Anyone have a Hot Tub?

FISHGUTS

FISHGUTS

FISHGUTS

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Joined
7 Jul 2004
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870
Location
N.W. England
We've had a lazy spa for a year & really enjoyed it (for it's cost), but now I fancy a proper one.

I'm looking for owners advice. There seems to be no advice on the internet on brands, owners experiences, etc.

There seems to be a huge difference in price from the ebay cheap China models, to getting one from say the hot tub superstore, who's products may be overpriced due to the 0% finance over 5 years??

I'm tending to shy away from the cheap unbranded Chinese stuff as I've heard & read too may horror stories.
Is it you get what you pay for like most products?

But then again the price differences for similar looking models vary by about 5k.
I'm tempted to buy a private seller, used, branded hot tub off ebay, that's 1-2 years old.

I can afford 5-10k on one. Finance not essential.
And yes I know it won't add value to my house. I'm not looking for that.

Cheers for any advice.
 
The motor went on ours and was unrepairable. It wasn't used much either tbh. A proper swimming pool IMO is worth saving up for even a small mini one with jets. It will cost 5 times as much but last forever and easily repairable for low cost.
 
Psycho Sonny said:
The motor went on ours and was unrepairable. It wasn't used much either tbh. A proper swimming pool IMO is worth saving up for even a small mini one with jets. It will cost 5 times as much but last forever and easily repairable for low cost.
Click to expand...

But unless it's heated, with the UK climate you can only really use a swimming pool for a few days a year, whereas a hot tub you can use even if it's below 0 and snowing
 
FISHGUTS said:
We've had a lazy spa for a year & really enjoyed it (for it's cost), but now I fancy a proper one.

I'm looking for owners advice. There seems to be no advice on the internet on brands, owners experiences, etc.

There seems to be a huge difference in price from the ebay cheap China models, to getting one from say the hot tub superstore, who's products may be overpriced due to the 0% finance over 5 years??

I'm tending to shy away from the cheap unbranded Chinese stuff as I've heard & read too may horror stories.
Is it you get what you pay for like most products?

But then again the price differences for similar looking models vary by about 5k.
I'm tempted to buy a private seller, used, branded hot tub off ebay, that's 1-2 years old.

I can afford 5-10k on one. Finance not essential.
And yes I know it won't add value to my house. I'm not looking for that.

Cheers for any advice.
Click to expand...

How did you get on?
 
as above..

We got a Lazy Spa last year and got quite a bit of use from it. I've told the wife that i'll be her a proper one next year. The thing I have found with proper hot tubs is the seats.. I like to be deep down up to my shoulders..
 
When we were considering one, we were looking for a 2 person one with 2 lounger seats. At the time, most ~2 people ones only had a single lounger and 2 sit upright seats.
 
I've ended up with a new branded Chinese tub, a Platinum Spas, Kenya.
Chinese made, but with a semi decent american acrylic shell & american pumps & controls.
It has 2 loungers, which I wanted.

The what spa website was informative & the free book they send out was good.
http://www.whatspa.co.uk/

I looked at a lot of fairly new second hand ones on ebay of various makes, the trouble with these I found out, was the warranty is generally not transferable.
Also the cost of moving is often prohibitive.
I learned the shell condition is the most important thing as generally everything else can be fixed fairly easily.

After asking a lot of questions to different sellers, both internet & shop I was pretty happy with the quality I'd be getting for the money, the insulation wouldn't be the best or are the speakers.

I got a fantastic price on it as a straight purchase without finance. Buying out of season definitely helped getting a great deal.
I've had it for around 3 weeks now and I'm more than happy with it & the quality for the price. I guess time will tell on this though.

I've spent just over £100 on extra insulation stuff.
2 sheets of 50mm kingspan for the side panels, 25mtrs of foil bubble insulation, which I've insulated most of the internal pipes with & wrapped all the internal sides and put a few more layers on the floor.
I also bought a pool thermal cover that sits on the water.
It's been a bit time consuming doing the pipes, but was easy enough & has made a massive difference to heat loss & reducing the noise of the pumps.
 
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Hi, we have just purchased a hot tub, and wonder what everyone's weekly/monthly electric costs are please?
Any ideas to help us with this?
Ours are through the roof?
 
It's around £500 to £600
in electricity & chemicals a year. I buy chemicals in bulk though.
I bought a pool cover as an extra insulation material for it, which makes a big difference(IMHO) for the minor inconvenience of pulling it off & putting back on.
That is with use of around 3-4 days a week at 30 mins a shot.
What hot tub do you have & insulation levels?
 
Sorry to hijack the thread but I am just wondering... if the hot tub is only to be used once in several months, theres no point runnint it constantly?

We currently buying a house and owners are leaving a hot tub, which they often use and run it 24/7.
But we wont probably use it at all untill summer or use it very rarely.

Thanks
 
Yes the Santorini is different layout, same setup/insultion.
I knew it was a decent shell & pump, but crap insulation when I bought it.....but you can save thousands on a new price of a better tub for doing it yourself.
I did my homework.
Tbh I could still do better.
I put 50mm celotex in all exterior panels & the accessable floor areas. & all pipes have been done in pipe lagging, which again is cheap.
I probably spent £100 to £150 on insulation. It's a ball ache in labour, maybe 12-16 hours total, but if your a handy fella it can save thousands.
The pool cover material as an extra that sits on the water top is a massive improvement, check out ebay for that.
In essence you can turn a cheaper hot tub into a hugely better one if you put the effort in.
 
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RDCorporation said:
Sorry to hijack the thread but I am just wondering... if the hot tub is only to be used once in several months, theres no point runnint it constantly?

We currently buying a house and owners are leaving a hot tub, which they often use and run it 24/7.
But we wont probably use it at all untill summer or use it very rarely.

Thanks
Click to expand...

No not for that usage, but if your not really interested, is there any point in having it?
 
Thanks for that information.
I wonder what % this will save me if your using £1 per day we are £3.50 per day, quite a difference.
Here's hoping it works for us.

Yes we have it 24/7 temp set at 38.5.
 
In summer I had it at 37 deg, now between 38.to 38.5. If it's giving wet & windy for more than 3-4 days & I know I wont use it I'll turn it down to the minimum of 26deg.
Where are you & what is your usage?
Interested in what you got told on buying it?
 
We are in the North.
We are using it 6 days a week for 30 mins, two persons.
26kwh per day for the tub alone.
We will try the insulation and see if it better.
We wondered if something was broken.
 
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