Hot Tub Electricity Usage
We love our hot tub! It’s a Saluspa Laguna that we got from Costco for about $450 last year. It seems small at 177 gallons but it is just perfect.
Megan uses it several times a week, and maintenance is easier than we assumed.
A huge bonus is that it doubles as a tiny pool for Abigail and friends to play in. The bottom is soft and flat, unlike most hot tubs, letting her stand or sit in it as she likes. We lower the heat so she and her friends can splash in it on a hot (or not so hot!) day. We were concerned that the flat bottom wouldn’t be comfortable to go hot tubbing in but it really is just fine!
The only bother is that it does use quite a bit of electricity, especially in the winter.
I did some tests and here’s what I found:
We run the hot tub at 104 degrees
In the winter, with temperatures about 45-50 degrees, the hot tub uses about 10kwh/day. Using the aftermarket heat blanket reduces that by about 3kwh per day. When the temperature dips below about 40 degrees, the heater can’t keep the temperature at 104 without the blanket.
In the summer with temperatures about 58-68, the hot tub uses about 5kwh/day.
It is only worthwhile to turn the hot tub off for 3 or more days. Otherwise, there is no energy savings.
Our electricity costs about $0.35/kwh. So in the winter it costs about $105/month to run (10kwh * 30 days * $0.35). With the cover, it’s about $73/month.
I got a CleverSpa Universal Small Round 180cm Thermal Hot Tub Cover for about $90
I think on May 1st, it’ll be warm enough for us to put the cover away until the fall. :-)