To ask your advice on hot tub...

[StormcloakNord]

I know I'm likely to get flamed, and I know hot tubs are really really looked down on here, but any advice is appreciated!

DH and I have just ordered a Lazy Spa for over the summer. We usually go on at least 2 hot tub breaks around the UK per year and we just love them.

What I'm looking for I guess is what annoys you about neighbours with hot tubs? What is it that bothers you when your neighbours are in their hot tubs? I want to do as little of the annoying hot tub behaviours as possible as I really try to be a decent neighbour! We've bought a gazebo that we'll pop up when we use it, but won't leave it up as it would be an eye sore. We'll generally be using it between 7-10pm and only at weekends, and won't be having any music on. Just sitting in it chatting and enjoying the stars (if the gazebo isn't up!)

Anyway, thanks in advance!

It won't go murky overnight obviously! It would take longer than that!

Also, we learnt the hard way that ours needs to have a button touched every 36 hours or it shuts itself off - went away for a week and it had been off for days so no filtration. The water was ok but did need some chemical tweaking.

We have a hot tub and no one have complained. I know that doesn't mean it annoys them but they have a tendency to be quite picky and haven't said anything about the tub yet.

As long as you put it somewhere discreet and out of the way.

My NDN have it right next to my bedroom window and so on a summer’s evening you can hear everything. They talk loudly over the bubbles but they are ignorant. You don’t sound like that.

The problem with the lazy spa type is the pump is on the outside and therefore very loud. It has to stay on all the time as the filter has to run constantly to keep the water clean. It obviously gets fairly loud when you turn the jets on.

If you keep turning it on and off it will cost a fortune to run as you will be heating the water from cold all the time. I believe it is more economical to keep it on and then boost the temp when required.

I too love a hot tub and was really missing my regular hot tub breaks so we recently hired a large hot tub for a week. It was fantastic. Really quiet as the pump is internal and well insulated. The cover was also well insulated and solid which kept the heat in. Adjustable jets from gentle right up to thigh pummelling level. The highest level was fairly noisy but we don’t really have any neighbours near our garden.

We have decided not to get one mainly due to running costs. I would definitely hire one again though as we all had great fun and it was well used whilst we had it.

My neighbours have a lazy spa type one, we live in a terrace.

Its loud. Puts me off sitting in my garden. And then it makes the users louder as they talk above the bubbles and drink which means they become a bit louder after a few wines.

They also dont use a gazebo over it and i really dont want to see them in it, gives me the ick but im not sure why

I feel like its basically taking a bath in your garden 🤷‍♀️

I’ve just hired a hot tub and we’ve really enjoyed it - bubble function quite noisy so we only use the lower settings and not for too long - pump is quite quiet and we don’t play music after 9pm

The people whose garden backs onto ours got one recently, placed next to their house so the furthest away it could go from ours, and if our window is open we can hear their chatter. No idea how it sounds if we’re in the garden as our garden isn’t usable until we get it sorted this year.

Mind you these people filled it up using their next door neighbours water (low fence and empty house) and take a pee against their house because they can’t be bothered to towel dry and go into the house to use the toilet downstairs, only seconds before a girl of about 8 years old walks out the back doors next to them 🤢

So not too annoying when inside (with windows closed), but can’t say if it would annoy me if I was outside in my garden, maybe if the pump was loud and it was every weekend evening, then it might.

We only ever use the bubbles if we have a bad back/shoulder etc. We sit on and chat quietly, we don’t need to raise our voices as it’s virtually silent, proper big thing.

Just don't shout

"I'm coming Gary, I'm coooooooming, I'm coming so hard" really really loudly

And you'll be fine

I was once driving down a small road to the coast on Anglesey to go for a walk. There is a row of 5 or 6 cottages adjacent to the road, which is narrow and necessitates slow speed. As we drove past the cottages I glanced left and made eye contact with a well built middle aged woman in a leopard print cossie, holding a glass of fizz, sitting in a hot tub which took up most of the cottage garden. She was accompanied by an equally well built bald middle aged man. It was drizzling.

We had a lovely walk with the dog.

We have a Canadian spa one. Our autistic son is in it hours every day when it’s warm. It’s fairly loud when on full but the neighbours have never said anything. We have two ponds running waterfalls and the hot tub filter running all the time. I sleep at the gs know the house though and can’t hear it.

We bought a lazy spa last year. Waiting for a good spell of dry warmer weather to set it up this year. We’ve moved house so need to rebuild some privacy screens first too.
The pump has a low hum when running, but we can’t hear it when a few metres away so unless you’re in a tiny garden and putting it right next to where your neighbours sit out you should be ok. The pump when the bubbles are on is flipping noisy so we only used it for a few minutes at a time and usually only in the day. To be honest, as they’re not like proper spa jets that can pummel an achey back or neck, they don’t seem worth putting on. So at night we mostly sit in the warm water and watch the bats swoop low overhead and watch the stars, it’s far more relaxing than shouting over bubbles.
We’re contemplating getting a fixed one now we’ve moved house, but will see how much we use it this summer to see if it’s worth it.

N.b. there are no seats in a lazy spa, it’s like a bit soft bottomed paddling pool. You can buy some but they don’t look like they’d be comfy so we’ve never bothered.

Our neighbour's hot tub stinks of disinfectant. I'm a keen gardener and would like my garden to smell of flowers etc. Instead, it often smells of domestos.

The pumps sound like lawnmowers it's the noise that pisses everyone off

Screaming children splashing about annoys me. So much noisier in a hot tub than out of one, don't know why.

@rwalker

The pumps sound like lawnmowers it's the noise that pisses everyone off

My friend is contemplating selling up and moving if her neighbours start their hot tub up again this year.

Last summer, she was reduced to tears by the constant loud, low-pitched hum from it. It was on 24/7 and when they asked them to turn it off when not in use, they were told that it has to be kept on because they had to keep the filter running. Her neighbours are nice people, they don't have loads of friends round making a racket or anything, it's just this incessant bloody droning hum.

You could hear it in her living room when it was quiet, apparently. They moved from the back bedroom to the front because the only way they could sleep was to shut all the windows to muffle the noise, and they got far too hot.

Our walking route ends up at the back of their houses and you can easily hear the hum coming from the garden when on the footpath (over 100' away) even over the noise of the traffic on the nearby main road. It sounds a bit like a compressor or very big fridge running.

If it's anything like as bad as she says (and she's not the sort to be OTT about things, tbh) it would make me bloody murderous.

OP this is not the point of your thread sorry, but where did you order from? Everywhere I have checked has had no stock all month.

It’s going to be loud for your neighbours. Just don’t use it every weekend and it’s be fine.

You sound very considerate OP.

We moved because of my neighbours behaviour in their hot tub. We couldn't hear it humming or anything but they were very selfish and would sit in it with music blaring and shouting till the early hours.

I wouldn't be bothered with quiet hot tub use.

It makes a noise and when people sit in it they blast music. Then they get drunk and over excited and start squealing. And when they empty it they let the water out on the patio and it runs under my fence and poisons my plants (I have had to get a solicitor to write to them and threaten court action if they do this again).

Just get a spa Bath fitted indoors - job done, no neighbours peace infringed

Thanks everyone - lots to think about/plan! I believe I can buy a floaty device and put chlorine tablets in that means I don't have to have it running constantly for the filter? As it will be covered when not being used so leaves/debris shouldn't get in?

I'll read the manual when I get it as there has to be a way around having it on 24/7 if it's noisy!

@BendingSpoons I got the Lazy Spa Maldives one from The Range! It doesn't get delivered until the 1st June but we weren't in any rush for it anyway :)

@HairyFloppins @ClearMountain that's really rubbish! I know how frustrating it can be when my right side neighbours have their all-hours parties so I definitely won't be using the hot tub for getting drunk in and playing music!

I've got generally quite a good relationship with my left side neighbours & always let them know well in advance when we used to have people round so I'll probably just grab them next time I see them and let them know we're buying a hot tub and make sure they let us know if it's loud/annoying at all!

Op can you tell Me more about this floaty thing please?