So, I’m buying a house that finally has room outside for a hot tub.
What I am wondering is how much is this whole thing going to set me back (ballpark obviously).
Can anyone give me an idea of the cost of a 4-person tub, cost of installation, and running costs?
I’ve tried looking at various web sites, but it seems you have to call for an estimate to get any kind of pricing…
And my apologies if these hot tub questions weren’t quite what people were hoping for.
I don’t really have much of an idea as to price, but I can tell you that your local warehouse club may have a selection, depending on the time of year (I was just in BJ’s wholesale, and they had a 6 person tub for under $3000).
I suepect installation cost would vary depending on your location, but it’s really not that complicated; you just need a suitable concrete pad and an appropriate outdoor electrical hookup (usually 220-240 V). The tub manufacturer can tell you the thickness of the pad required, after which you could just call around to your local concrete companies to get a price. The electrical requirement is pretty easy; if you’re planning on installing the tub near your house, you could have the connection installed on an outside wall. If it’s going to be farther away then you’ll have to run underground wiring which will cost significantly more.
The tub manufacturer could probably also give you an idea of approximate yearly costs (or at least power consumption) based on your location.
The electrical can be a bit more involved, as there are certain distances from the edge of the tub and/or the upper plane of the water where light fixtures, receptacles, and such may not be located. This is why I insist on getting a manufacturer’s spec book such that I know the actual size of the appliance, and can then determine where it is permissible to be located. Then, of course, I have to explain to Mr. & Mrs. Homeowner why it can’t go right where they want it without additional electrical work for which they haven’t planned. 
Knowing what edition of the NEC is being used by your municipality is a good place to start.
I’m not planning to install this myself. Me and electricity tend to lead to burned eyebrows.
We bought a 7-person hot tub 3 years ago and it was right around $5000, including delivery and set up. We had to run an electrical line to it, which cost us about $150 if I remember correctly. The running costs aren’t too bad because it’s very well insulated (get a good cover,) and after initial heating the heater only comes on when the temp drops below the threshold you set.
The chemicals are costly though. I spend about $300 - 350 a year on chemicals.
It’s worth it though. We LOVE it.
Do not buy a hot tub from Home Depot or Lowes. Be very careful if you are buying one from the web. There are, as with most things these days, a bunch of shoddy Chinese units ‘floating around’.
I would really recommend that you go to a spa store and wheel and deal. The margins are pretty good and you should be able to knock 'em down a bit.
You should be able to get a decent brand name 4-5 person tub for $4000. Do your best internet research on the brands being offered by the store. If you have no luck, my dealer is not far from you in Westminster , MD. Feel free to PM me for details.
You will need a 50A 240V supply with a GFI device either at the tub or at the panelboard. You will also need a receptacle similarly protected within a certain distance - can’t remember the exact details.
This will set you back about $300-$500 depending on the length of run from the panel.
Running costs: Allow about $130-$150 per year on chemicals. A filter for mine is about $30 and you will need a couple (one will come with it).
Your power costs will depend on your location and the average outside temperature, the desired temperature of the water and how long you sit in it with the lid off. I keep mine on ‘Economy’ and crank it at the weekends which is when it is used most often.
In all honesty, I haven’t noticed any increase in power usage although we have cut back in the house (CFL lamps etc). I have mine timed to cycle during off peak hours (we have time of day electrical metering). I guess allow $10 per month but that is probably high.
Good luck.
Does the tub have to be electrical? My friends had a gas-fired tub which was great on a snowy evening. (Then they moved. 
)
Never heard of a gas fired unit. Some cheap spa-in-a-box type units use the heat from the pump motor to heat the water. I’ve never tried one but I can’t imagine how that would replace the 5KW heater in mine. There’s no way that the motor heat is going to keep the water at 102F when it is below freezing outside.
As for the cover. One should come with the tub. It should be at least 3" high in the center tapering off to 2" at the edges. That is the minimum but is fine. I get frost on mine with 102 degree water less than 8" below.
There was a small boiler in a shed nearby, with feed and return lines to the tub. Plus the usual pumps and so on. I’m not sure how old the unit was; it came with the house.
Get a Softub. We love ours. Low maintenance, economical, etc. Plug it in (it does take a heavy duty extension cord, but your local hardware has that), fill it with a hose, and away you go! We’ve had 6 in ours.
the new models have disco lights!
Thanks for all the help here. I am trying to work out if I can squeeze it in this year (depending on bonus) or if I am going to have to be all responsible…
I don;t know whether it was that softub site or not, but right when I looked at it, my browser froze and without my permission downloaded the Awola scamware “anti-spyware” program, then shut down and rebooted my machine. And I just spent a nasty half-hour purging my system of it. Beware!
Around here when the last wave of electrical rate increases hit, craigslist was swarming with people giving hot tubs away for free because they couldn’t handle or warrant the fifty bucks a month to keep the thing running.
Of course, I don’t know if they were keeping the tub at 100+ all the time, or if they only cranked up the heat for a couple hours on Saturday night, but $40-50 per month for electricity was a recurring theme.
ETA - don’t go to that softubs site. It will try to download something called Bloodhound.Exploit.109 on you.
Sorry about that link then guys, but I’ve honestly used that link and posted it here for years now. I’ve reported the trouble.
Here’s a working link to softub, offically tested by me and seems to be non-buggy. http://www.softubexpress.com/index.html
Again, apologies. But that old site worked fine for me for years.
Is there somewhere online that one could find out the general cost of buying one of these puppies?
The first link worked fine for me. The new one is a maintenance products site which doesn’t seem to have the actual tubs (that I could find).
Wow. For $50 per month, they must have the cover off 24/7 or have a very cheapy made, badly insulated tub. Like the Home Depot units.
I googled “softub prices” and got lots of hits.
2 person 140 gallon $3K
4 person 220 gallon $3.9k
6 person 300 gallon $4.5K
my 2 cents,
if you are economical minded, or of ecological bent, you can find wood fired hot tubs. these are not spas and have no whirlpool jets,as far as i know. i do not have a web site,i beleive you can find them in “mother earth” magazine.
enjoy 
nadahappycamperI love the idea of Snorkel and Scuba woodfired hot tubs. The stoves are actually underwater, in the tub with you, seperated by a wall. Nothing to plug in, just make sure you chop enough wood.