Monthly Cost To Operate An Electrical Spa

[kevinv18]

Can anyone tell me the approximate monthly electrical cost for the Hotsprings Grandee and the Sundance Optima? I know the cost will vary with useage, but I am trying to get a general idea to help make a decision.

Thanks for your help.

[D.P. Roberts]

Can anyone tell me the approximate monthly electrical cost for the Hotsprings Grandee and the Sundance Optima? I know the cost will vary with useage, but I am trying to get a general idea to help make a decision.

Thanks for your help.

If you're trying to figure out if one would cost less than the other, I doubt you'll be able to find any hard and fast numbers. Both of them will be a lot better than many other brands, so you're probably well off with either of them.

[Chad]

It will definetly vary depending on your electric company's rates, what temp you keep it at, and how often you soak and for how long. The main factor being your rate. Mine here in the STL is $.07 a kwh. I did a pretty thorough experiment last winter and came to the conclusion that the most kwhs I will use a day during anytime of the year is 11. Here's the link to my experiment if you're interested. Keep in mind that my spa is only 336 gallons though. I beleieve the spas you mentioned are 400 gallons+.

http://www.whatsthebest-hottub.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1170035650/34#34

[Gomboman]

Yes, what Chad said. I would say the greatest factor is what you pay for electricity. In Southern California, I pay about $.30 per kWh for the spa--that's 4x what Chad pays. Stick with one of the larger named brand spas and you will be ok. Good luck with your purchase.

[Brewman]

You'll never get what your looking for- some way to gauge which brand is more efficient.  

 Power costs, climate, water volume, and your usage pattern all have a huge impact on what your power costs will be.  The brand of the spa has relatively little.
 Unless you go bottom of the barrel and get something that skimps on insulation.
But the brands you listed aren't in that category.  

One way to keep a lower price is to skimp on the insulation- so instead of paying the spa company once, you pay the electric company forever.

That said, I have the Optima.  I pay about $.08/kwh for power.  I'd say $30-$40 per month averaged over the year.  I live in Minneapolis, so we have warm summers and cold winters.  Electric bill stays relatively constant, though.  In the winter it stays up there because of the spa, in the summer the spa uses less power but the warmer it gets, and more often the A/C runs especially this hot summer.    The Optima has almost 500 gallons of water to keep heated.

[pg_rider]

Funny, I just graphed my electrical usage over the last two years just to see if there's a trend since 1) I got my Optima in October 2006, and 2) just got a central air last month.

To be honest, my electric bill month-to-month has been all over the charts since getting the tub.  Through the winter months (I'm in Cold-orado ) it was anywhere from $20 to $55 more per month compared to the previous year without the tub.  For the warmer months my bill is anywhere from $15 to $30 higher.  Seems like there are other factors that influence my bill as much as the tub does.  Bottom line is I probably averaged $40 more a month in winter and so far $25 more a month in summer...

[cburk0677]

I live in Indianapolis and have hotspring vanguard. My electric bill has gone up less than $10 a month since putting in the hottub in May. Granted this summer has been extremely hot and we keep our spa at 99 degrees. I'm sure this winter costs will go up as I plan on raising the temp to 101-102 and the weather will obviously be colder. However from what I've seen this summer I'm hopeful that the spa will be under $20 a month to operate this winter.

[Lars]

Hotsprings has a calculator and average rate posted on their sites.

D1 links the energy tag which is required for appliances.

Just ask the dealer to see that tag, will give you an idea.

[hottubdan]

Hotsprings has a calculator and average rate posted on their sites.

D1 links the energy tag which is required for appliances.

Just ask the dealer to see that tag, will give you an idea.

Make sure you read the usages.  Check out the rate for kwh.  D1's tag is made to look like the tag for appliances, but it is not regulated.  Hot Spring's data is based on 3rd party testing.

[Lars]

Well, yeah.

You just might use it for more than 20 minutes every other day.  

[Vinny]

My $0.02.

Buy the tub you like the best and don't quibble on the cost to use, it will be similar. Worrying about $5 or $10 a month means that this will be putting a strain on your budget and you shouldn't get one IMO.

[tony]

Can anyone tell me the approximate monthly electrical cost for the Hotsprings Grandee and the Sundance Optima? I know the cost will vary with useage, but I am trying to get a general idea to help make a decision.

Thanks for your help.

My dealer sells both and claims they're virtually identical in electrical usage.  Don't know how they know this but basically the same size pumps, heater, and insulation.  I don't believe it could vary much at all.

[hot tub Frank]

Even with my old 8year old tub my bill went only up 20$ a month.
I would not worry that much about it.
A single massage a month is much more than that.