HOT TUBS in gardens.....

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Does anyone have one in their garden?

How much do you use it?

Is it all year?

How easy was it to prepare the ground works for it?

Is it inside a building like a summer house type of thing?

Or completely in the open?

Do you have friends/family that come round to use it with you?

Are they a nuisance or easy to keep clean?

How many people go in at a time?

Please could you link to a website, if possible, to show which one you have?

Sorry that was too many questions in one message

I don't have one so can't answer any of your questions sorry.
I just always remember Russel Howard saying a hot tub "it was like having a bath with your parents"! Put me off!!

They're generally known as 'sex ponds' on MN.

We have a hot tub. And no, it's not a sex pond. We have never had sex in it.

It's a Sundance one, bought in a sale. Seats 4-6 comfortably, or 8 at a squeeze. The groundworks were extensive, the garden had to be levelled and a concrete slab laid; we also sunk ours slightly. It's out in the open but has a cover.

We love it - there's nothing like sitting out there on a cold winters night with a cup of tea or a glass of wine. When it's -3 and you can see your breath, but you're in water of 38 degrees and can see the stars sparkling above you. We go in it anything between 1-4 times a week, more in winter than summer. In the summer we turn it right down and use it as plunge pool!

We go in together, or when friends come round. The kids go in and love having their friends over to go in with. I go in alone sometimes, it's very therapeutic (I have joint pain due to RA).

Once filled it's fairly straightforward to keep clean but you do need to keep on top of it - pH testing, sanitising it and emptying and refilling it every few months. We're on a water meter and our bill went up hugely, also the electric bill. They are NOT cheap to run!

OK, I've got one. Use it quite a lot - a bit patchy, sometimes nobody uses it for a week or two, sometimes every day. Use if for entertaining, my (adult) children use it when home from uni. Son finds it helpful for sports injuries.
Some people empty in autumn and refill in spring but we use our all year round
Ground works were done when I had a patio put in. Nothing difficult but the ground the hot tub sits on must be level, and depending on the tub you choose you may need electricals putting in. Completely open, looking up at the stars is nice and I thought if I looked up and saw spiders it would put me off.

Yes, friends come round and use it. I think that means you need a big one to avoid the "bath with a friend" feeling.
Ours is a big 6 seater, we have squeezed 7 in.
Cleaning isn't too bad - top up chemicals, clean it out 2-4 times a year.
I would suggest that you site it close to a door so you're not running through the garden in your cossie late at night. Go to a showroom and have a good look at different models, sizes etc, sit in them and see what you like. Some of the cheaper ones don't have enough power to have the jets on and the heater running, or jets on all seats at once. More powerful ones need an electrical supply rather than being "plug and play". There are different configurations - some are "party tubs" with a circle of identical seats, ours has different seats with different jets including a recliner.

Thank you so much for the replies

I like the idea of star watching on clear night while being warm in hot tub

Will show them to DH when he comes home

if you wear a jumper you can look at the stars for free, without having ground-work, garden levelled & a load of concrete laid.

Ok

It must be horribly expensive to keep a pool outside at 38 degrees during winter?!

Crikey - We are also on water meter!!!

I know this a silly question but do they have a plug that you just unplug and then flood the patio?

Interesting about cheaper ones not having enough power to heat and run jets to all seats

Just spoken to my brother and he asked about the electrical supply?

How does it get wired up for power?

No experience of having one, but when we were house hunting loads of properties had hot tub in the garden (one was marketed as ‘for adult entertain’ bleurrrgghhh).

Totally put us off the properties. Most the hot tubs took up the best part of the garden and some were in their own shed type areas.

OK, some are "plug and play" which just plug in to a normal socket. More powerful ones need their own supply. We got ours from the hot tub superstore, look at their website, it has a lot of information
I switched electricity supplier when we got the tub and didn't see a massive increase in electricity costs, but you do need one with a good insulating cover.

I think it may have a plug you can use to let the water out, but the easiest way is a submersible pump. Empties it in 10 minutes

We've had ours for 12 years and it's really paid for itself in terms of the enjoyment we've had from it - although it's not used as much by us as in the early days, mainly because our DC are now away from home.

It has been great - sometimes just DH or the two of us, close friends (not in a funny way!) have used it - and the DC have had many parties - 12 at a time piled in - they didn't seem worried about personal space! Their friends rarely come here without a swimming costume.

When I used to drive the DC to school, it was always a good time to talk, but obviously, this stopped once the eldest was driving. The hot tub was the replacement - we'd chat about all sorts of thing, and if there was a problem or worry, the DC would often suggest we go in the hot tub for a chat.

We had the concrete slab in, armoured cabling through to an electrical socket which meets outdoor specification, and also a connection through to the drain, so the water goes straight through.

For us, it was a good investment.

aj I found that DP and I talk more in the hot tub, way more than in front of the TV.

Ours was wired in to the mains by a sparky and we have a breaker outside. You can drain it (slowly) via a tube but we bought a cheapie pump and do it that way.

Electricity wise we worked out it costs about an extra pound a day on top of our usual electricity charges; water was more being metered, we had to increase our direct debit by about 35 a month but we are in an incredibly expensive area for water.

Fortheloveof they have insulating covers and the shell is also insulated, so once heated trap the heat quite well, and the heat pump seems very efficient so not as costly as you'd imagine. Not like putting a bath in the garden!

We've had ours for more than ten years. It's lovely. Glass of wine and a chat after a long day. We just had it serviced after draining it down for the winter and it's still going strong.

I use one regularly and it's amazing!!!

I know they are seen to be the height of naff.

But I would love one!

We have a holiday place in the US and have one on the edge of the pool. We bloody love it and live in it when we're there.

Don't think one would go in our English garden though, sadly.

They really are the height of naff. I’d be put off any house that had a hot tub. But clearly not everyone would so carry on!

It's easy to sneer. Best thing ever purchased. I use 3 times ish during the week loads at weekends. Tweens forced to talk to you in the hot tub as no screens. Brilliant fun for kids great for play dates.

We got rotospa one mid range decent but not extortionate and fits through a door. Ours is large. Got reinforced concrete then (non wooden) decking so can walk through bi folds into tub. Am in costume now heading out with book! Am quite discreet about it as most of our friends are horrified!

Two words. Chlamydia Soup.

We bought a lazy spa one (you know, the blow up cheap variety) last year. On the day I’d fill it (with warm water as it’s cheaper if you have a combo boiler) it was brilliant. Then my mucky children would get in and despite being told no heads under the water, no swimming and no jumping in, the next day (yes I used chemicals and had filters) the water was absolutely revolting.

I did catch my children setting up the mini trampoline next to it so they could somersault into the water. And one time they had brought the dog in, so I don’t think I’m in a position to blame lazy spa for their filtration system.

We have one. Had it a year now. Absolutely love it and don't really care if others look down on me for having one.

We use it all year around, we turn it down during the winter so we only use it on weekends, days off etc ... use it a lot more in the summer, most days when it's not raining (I'm in wales so it rains a lot).

It's open, so we can look at the stars and birds etc, we watched shooting stars in it one night, was lovely.

We took the top layer soil off and levelled it roughly and then purchased via the company a levelling deck. The company we used also did the electrics for free and free delivery which included use of a Crane (which we didn't need).

We have had friends over to use it, mostly it's just us and the kids. My husband has some "boys nights" where they go in the hot tub and then kill zombies on the Playstation 😂...like others mentioned it means we talk more, Which is nice.

Fairly easy to keep clean, products can cost depending what you decide to use. We empty it every 3 months ish ... we use a product that is supposed to be better for the hot tub and reduce the amount of chlorine needed. But it needs checked often, we usually check after or before we go in and adjust as needed.

Ours fits 6, could squeeze in more but then it feels a bit too close for comfort. Kids love it too. We turn the temp down in the summer at least during the at anyway.

We used a company called style spas, we paid £6000 all in.

As for other costs, we are also on a water meter, not sure how much it costs extra though as we bought the hot tub pretty much when we bought the house. It adds a lot to our electric bill but like I say we now turn it down when not in use so that saves a bit. It does cost way more than I thought it would to run, but I still love it.

Why would you get chlamydia? Weird comment. Ours is kept very clean and sparkling lots of chemicals I am the main user with odd pals of my dds. I am abit precious and make kids shower before they use it.