Don't Buy A Hot Tub Until You Read This
BY MIKEL HUBBARD
FORMER HGTV PRODUCER | CO-FOUNDER, THE HOST CO |
OWNER, TIMES EIGHT PROPERTY & DESIGN
A hot tub generally means MORE bookings and can mean a higher rate per night, so easy peasy, put in a hot tub, right? Buuut… there’s a lot that goes into owning a hot tub. Read on for our top ten pre-plunge tips.
1. Your monthly power bill will go up… A LOT. Get ready to spend $200-300 more PER MONTH if your home is heavy use and the hot tub is running a lot. Regardless, most spa technicians will advise you to leave the tub around 95 degrees when not in use so it’s always using a fair amount of energy.
2. Maintenance isn’t cheap. If you’re lucky, your cleaner will be able to adjust the pH with chemicals and fish out any debris, but generally, you’ll want a hot tub person who can make regular visits 1-2 times per week. This can run anywhere from $100-200 per month. In an ideal world, they can come before every visit. You may not be able to charge your guests more per night with a hot tub, but you better believe you’ll be giving them a discount if they open the hot tub and there’s an ashtray floating face down or an error message you can’t troubleshoot over the phone.
3. Consider getting a marbled and darker fiberglass shell in your hot tub. The white shell looks so clean! But it also scratches, and when those scratches fill with dirt, your tub will start to look dirty no matter how clean it is.
4. Placement is key. You can’t just put your tub on dirt or gravel, so know that if it isn’t going on a hard, flat surface like a deck or a cement patio, a cement pad will have to be poured which ups the cost. Also, make sure your electrical panel can handle the extra amps.
5. Be sure to ask your insurance about including it on your policy. Although rare, hot tub accidents can happen and you’ll want to make sure your insurance covers anything.
6. If your hot tub is above ground, consider where people are going to get in and put their things. Will you need steps, a coat rack or a bench nearby for towels and sandals?
7. You’ll need to secure your cover. The clips that a hot tub comes with tend to break. Consider rope, a bar or another way to keep your lid on your hot tub so it doesn’t blow off and fill with debris.
8. Your guests will probably want separate pool towels for the hot tub, so make sure your cleaner has enough time to wash and dry these as well.
9. Be careful buying discontinued or used spas. Having access to parts is essential and that can make an older spa a useless spa if there’s no way to fix it.
10. Test it out! Your instinct may be to buy an inexpensive spa online and have them ship it. But it pays to see your spa in person and run through how it works so it doesn’t have a weird or difficult interface. You’d be surprised how spa manufacturers can overthink something as simple as temp up and temp down.
What are you spa horror or success stories? We want to hear in the comments below!