Cost to maintain and operate hot tub

[Justin Knighten]

We're getting ready to open our first STR that is a cabin in the mountains by the river. It has a hot tub on site, but it's currently drained. It sits on a little patio in the yard, not under a roof. This time of year, it's pretty cold out, and I don't know how much use it would get, I don't really expect too many bookings until March. I've never dealt with a pool/hot tub before, so I don't know what I'm getting into. The property is about an hour away. How much is involved in maintaining one and how much cost am I looking at? Is it worth turning it on and heating it for low occupancy months? I assume most people hire a company that'll come by every so often and perform whatever maintenance it needs, whats a general guideline on what that should cost?

[Paul Sandhu]

I've got a hot tub.  It costs basically nothing to maintain.  I built a wood fired heat exchanger from some piping and a water storage tank for an RV.  The tub itself is something some tenants left behind.  I use a sump pump and 2 garden hoses to circulate the water through the coils of the heat exchanger.  I build a fire under the coils to heat the water.  You might be a redneck is your hot tub looks like mine.  The thing behind the hot tub is a squirrel launcher.  The beer and Glock are for entertainment while soaking in the tub.

[Luke Carl]

@Justin Knighten. Everything in my market comes with a hot tub. They need to be replaced every 8-14 years. They need to be left on. If it’s drained and winterized it’ll get gross. It’s better left on all the time. I have no idea what this costs me and don’t really care. I’ve got 6 hot tubs. Where I am the question is how much will you lose if you don’t have one!

[Nathan Gesner]

Costs can vary. Mine is a 6-person unit, probably 8-10 years old, and costs about $30 a month in electricity. I empty/fill it a couple times a year. Chemicals are probably about $10 a month.

It's minimal expense. The bigger issue is making sure the chemical levels are properly maintained. If you're in a market where they are common, this shouldn't be a big deal for your cleaning crew.

[Justin Knighten]

@Paul Sandhu 

How long does it take to heat that up?  I have a stock tank sitting in my yard right now...I'm sure it's cleaner than one your tenants have been sitting in...

Is the maintenance on these things simple enough that I can give the cleaner a half hour lesson and turn them loose with it?

[Pat L.]

We've had a Hot-springs Grandee since 2002. It spent the 18 months outside but the girls were NOT pleased with being snowed & rained on during the winter months. So I built a hot tub room attached to our home then installed & wired it myself. 

It has seen a lot of use with the Kids, their friends during high school & college days. We have never used chemicals only 16oz of Eco-one/month. During periods of heavy use I would drain it every couple of months. I have a spigot that is piped to our on-demand hot water system so can refill it with very hot water, so no idea how long it takes to heat. 

Because of the grandkids it's now maintained at 98 def F but electrical costs are very minimal as the cover is very well insulated. It will freeze if drained & not winterized with RV antifreeze & the plumbing will get a black sludge if left it's too long. The winterizing will not guarantee some of the small Venturi tubing near the heating & smaller circ pump will not freeze & burst because of residual water. I have replaced the heater once @ $400 & just replaced the control board $800. I also ran new drain plumbing as the original broke. 

It has 5 filters & I sleeve the filter cartridges with white drain pipe stocking (Drain-Sleeve) to absorb the oils/residues etc so I have only replaced the filters 2x since new. One of the biggest maintenance problems are body oils, hairspray & soap residue in guests swimsuits causing foaming. Unfortunately the Kids would often swim in the pool then get into the hot tub at night with suntan oils etc so I have had to clean the filters by soaking in a 5gallon bucket overnight in a product called Eco-tub. 

It's been a lot of fun over the years for us & the kids & now the grandkids are enjoying it immensely.

[Nathan Gesner]

Originally posted by @Pat L.:

We've had a Hot-springs Grandee since 2002. It spent the 18 months outside but the girls were NOT pleased with being snowed & rained on during the winter months. So I built a hot tub room attached to our home then installed & wired it myself. 

It has seen a lot of use with the Kids, their friends during high school & college days. We have never used chemicals only 16oz of Eco-one/month. During periods of heavy use I would drain it every couple of months. I have a spigot that is piped to our on-demand hot water system so can refill it with very hot water, so no idea how long it takes to heat. 

Because of the grandkids it's now maintained at 98 def F but electrical costs are very minimal as the cover is very well insulated. It will freeze if drained & not winterized with RV antifreeze & the plumbing will get a black sludge if left it's too long. The winterizing will not guarantee some of the small Venturi tubing near the heating & smaller circ pump will not freeze & burst because of residual water. I have replaced the heater once @ $400 & just replaced the control board $800. I also ran new drain plumbing as the original broke. 

It has 5 filters & I sleeve the filter cartridges with white drain pipe stocking (Drain-Sleeve) to absorb the oils/residues etc so I have only replaced the filters 2x since new. One of the biggest maintenance problems are body oils, hairspray & soap residue in guests swimsuits causing foaming. Unfortunately the Kids would often swim in the pool then get into the hot tub at night with suntan oils etc so I have had to clean the filters by soaking in a 5gallon bucket overnight in a product called Eco-tub. 

It's been a lot of fun over the years for us & the kids & now the grandkids are enjoying it immensely.

We also cool ours down in the summer. It's nice to soak in a cool tub on a hot day with a cigar and your favorite beverage!

[Paul Sandhu]

@Justin Knighten probably 60-90 minutes to go from 70 degrees to 102 degrees.  I put a tube in the bottom of the fire vessel with a bunch of holes in it.  The tube is connected to a hair dryer.  The extra air make a big difference to the amount of heat generated.  I'm using hedgeapple wood.  The outside of the vessel glows orange at night.

[Pat L.]

@Nathan Gesner try the Eco-one for treating the water instead of chemicals. You never need to pH test or worry about chemicals burning the eyes etc & it's amazing how crystal clear the water stays. I do add a 1/2 cup of chlorine to the 450 gallons after the little ones have been in it for awhile just in case :)

[Account Closed]

@Justin Knighten

Hire out the chemical treatment unless you’re fond of having folks complain about itchy naughty bits. If you’re talking cold as in Canada cold, you need eyes on it regularly. One breaker trip/ code that stops the heater will end up one large ice cube worth $0 in about... 12-24 hours temperature depending where I’m at!

Ask me how I know.

[Collin H.]

A hot tub never really needs to be replaced, unless you just want to.   Occasionally a heater or pump will go out, or once in a great while a circuit board.  You just repair/replace and move on.  A tub is a tub.

We have had one at one of our vacation rentals for 16 years and it's going fine.  Although we have gone through a pump, a heater, and a circuit board.

When we take on a new client, we sometimes get asked "can I do without a hot tub"?  I say "Well of course!  Just knock 20 percent off of your annual rental income."  

[Jake Hastings]

I am just speaking out of my own personal experience on this subject, but a few things I have learned when dealing with a STR in a cold environment are:

Hot tubs are the difference between staying fully booked and dealing with vacancies, never buy used hot tubs because they're junk, rodents will look for ways to live inside of the components area because it is warm all winter, people will 100% have sex in your hot tub and you have to keep up on cleaning and changing water and chemicals, the mountains tend to knock out power and your hot tub can freeze up and crack the pipes, and if there are neighbors nearby then you need to lock the cover or else they will help themselves to sitting in the hot tub. 

I was able to maintain mine because I lived close, but I would look into getting a company to maintain it if you are not able to. In my experience they can be a hassle, but having one kept my STR booked solid. I hope this helps!