We are thinking of building a new house which would include a hot tub in its own room.
For those who have owned hot tubs can you give any advice?
Ex. How hard are they to clean?
Do they leak?
How often do you drain it?
Have you had problems with the motors and pumps?
Thanks.
If you’re anything like my parents, you’ll absolutely love it…for a few months. Then it’ll be nice to have…for a few more months. And by year 2, the cover will remain on it and it will turn into dusty shelf space.
I’ve had a one person hot tub in my garage for about five years and use it several times a week. Having it indoors is a really good idea and you’ll use it more than if it was outdoors. I drain and clean mine about every two months. I also use bromine instead of chlorine. It’s less corrosive on surrounding furniture and smells less harsh (like the water in amusement park rides.)
I’ve had one for over twenty years and I use it all the time. I love it. I used to do it myself but now I hire someone to drain and clean it once a year for $120. If you get a new one, you shouldn’t have any issues with leaks. Mine is in the back yard. It’s pretty much always hot tub weather in Santa Barbara. It would be ridiculous to have one indoors here.
Are you single and dating? If so it’s worth its weight in gold.
Yeah, I think they actually started as a fad in California. But they’re also great outside when its snowing like in Colorado. I also have used them as muscle therapy.
This will actually be in South Dakota as part of a new addition to the property. I want it indoors because I dont like keeping out the bugs and leaves. However this will also require a good drain and build a room for it (requires extra ventilation to remove moisture) and a kind of deck and stairs around it that also can dry quickly to stop mold forming. We will have this new addition as a feature of a planned B and B so I’m also thinking safety.
Urbanredneck is absolutely right. They are great when it’s snowing (or just very cold) and you have to wear a heavy robe to get to the tub. Much better than using it in warm weather.
The biggest problem I had with mine was that it kept blowing jets. This was a problem with the model I had and the jets it used. The jets had little ball bearings about the size of BBs. Every few times I used the tub, I’d find one jet on the bottom of the tub, along with a bunch of tiny ball bearings at the bottom. I’d unscrew the jet, take it in and exchange it, then come back and screw the new one in. Again, this was several years ago and I’m fairly confident problems like these have been addressed.
Leakage was never a problem for me. I was using solid tablets to treat it and had to remember to shock it every so often. This has probably changed as well.
Took us about a year to get over having a tub and our use went down significantly in the following years, though the kids still loved it.
Great idea the hot tub.
They do consume a lot of energy. Evaluate which is more efficient gas or electric for heating.
We use ours at least 3 times per week. It’s on the edge of our deck, with an amazing view. We drain it about 3 times per year, use bromine instead of chlorine, and have an “ozonator.”
No problems with leaks.
About 5 or 6 years in, a pump went out. Cost was about $350 to replace.
What I’m worried about is if I build a room and deck around it, can I get to essential parts if they need repaired or replaced?
You definitely have to plan for access to the access panels. I think it’s only one or two sides. (on mine, at least)
You could put a hatch in the deck and screw it down. As I said, we only needed to get in one time in five or six years.
I use a Softub. Google it.
I love it, had one since 1996. Use it year round, in the heat of summer and the minus 20 of winter.
It’s easy, comfortable, simple to set up and maintain. No plumbing, we fill it with a garden hose. No special electric, just get a heavy duty extension cord for it.
To keep the water pristine, all I need to do is check bromine level and pH once a week and adjust. Plus add a capful of SpaPerfect enzyme product to it once a week. and pop out and rinse the filter every month or so. Super simple. I change the water once a year, pretty much, though during that year I frequently overfill it with fresh water for gradual change.
Since using the enzymes, no problems with skin rashes, itches, or other user complaints.
We still use it 2-3 x a week, most weeks, it’s on the deck outside the bedroom. Well worth it. Not too pricey, depends on the cost of electricity in your area.
Local Softub dealer’s been super helpful with the rare need for maintenance.
I have had one since 1988, it gets used regularly. I have put two motor pump assemblies in it and one set of switches. The air bubbler is not working and I don’t know why. The fan for it works. All I can figure is that there must be a blockage somewhere. I assume it has some kind of anti siphon valve which is most likely stuck from sitting dry for long periods.
When we built our house it had a “hot tub room”. The only thing I would do different is somehow plumb a drain to the outside, as of now we run a garden hose out the side door. Check the chemicals once a week or every other week and change the water trice a year.
Check in to extra bracing for the floor and special electrical with its own breaker in the room. Also an oversized bath fan with an automatic start for moisture control.
Use it way more often than if it was sitting outside.
Our experience is exactly the opposite. Our home has a large jacuzzi tub in the master bathroom. But we wanted a relaxing soak outdoors. Once we installed our Softub outside, I think we’ve used the indoor tub to soak in maybe 6 times in the intervening 24 years. Sitting in the outdoor hot tub during a gentle snowfall, or during a meteor shower at night is just glorious. YMMV.
Not that it ever gets all that cold where I live but the colder that it is outside, the more I enjoy the tub.
I like to read while soaking. That’s a lot easier to do indoors during foul weather and where the light is predictable.
We have one outside which we installed not long after we moved in, about 23 years ago. It’s never leaked, its reliability was pretty good, and we used it a lot when we first bought it. But it costs a fortune to run, and we haven’t used it in probably a decade. Being outside it wasn’t hard to clean. Just not worth the huge power costs.
I have no idea if it still works.
At the Colorado resorts they are outside so no robe, you just walk VERY fast thru the snow and get in fast. Fun to be in hot water yet have snow in your hair.
I think they’ve gotten more efficient in the past 23 years. I don’t know how much ours costs to operate (the guy who sold it said “$1.00 per day.”) I don’t notice a difference in our power bill when we turn ours off for some reason.
My neighbor had a leak and they needed to take the whole tub in for repair since all the plumbing was foamed in with urethane foam. The room was built around the tub, with no way to get the tub out.
He was quite disgusted with the whole situation. Maybe enough time has passed so I can ask how he resolved the issue.