Hot Tub Running Costs Explained

Hot Tub running costs have become a hot topic in recent years and rightly so! With energy costs at an unprecedented high it is certainly a good idea to find out how much your hot tub will actually cost you to run every month once it is bubbling away in your garden.

We often find that our customers don’t believe us when we tell them about the cost of running a Softub hot tub compared to other brands so this article is explaining the difference between different types of hot tubs and how this will affect your hot tub running costs.

Is Softub the most economical hot tub brand on the market?

The short answer is yes 😊

Softub is the only brand that uses ‘Heat Recovery Technology’. This means Softub combines pump, motor & heating into one Hydromate unit. All other hot tubs have a pump and a separate heater. Softub does not actually have a heater at all! Instead, the excess heat from the motor is recovered and recycled to heat the filtered water for free, reducing energy consumption to a minimum and keeping hour hot tub running costs as low as possible!

This means that a Softub hot tub can heat up to 40 degrees, have all the jets running and still only use 950 watts per hour – that is less than 1kWh!

Your average acrylic hot tub contains a 3 kilowatt heater as well as at least one 2HP pump, that is an awful lot of energy consumption, & unless your heart is set on an acrylic and you are happy to pay much higher hot tub running costs it may well be worth considering a Softub hot tub instead. 

Drawing less than one kilowatt per hour, Softub really can’t be beaten when it comes to energy efficiency  and there is a reason why our team is always putting a meter on our display tubs to show customers how much the tub actually uses while most other brands will try and avoid the topic altogether.

What are the hot tub running costs of a Softub hot tub?

A Softub draws 950 watts per hour when it is going full throttle, – heating the water and running all the jets. While it is sitting on standby and at temperature the running costs are next to nothing at only a few watts per hour. Given this very low energy consumption your Softub running costs are around £1.20 per day around £8.70 per week, £35 per month & around £420 per year.

(This is based on actually using your Softub several times a week and running it throughout the year! Some brands might quote you running costs that are based on what the product uses whilst on standby rather than when it is actually being used which can be extrremely deceptive! A tub uses more energy as soon as you take the lid off and switch the jets on because it needs to keep the water at temperature or bring it back up to temperature after your dip so always ask for running costs based on 30 minute usage several times a week!)

The reason a Softub can achieve such unrivaled energy efficiency is partly due to the Heat Recovery Technology we mentioned above as well as Softub’s Polybond insulated foam, a NASA engineered material that is also used to make space capsules. (and space is a pretty cold place so that stuff needs to insulate WELL!) The Softub basin is made from this high performing insulation foam, making it comfortable to sit in, light weight but crucially a Softub is made from pure insulation which is the key to economically running your hot tub in the cheapest way possible!

Always look for spas that are fully foam filled our use multiple layers of high density, water repellent, closed cell polyurethane foam insulation that will keep heating & running costs as low as possible -otherwise you just end up heating the air around your hot tub.

What are the hot tub running costs for an acrylic?

The cost of running a hot tub can vary hugely depending on the quality of insulation as well as the number of pumps and the size of the heater.

An acrylic hard shell with standard insulation, a 3 kilowatt heater and a 2HP pump would be costing you somewhere in the region of £5 per day £35 per week, £140 per month, & £1,680 per year – a substantial difference at almost £1200 more per year than the running costs for a Softub! Over the lifetime of your hot tub this might mean paying tens of thousands more in electricity bills!

How do we know? We put one of those meter readers monitors on an acrylic hot tub and actually checked! (Plus, we regularly get customers with acrylic hot tubs calling us to find out more about Softubs and we ask them what they pay a month for their electric… if it is a bigger spa with more pumps or bigger heaters it is of course even more expensive to heat – but best case scenario you are looking at around £4-£5 per day for a small acrylic – 4 times more than for a Softub!)

If you’re seriously thinking of purchasing a hot tub you may feel like taking a chance on a cheaper tub ( after all there are tubs currently available on the market for around £2 – £3k!) – however, what could appear to be a ‘bargain’ at the time could have you running for the hills when the electric bills arrive! 

What are the hot tub running costs for an inflatable spa?

The worst culprits for crippling running costs are inflatable hot tubs! Having no insulation at all they keep losing the heat through the bottom, sides and top and need to constantly reheat the water- you may as well throw your hard earned money up in the air! An inflatable with a 3kw heater would use 3kWh all day, so if you pay £0.35 per kWh this would add up to £8.40 over a 24 hour period, £252 per month, £3024 per year – £2600 more per year than for a Softub!

What else could affect the running costs of my hot tub?

This might be stating the obvious but the running costs for your hot tub will depend on the tariff you pay. A good rule of thumb is to add up the power consumption of the hot tub you are looking at, e.g. 3kw heater + 2 HP pump = 3.4 kWh. If your tariff is £0.35 then the tub will cost you 3.4 x 0.35 = £1.19 for every hour that it is operating, not only the time you might actually sit in it but also the time it needs to filter the water and maintain the heat in the tub – 3-4 hours a day should suffice unless the insulation on your hot tub is shocking.

The time you spend in your hot tub will also affect the running costs – the longer the thermal cover comes off, the more heat is lost and the harder the spa needs to work to come back up to temperature.

Outdoor temperature will also impact your running costs – the colder it is the harder your spa needs to work – especially if the insulation on the tub is not very good.

And finally, the temperature you actually set the spa at has an impact on your running costs. If your tub needs to maintain 40 degrees that is more costly than maintaining 38 degrees – so there are several variables but as a rule of thumb a Softub will cost you £1 per day, an acrylic over £4 and an inflatable over £8.

Who can I contact to find out more about Softub hot tubs?

If you have decided that finding out more about Softub could be worth your while then why not get in touch with our friendly team on 01904 643212 or via email on info@softub.co.uk.

You can also find more information about the brand, sizes, colours and accessories on our website www.softub.co.uk or by ordering a brochure here.