Once it’s fully installed and ready and waiting for you to use after a long and stressful day, a lot of joy can come from owning your very own hot tub. For all the joy that a hot tub can bring you, however, the real costs associated with buying one and maintaining it should be considered as somewhat of a reality check.
The aim is not to deter you from getting one, but rather just to open your eyes up to the realities involved.
You perhaps already have an idea that the purchase price is far from the overall costs associated with owning and maintaining a hot tub. Unless you’re a specialist installer who deals in the installation of hot tubs then installing a hot tub is definitely not a DIY job. You will have to get a professional installer in who can hook the unit up to the plumbing and sort out the electronics as well.
If you’re going for a permanently installed hot tub then there are considerations such as getting the platform prepared or the padding. You might even need to get the ground levelled in the case of an outdoor hot tub and those are some extra costs. You might perhaps need to get steps installed for access to the tub or you might even need some special decking designed and built to go with the style of your existing decking.
An electric line of around 220 volts (depending on where you live) will need to be run to the hot tub’s main power input, which will perhaps need to be protected from the elements whether it’s indoors or outdoors. This can cost up to £800 depending on where your electrician sources their supplies and the line will have to run to where the hot tub is to be located.
You’ll inevitably have to be prepared for an increased utility bill as well, with around £25 quoted by installers as the general figure to be added to your monthly bill. They’re only really trying to sell you the hot tub and the service because, in reality, it’s closer to around £80 during the winter months when you use the hot tub more and around £40 extra on a normal month’s usage.
Filters will need constant replacing if you want to maintain your hot tub according to the factory instructions, which works out to a replacement at intervals of every four to six months. Each filter will cost you around £35 and then there are costs associated with monitoring the water’s chemical composition.
Hot tubs are not unlike fish tanks with a need for their PH levels to be monitored constantly. You’ll also need to effect a sanitation system, either with bromine, chlorine or something similar to that. One complete set of chemicals and monitoring strips can cost up to £80 as well.
There’s a reason why hot tubs have a five-year warranty in general because that pretty much means every five years it’ll need a major service, so that’s another expense to consider.
For the hot tub owner who can come home after work and melt all their stress away, however, all these costs associated with having a hot tub are worth it.
Even if you’re just on a hot tub holiday in the UK, there are things you can do to still get the most out of your tub. Find out more here:
https://www.iknow-uk.com/article/2595-the_ultimate_guide_to_hot_tub_holidays