Does anyone have an inflatable hot tub and are they any good?

[EmmaGrundyForPM]

I know hot tubs are a Marmite subject, so I'm not looking for anyone's opinion on them per se, but I would like to know whether people who have an inflatable one think they are worth it?

We've hired holiday cottages with hot tubs, and love them. However, we can't justify the cost of having one when we have a house that needs quite a bit if work

I've seen adverts for inflatable hot tubs. I've never used one and the pictures make them.look like a glorified kids paddling pool. But they are (just about) affordable.

Has anyone got one, and are they any good? I'd want one with jets and seats, but not sure how seats work in an inflatable one.

I had one but it’s punctured now and can’t be bothered to fix it. It was good but maintaining the chemicals and tending the hairy filter was beyond tedious.

Thanks. I'm presuming the chemicals and filter will be the same issue whatever the type of hot tub?

Yeah, unless you get one that's heated by burning wood, then the water gets dumped out, like a bath, rather than stored and kept warm, needing chemicals to stop algae and grossness.

I absolutely loved mine. I bought it after a nasty accident and soaking in the steamy hot water in the early hours, looking at the stars when I couldn't sleep is a good memory of that awful time...
I had it out and running for 2 years and I've still got it packed away..
It did eat electricity tho...
I'm actually thinking about setting it up again...

Running costs do worry me. If we went for it I think it would be an April - September thing, we'd pack it away for winter.

I'm in mine right now! With a mojito.

Go for lay z spa. They have pretty excellent customer service and a long warranty if you register it.

Mine is a hydrojet model which is more expensive but has proper water jets. We upgraded from a standard air jet model and the difference is worth every single penny!

Yes, expensive to run, but we fill it from the hot tap and only run it for a couple weekends a month so it's really not the end of the world.

The chemicals are a hassle. They are expensive to run.

They are good, but you need to look after them.

We have a lay-z-spa St Moritz and love it. DH does all the chemicals and filter changes so I don’t know about that but it’s great. We bought a couple of foldable seats to go in it.

We bought a Lazy spa during lockdown.

It's actually quite robust but you need to invest in thermal covers , a thermal base and a thermal surround to keep the heat in.

We did regret it after the first year because of the cost of heating it so took it down and stored it and all the very expensive accessories in the loft.

After the dreadful winter we had I decided to put it back up in the spring and am enjoying using it. Just trying not to think about the heating costs and may change my mind once the bills come in.

I don't find the chemicals a faff but you do have to remember to treat it daily.

I have a pump that I use to empty it down the drain when I want to do a full water change - every three months is enough if you keep the water well treated and clean the filters after every use.

So all in all I would say don't get one but we are invested now and will decide after this year if we are keeping it or selling it.

Friends who have a proper hot tub love them and say they are cheaper to run and easier to maintain.

@afaloren that's the model we are looking at. Glad to hear you like yours.

@Hardlyworking I love that you're in yours! The idea of jumping into one with a G&T after work is very appealing

Mine hasn’t been used in two years. Can’t afford the electric to keep it hot anymore. Used about £5 a day (prepay meter).

Following as DD would love one. Someone I know is selling there’s for £6k, but it’s absolutely massive, with light sand music and I think our one neighbour would have a heart attack. I’ve heard they are noisy.

What do you do with the water when you empty it? Pump it off or just let it out? Another colleague hired one, they let the water out in her garden and it took weeks to absorb!

Had a full one abroad and it was a pain to maintain and expensive to run (electricity was comparatively cheap too) but the best time to use it was in winter I think, loved it under fairy lights

We have a Zurich one and it has a heat surround. With a foam mat underfloor and a thermal cover it runs at 38 for about £1 a day on a smart meter. Using the chlorine 4 in 1 tablets once stable you can tend to it about every 3 days. Filter rinse every 2 days and replace every 2 weeks. Costs about £4 to get it up to temperature with the heater. Is cheaper to run a hose off the hot tap from the boiler. As one of the posters above we use a pump to empty every 6weeks or so. I would prob go longer if we were on a water meter not rates.

Absolutely love it! The kids really enjoy it too. But get the most thermal efficient one as it keeps the cost lower.

Pump it down and outside drain so the garden isn't waterlogged!

just fyi wrt price @EmmaGrundyForPM

It's £439.99 at the Range

https://www.therange.co.uk/outdoor-living/pools-and-hot-tubs/spas-and-hot-tubs/lay-z-spa-st-moritz-airjet-hot-tub/#190800

This is our second summer with ours and we love it. DH deals with the chemicals and filters but doesn't seem massively strenuous. Dog has chewed a whole in the inflatable lid though so we need to buy a replacement

thank you although I realise the one I was looking at was the Maldives not the St Moritz!

£899.99 😊

https://www.therange.co.uk/outdoor-living/pools-and-hot-tubs/spas-and-hot-tubs/lay-z-spa-maldives-hydrojet-pro-hot-tub/#

I got the big one - Maldives? In lockdown, and we loved it - felt like a bit of luxury when stuck in the house.

The chemicals are a bit of a pain, but I did quite enjoy dipping the little strips and making the right adjustments :)

We'd empty it fully about once a month, and run it on the chemicals in between, it took most of a day to warm up if it'd been left to cool though, so bare that in mind if you get a bigger one.

Oh - Also get a little tube of boat glue - my cat once jumped up on the side, fell in, and in her panic put a claw through the wall - slow puncture perfectly fixed with the boat glue (stuff for patching dingies) when the patches that came with it didn't work.

Mine's currently leaking water from a bottom seam somewhere, but we're still going to put it up when the summer holidays start and go back to using it - 3 years and it might be time to retire it by the end of this year - we'll see if the leak gets any worse. I have had to replace the washers in all the valves as they perished, but they were easily found on Amazon.

They are great, we are on our second lay z spa. Chemicals are very easy to do, I just replace filters, they are cheap, can’t be bothered to clean them. We do have solar panels with battery back up so the electric cost isn’t something to concern us. It really helps my pain, would recommend.

We bought one in lockdown. It's now in a heap in the garden. It was fun while it lasted but now I'll stick to enjoying them on holiday. The novelty wore off and the heating bill accelerated that. I'd never run one now.

We are still wavering over this one. One of the issues is where to put it - back garden gets no evening sun. Front garden is too public. However, we have a double width drive at the side of the house which gets sun from 11am - sunset. Would it be madness to put a hot tub there? There's a 6ft wall between the drive and the road (we're a corner plot) and theres loads of driveway in front of the house so we don't need to park our cars there.

If you live outside the UK, don’t buy these spas. This was the reply I received from Lay-Z-Spa when I needed maintenance and had to replace two parts (the inflatable lid and the top cover): ‘Unfortunately, we are only able to provide assistance, support and shipping to customers who reside within the UK.’