The novelty definitely wore off. On the plus side, as a result of this the running costs were minimal hehe

Pcot

Original Poster:

863 posts

205 months

Saturday 29th October 2011
quotequote all
caziques said:
The warmer the water the more heat it will lose. Hence maintaining a temperature will cost you more.
So, should i be reducing the heat whilst its not in use?
Thanks for the heat pump advise.
Its got an insulated cover.
Thanks.

caziques

2,808 posts

191 months

Saturday 29th October 2011
quotequote all
As a rough guess, assuming the hot tub loses 4kWhrs a day if you maintain the temperature it would cost about 50p a day (but check the price of power).

If the hot tub can be plugged in, and doesn't have some sort of time clock, then consider using one if you know you want it up to temp as some known point in the future.

If the tub is inside all the energy it loses will heat the house, so it isn't wasted - but more expensive than gas.

Don't forget water treatment - ozone is best.

CraigVmax

12,248 posts

305 months

Monday 31st October 2011
quotequote all
Its not great for them to be turned off and on all the time. If you do turn it off you need to decommission and empty it properly really.

Depends on how good the insulation is as to how much it will cost you to run but I'd always leave it on.

I had one about 8 years ago and used it all the time.

I just got another one and loving it.

Obiwonkeyblokey

5,400 posts

263 months

Monday 31st October 2011
quotequote all
I use mine about 4 tmes a week so keep it on all the time. If im away for a few days then I turn the temp down to about 30 so that it it doesnt take too long to heat up again when we return. I run mine at 40 degrees as I dont find 36 hot enough!

renmure

4,803 posts

247 months

Monday 31st October 2011
quotequote all
We use ours 3 or 4 times / week on avg. More in winter, less in summer. It is fairly expensive Hotsprings Envoy 6 person one. The advertised running costs when we bought it 5 years ago were £3.50/week (that was low compared to most of the other brands. It seemed cheaper purchase price came with higher running costs. Hotsprings would also fit an Energy consumption meter to demonstrate the running costs if you wanted so I guess it was fairly accurate) I would imagine it would be a fair bit more than that now.

Because it is outdoors we tend to use it as an evening / night thing under the stars, particularly if it really is freezing outside or snowy. They are designed to run constantly and we keep ours at 40 degrees, sometimes in summer we may turn it down to 38.5/39 but you really can tell the difference. I can't imagine 36 degrees would be much fun. It takes about 24hrs to get up to temp from being cleaned out and filled up again every 3 months.

It was Mrs R who wanted it. I thought it would be a white elephant but went along with it. Great decision smile


Pcot

Original Poster:

863 posts

205 months

Monday 31st October 2011
quotequote all
Its set at 37 degrees now, as it felt a little cool!
40 was far to hot for us.

I guess I'll just have to wait for the quarterly bill to arrive.

Cheers all.

anonymous-user

77 months

Monday 7th May 2012
quotequote all
Pcot said:
Its set at 37 degrees now, as it felt a little cool!
40 was far to hot for us.

I guess I'll just have to wait for the quarterly bill to arrive.

Cheers all.
Sorry to resurrect an old thread...
What are the real world running costs?
My wife is nagging me to get one.I say its madness to get another energy-hungry appliance. How bad is it?!

CraigVmax

12,248 posts

305 months

Monday 7th May 2012
quotequote all
Jimboka, if a wife agrees to toys, don't question it you skinflint!

eliot

11,988 posts

277 months

Tuesday 8th May 2012
quotequote all
Mine is set to 38 degrees. Used nearly every day for the last two years.
Electricity costs are pretty brutal - i would say about £1.50 to £2.00 a day. At my old house i used to run it on overnight 'cheap' electric, but it's proving to be cheaper to have in on flat rate electric since moving.

anonymous-user

77 months

Tuesday 8th May 2012
quotequote all
CraigVmax said:
Jimboka, if a wife agrees to toys, don't question it you skinflint!
Worse case scenario looks like £60 a month then. Which will probably go up to £100 a month in a couple of years. I dont spend that much on petrol. I think I'll show who wears the trousers and say no to it (by text of course!).

eliot

11,988 posts

277 months

Tuesday 8th May 2012
quotequote all
Here's the graphs from my current cost engergy monitor for the whole house, this month vs last month.
http://tinyurl.com/82pyvbo
About ~30Kw a day.

Pcot

Original Poster:

863 posts

205 months

Tuesday 8th May 2012
quotequote all
Jimboka said:
Sorry to resurrect an old thread...
What are the real world running costs?
My wife is nagging me to get one.I say its madness to get another energy-hungry appliance. How bad is it?!
It adds approx £150 per quarter to the bill.

The novelty did wear off, as i knew it would.

We use it on a monthly basis now. I fill it on a Thursday evening, heat it to 38 overnight, then use it all weekend, once a month.

anonymous-user

77 months

Tuesday 8th May 2012
quotequote all
Pcot said:
It adds approx £150 per quarter to the bill.

The novelty did wear off, as i knew it would.

We use it on a monthly basis now. I fill it on a Thursday evening, heat it to 38 overnight, then use it all weekend, once a month.
Thanks for the real world info. Funny how the hot-tub websites seem to suggest about 80p a day running costs!

CraigVmax

12,248 posts

305 months

Tuesday 8th May 2012
quotequote all
Jimboka said:
CraigVmax said:
Jimboka, if a wife agrees to toys, don't question it you skinflint!
Worse case scenario looks like £60 a month then. Which will probably go up to £100 a month in a couple of years. I dont spend that much on petrol. I think I'll show who wears the trousers and say no to it (by text of course!).
Ha, good man wink

eliot

11,988 posts

277 months

Wednesday 9th May 2012
quotequote all
Jimboka said:
Thanks for the real world info. Funny how the hot-tub websites seem to suggest about 80p a day running costs!
Most domestic hot tubs have 3kw heaters, so that's 33pence an hour. They need around 6-8 hours of heating per 24 hours depending on outside and water temp - plus the 24hr circulation pump.