Anyone regret getting a hot tub?

[school17777]

So, we are thinking of getting one.  What has been your experience owning one?

[Ottakee]

I really want one too.  Have for years. I worry about the upkeep and costs....esp since I am in cold and snowy West Michigan.

[prairiewindmomma]

Nope.

We purchased a house that had an existing hot tub.  We do the quarterly drain/clean/refills and a weekly top off of chemicals. We turn the heat down in the summer and operate it as a pool (with a shade cover, even).  In the winter, we use it a lot more.  

It has been essential for me with my rheumatoid arthritis....both in pain relief and in maintaining range of motion.

Our running expenses is probably $80/month, counting in the electricity to keep the heater going in the hot tub along with the chemicals. ETA: It is totally worth it to get the super duty insulated cover.

Edited July 2, 2020 by prairiewindmomma

[katilac]

We had the Intex inflatable kind for a few years. It was great. A fair amount of cleaning and upkeep, just like having a pool. Sometimes I want another one, sometimes I'm like, nah, we have enough going on. 

That type generally only lasts a few years but also only cost a few hundred dollars. If you are thinking about one of the more elaborate ones, you might try this first to see how it works out in reality. 

[KungFuPanda]

2 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Nope.

We purchased a house that had an existing hot tub.  We do the quarterly drain/clean/refills and a weekly top off of chemicals. We turn the heat down in the summer and operate it as a pool (with a shade cover, even).  In the winter, we use it a lot more.  

It has been essential for me with my rheumatoid arthritis....both in pain relief and in maintaining range of motion.

Our running expenses is probably $80/month, counting in the electricity to keep the heater going in the hot tub along with the chemicals. ETA: It is totally worth it to get the super duty insulated cover.

It never occurred to me that a hot top would cost that much per month to run. It makes sense, but I never imagined that price tag. 

[DawnM]

My husband wants one, but I don't like them.  I can sit in them for about 10 min. before I overheat and my heart starts racing and I feel like I am going to pass out.  I don't like hot baths for the same reason.

But that is just me.

[prairiewindmomma]

27 minutes ago, KungFuPanda said:

It never occurred to me that a hot top would cost that much per month to run. It makes sense, but I never imagined that price tag. 

We are in a HCOL area where they bill water as if it were unicorn tears and electricity is about as bad, 400 gallon tub, and I keep it at 102F rather than 96-98F with a filtration cycle running hourly.....  The chemicals themselves run somewhere around $20-25/month on our bromine system.  The prices fluctuate...they are higher at the spa store, but even on amazon they fluctuate quite a bit.  The $25/month does include the cost of the quarterly purge, test strips, as well as the balancing chemicals.  I track it in YNAB, so I'm pretty sure of our actual cost.

It may be a bit cheaper to run the tub where utilities aren't quite as dear.

Edited July 2, 2020 by prairiewindmomma

[rebcoola]

We have an inflatable one and it's great.  The cost has been pretty reasonable I haven't even noticed an increase in our electric bill.  Just the cost of the chemicals which is not much either.

[Junie]

29 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

We are in a HCOL area where they bill water as if it were unicorn tears and electricity is about as bad, 400 gallon tub, and I keep it at 102F rather than 96-98F with a filtration cycle running hourly.....  The chemicals themselves run somewhere around $20-25/month on our bromine system.  The prices fluctuate...they are higher at the spa store, but even on amazon they fluctuate quite a bit.  The $25/month does include the cost of the quarterly purge, test strips, as well as the balancing chemicals.  I track it in YNAB, so I'm pretty sure of our actual cost.

It may be a bit cheaper to run the tub where utilities aren't quite as dear.

LOL.  We have the same billing system. 😞

[klmama]

49 minutes ago, Dotwithaperiod said:

This house had one when we moved in. We don’t use it much, never once it gets cold. It’s miserable to be sitting all nice and bubbly warm, then have to climb out in to the awful,cold air and run all drippy wet into the house. It’s nice during the summer months, though. 

You could think of the dripping run as "cold shock," which is supposed to be good for the immune system....

[PrincessMommy]

2 hours ago, DawnM said:

My husband wants one, but I don't like them.  I can sit in them for about 10 min. before I overheat and my heart starts racing and I feel like I am going to pass out.  I don't like hot baths for the same reason.

But that is just me.

I like the hot part of it, but I hate the clorine feeling on my skin.   I have to go shower afterwards- which to me seems like it defeats the purpose. I enjoy my hot baths.  

Edited July 3, 2020 by PrincessMommy

[Paige]

We have a bromine system instead of chlorine and I don't notice any chemical feel to it. DH uses it a lot for  pain issues and I think it's worth it for him. I like it in the right weather- not too hot, not too cold. I hate coming out when it's freezing outside. I get so bored, though. I can't just sit there for 15-20 min like DH. He uses it several times a week and I can go months without using it.

Ours came with the house and it's a pretty nice one, but a little older and maintenance on it has been a pain! We have to pay whatever the hot tub repair person wants because the cost of removing it since it's sunk into the deck would be outrageous. Don't build a deck around it if you get one.

[happi duck]

2 hours ago, rebcoola said:

We have an inflatable one and it's great.  The cost has been pretty reasonable I haven't even noticed an increase in our electric bill.  Just the cost of the chemicals which is not much either.

What brand do you have?  Does is have a cover?

I never knew about inflatable until this thread!

[EmseB]

We disliked the hot tub in our rental. It kind of felt like taking a family bath. We just never used it very much. 

And maintaining it was spendy with chemicals and such, I'd rather just deal with a pool if I have to have a standing body of water in my back yard.

[Liz CA]

2 hours ago, PrincessMommy said:

I like the hot part of it, but I hate the clorine feeling on my skin.   I have to go shower afterwards- which to me seems like it defeats the purpose. I enjoy my hot baths.  

 

I would be interested in the saltwater kind for this very reason. Anyone have experience with those?

[KungFuPanda]

5 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

We are in a HCOL area where they bill water as if it were unicorn tears and electricity is about as bad, 400 gallon tub, and I keep it at 102F rather than 96-98F with a filtration cycle running hourly.....  The chemicals themselves run somewhere around $20-25/month on our bromine system.  The prices fluctuate...they are higher at the spa store, but even on amazon they fluctuate quite a bit.  The $25/month does include the cost of the quarterly purge, test strips, as well as the balancing chemicals.  I track it in YNAB, so I'm pretty sure of our actual cost.

It may be a bit cheaper to run the tub where utilities aren't quite as dear.

That makes sense.  I'm in a HCOL area where power is expensive, but water is much less.  If anything we complain about getting too much water.  The stuff just falls from the sky.  My mother is in a lower COL state and I don't think she spends $80 per month on her pool.

[easypeasy]

Oh definitely. Big waste of time and $$. It was a PITA to get installed and then was rarely used and another PITA to help someone when they came to pick it up and get it outta my way! lol

[ElizabethB]

The motors also burn out every 5 to 10 years, and are expensive and often a pain to replace, you should ask about motor cost and ease of replacement.

We have friends who really like theirs, this is their 3rd motor, theirs have lasted less than average, but they use it a fair amount.  

I don't personally like them, but they like theirs, but it does cost a lot between water, electricity, and new motors.

[school17777]

On 7/2/2020 at 11:12 PM, Liz CA said:

 

I would be interested in the saltwater kind for this very reason. Anyone have experience with those?

From what I read, the saltwater kind is hard on the pipes (maybe?), anyway, it’s hard on something, so until that’s resolved, saltwater in hot tubs hasn’t taken off.

[school17777]

We put a deposit on one tonight.  We have a week to change our minds.

[Pam in CT]

re getting out

On July 2, 2020 at 6:58 PM, Dotwithaperiod said:

This house had one when we moved in. We don’t use it much, never once it gets cold. It’s miserable to be sitting all nice and bubbly warm, then have to climb out in to the awful,cold air and run all drippy wet into the house. It’s nice during the summer months, though. 

 

On July 2, 2020 at 7:48 PM, klmama said:

You could think of the dripping run as "cold shock," which is supposed to be good for the immune system....

Framing is all, isn't it?  LOL

One of my nearly-adult kids is REALLY pitching for us to get one.  I posted a week or so ago about our adventures as newborn chicken farmers; DS' idea is to put in a hot tub in a position that enables good viewing of the chicken antics.  Better'n teevee!

Do report back on how you like it, @school17777 !

[Carol in Cal.]

We have debated this for years.

Friends who have them seem to use them a lot at first and then completely stop.  OTOH, I am personally a hot bath person, so I think one would be great for me.  BUT, whenever we stay at a timeshare that has them, I take a hot bath instead of going out and then back in in my swimming suit.  I’m a little afraid I would do that at home, too.

PSA:  I have friends who are kind of urban homesteaders.  The guy was a mail carrier before he retired, and he used to do a lot of scrounging.  Someone on his route was getting rid of a hot tub with a broken motor, and he picked it up to refurbish but never got around to it.  So they half buried it (ie dug a big hole that it would fit about 2/3 of the height into) for temperature stability and started to raise big koi in it.  Twice a year they would move the koi to a holding tub (I think it was a wading pool that they filled with water a couple of days beforehand to let the chlorine evaporate before adding the fish) and dredge out all the slime at the bottom of the pool to add to their compost pile.  It was some of the richest compost stuff around.  Then when the koi got really big they would sell them.  Large fish like that are hard to find and quite expensive, so it was an easy way to make quite a bit of money.  All from a free, broken hot tub.

[dirty ethel rackham]

On 7/2/2020 at 5:58 PM, Dotwithaperiod said:

This house had one when we moved in. We don’t use it much, never once it gets cold. It’s miserable to be sitting all nice and bubbly warm, then have to climb out in to the awful,cold air and run all drippy wet into the house. It’s nice during the summer months, though. 

I thought the same thing.  But, back in college, I went on a band  trip in the late fall (meaning snow on the ground) and our host family had a hot tub.  I thought they were crazy to use it with snow on the ground.  Back then, I had very little cold tolerance.  It took some convincing to get us to try it, but it was heavenly.  We got warm (hot) enough in the tub that the race back to the house was refreshing rather than terribly cold.  That was the best sleep I've ever had in a sleeping bag on the floor.  

Any time we visit people who have one, I take advantage.  My back certainly loves it.   If I ever get too warm, I sit up on the edge out of the water to cool off.   😄

We don't have one and I've always wanted one. (The people we bought the house from had one, but they took it with them ☹️  But I just didn't have any extra bandwidth for the maintenance at the time.  Maybe we will get one to help with the aches and pains of getting older.  It would be great after a long shift at the hospital.