GBA Logo horizontal Facebook LinkedIn Email Pinterest Twitter Instagram YouTube Icon Navigation Search Icon Main Search Icon Video Play Icon Plus Icon Minus Icon Picture icon Hamburger Icon Close Icon Sorted

Community and Q&A

Can I justify a hot tub?

dsmcn | Posted in Energy Efficiency and Durability on

40 years of carpentry are catching up: my bones are getting creaky. I never thought I’d want a hot tub until I used a friend’s on a few chilly mornings, and now I see how it could become habit-forming.

Is there any way to make an outdoor hot tub acceptably green, without solar power? Could I wrap enough insulation around it to make it efficient?

Climate zone 4, natural gas available.

GBA Prime

Join the leading community of building science experts

Become a GBA Prime member and get instant access to the latest developments in green building, research, and reports from the field.

Replies

  1. Andrew_C | | #1

    Our solution to improving hot tub efficiency is to buy a very small two person hot tub and put it indoors. We've had one for 20+ years, either in basements or in master bedrooms. With relatively small (30-35 degree) temperature differential, we can easily use 110V electrical connection (with dedicated circuit). Any heat that is lost during the six cold months that we have it operating goes into heating the house. The increased cost of heating with electricity instead of natural gas is a factor, but it's 'way less expensive than mantaining a tub outdoors (in Michigan). With an insulated cover, we've never had any issues with smell or humidity, although I'd recommend installing a vent fan.

  2. jklingel | | #2

    You could heat your house/garage w/ a wood gassifcation boiler and run a loop out to the tub. ???

Log in or create an account to post an answer.

Community

Recent Questions and Replies

  • |
  • |
  • |
  • |