High electricity usage

[Firsttimehottub]

Hi everyone. Wondering if I might get some opinions from you all about the electricity usage our new hot tub has brought, which is at least twice what we expected.

For background info we live in the North of England (Leeds) so it can get cold here in the winter but not usually below 2 degrees (centigrade) and we've been having some very mild evenings lately.

We've got an Artesian 748L and had it delivered in mid November. We are using it at least every other day at the moment in the evenings for between 30-60 minutes. It has it's own electricity supply which comes straight from the meter outside the house and through the back of the garage. The tub is sat on decking and has a gazebo over the top. We have the temp at around 38-39 degrees centigrade and it's set to do a 2 hour filter cycle every 12 hours.

So, before we got the hot tub our highest usage was 226kwh in a month.
From mid November to mid December it was 686Kwh
From mid December to mid January it was 687Kwh

So, in essence our usage has tripled. We were probably expecting it to double at most. The hot tub is the only new thing we have started to use and so definitely the reason for the spike.

I have spoken to the dealer we got it from and he said it is impossible for this tub to use that much electricity - something to do with the amps it draws (electrics not really my area of expertise). He said it's his best selling tub and customers average about £1 a day extra cost, with a max of £10 per week.

As a test to see whether it's definitely the tub drawing that and not just the electric set up, we took a meter reading yesterday morning at 7:15am and then carried on as normal, used the tub last night for 40 mins. Then this morning we took another reading at the same time and then turned the hot tub off. We will take the reading again at the same time tomorrow morning and see what it says. If the usage drastically reduces we can conclude that the tub is drawing that and, if not, it's the electrics (or something else!)

I guess I want to be prepared for it being the tub and wondering what (if anything) we can do about it? All sorts of questions are running round my head:

It is due to the decking and that we're losing too much heat underneath?
Are we using the cover correctly (supplied with the tub)?
Is it down to us not closing the jets when we're not using it?
Although I've checked a million times, is it on the right setting/ mode?
Should we put it on economy mode until we want to use it?
Do we need more insulation (it's got half foam already)?
Do we need to accept this is is and maybe think about using it less/ switching off during the week to save £?

As long as it doesn't go any higher I think in the long term I can live with the cost because I love the tub so much and it's really helping with some injuries I have - we will just have to spend less money elsewhere! I just want to check that everything is as it should be so we're not doing something stupid that's costing us more.

[ratchett]

Yeah, that doesn't sound right.  I'm in a warmer climate.  But my new 200 gallon 3-seater has only increased my electric bill about $10 USD per month this winter, so basically nothing haha

If it were me, I would be calling an electrician to review the wiring.  And then I'd get a FLiR thermal imaging camera and start looking for any "hot spots" - naturally the tub is going to get hot - but I'd be looking for an electrical short generating heat.

I'm by no means an expert on hot tubs, but I do work with electrical components enough to know it sounds like you might have a short (or loose connection) which is using up electricity and converting it to heat. 

The only other thing I'm thinking is that your cover is not properly seated and you're losing heat through an improperly sealed cover.  But I don't see how this could be the case.

In either case I replied just so I can follow along, I'm curious to know what this turns out to be.

[Tman122]

Hi everyone. Wondering if I might get some opinions from you all about the electricity usage our new hot tub has brought, which is at least twice what we expected.

For background info we live in the North of England (Leeds) so it can get cold here in the winter but not usually below 2 degrees (centigrade) and we've been having some very mild evenings lately.

We've got an Artesian 748L and had it delivered in mid November. We are using it at least every other day at the moment in the evenings for between 30-60 minutes. It has it's own electricity supply which comes straight from the meter outside the house and through the back of the garage. The tub is sat on decking and has a gazebo over the top. We have the temp at around 38-39 degrees centigrade and it's set to do a 2 hour filter cycle every 12 hours.

So, before we got the hot tub our highest usage was 226kwh in a month.
From mid November to mid December it was 686Kwh
From mid December to mid January it was 687Kwh

So, in essence our usage has tripled. We were probably expecting it to double at most. The hot tub is the only new thing we have started to use and so definitely the reason for the spike.

I have spoken to the dealer we got it from and he said it is impossible for this tub to use that much electricity - something to do with the amps it draws (electrics not really my area of expertise). He said it's his best selling tub and customers average about £1 a day extra cost, with a max of £10 per week.

As a test to see whether it's definitely the tub drawing that and not just the electric set up, we took a meter reading yesterday morning at 7:15am and then carried on as normal, used the tub last night for 40 mins. Then this morning we took another reading at the same time and then turned the hot tub off. We will take the reading again at the same time tomorrow morning and see what it says. If the usage drastically reduces we can conclude that the tub is drawing that and, if not, it's the electrics (or something else!)

I guess I want to be prepared for it being the tub and wondering what (if anything) we can do about it? All sorts of questions are running round my head:

It is due to the decking and that we're losing too much heat underneath?
Are we using the cover correctly (supplied with the tub)?
Is it down to us not closing the jets when we're not using it?
Although I've checked a million times, is it on the right setting/ mode?
Should we put it on economy mode until we want to use it?
Do we need more insulation (it's got half foam already)?
Do we need to accept this is is and maybe think about using it less/ switching off during the week to save £?

As long as it doesn't go any higher I think in the long term I can live with the cost because I love the tub so much and it's really helping with some injuries I have - we will just have to spend less money elsewhere! I just want to check that everything is as it should be so we're not doing something stupid that's costing us more.

Initial heat up? More towels in your dryer? More lighting outside while you use the tub?

[Firsttimehottub]

Yeah, that doesn't sound right.  I'm in a warmer climate.  But my new 200 gallon 3-seater has only increased my electric bill about $10 USD per month this winter, so basically nothing haha

If it were me, I would be calling an electrician to review the wiring.  And then I'd get a FLiR thermal imaging camera and start looking for any "hot spots" - naturally the tub is going to get hot - but I'd be looking for an electrical short generating heat.

I'm by no means an expert on hot tubs, but I do work with electrical components enough to know it sounds like you might have a short (or loose connection) which is using up electricity and converting it to heat. 

The only other thing I'm thinking is that your cover is not properly seated and you're losing heat through an improperly sealed cover.  But I don't see how this could be the case.

In either case I replied just so I can follow along, I'm curious to know what this turns out to be.

Thanks, will keep you updated. Do you think the short might be in the hot tub or the wiring, if anywhere? Will see what our little meter reading test says and that might narrow it down a bit.

[Firsttimehottub]

Initial heat up? More towels in your dryer? More lighting outside while you use the tub?
[/quote]

Yes I guess some of it can be put down to initial heat up during month 1 but its the same in month 2. Definitely not more towels or lighting and that wouldn't account for the tripled usage surely?

[Tman122]

Yeah, that doesn't sound right.  I'm in a warmer climate.  But my new 200 gallon 3-seater has only increased my electric bill about $10 USD per month this winter, so basically nothing haha

If it were me, I would be calling an electrician to review the wiring.  And then I'd get a FLiR thermal imaging camera and start looking for any "hot spots" - naturally the tub is going to get hot - but I'd be looking for an electrical short generating heat.

I'm by no means an expert on hot tubs, but I do work with electrical components enough to know it sounds like you might have a short (or loose connection) which is using up electricity and converting it to heat. 

The only other thing I'm thinking is that your cover is not properly seated and you're losing heat through an improperly sealed cover.  But I don't see how this could be the case.

In either case I replied just so I can follow along, I'm curious to know what this turns out to be.

Thanks, will keep you updated. Do you think the short might be in the hot tub or the wiring, if anywhere? Will see what our little meter reading test says and that might narrow it down a bit.

It's not a short, Your GFCI would trip if even the slightest short was in the system.

[Tman122]

It is not uncommon for a good sized tub with a ton of use (during the first year your use can be easily triple your normal use) to cost a ton more than expected. A tub costing 40-50 even 60 bucks a month on average is normal. Even if your dealer said 20-30 bucks a month. You may see a month cost 20 bucks when use is down and temps are up. But you may see a month cost 50 bucks if use is up and temps are down.

[Firsttimehottub]

Just an update as we have now tested the electricity meter readings with and without the hot tub turned on.

Monday AM - reading 12039 - hot tub on all day, normal electricity use in house, used hot tub in evening for 45 minutes
Tuesday AM - reading 12066 - usage of 27KwH for the previous 24 hours, hot tub them turned off
Wednesday AM - reading 12071 - usage of 5KwH for the previous 24 hours with normal household usage but hot tub off

On our current electricity tariff the usage with hot tub on equates to around £3.86 for the day, compared to 71p for the day with it off, so we're about £3 a day extra. It's about 22 KwH extra per day.

Does that sound like a lot/ too much/ about right?

[bud16415]

Just an update as we have now tested the electricity meter readings with and without the hot tub turned on.

Monday AM - reading 12039 - hot tub on all day, normal electricity use in house, used hot tub in evening for 45 minutes
Tuesday AM - reading 12066 - usage of 27KwH for the previous 24 hours, hot tub them turned off
Wednesday AM - reading 12071 - usage of 5KwH for the previous 24 hours with normal household usage but hot tub off

On our current electricity tariff the usage with hot tub on equates to around £3.86 for the day, compared to 71p for the day with it off, so we're about £3 a day extra. It's about 22 KwH extra per day.

Does that sound like a lot/ too much/ about right?

That’s about $4 per day USD if my math is correct.

We live in the USA up on the great lakes and have a 6 person Caldera tub and some artic like weather Where we live the cost is about $.15 per kWh so assuming 27k as you measured that’s 27 x .15 = $4.05 here as well 4.05 x 30 = $121.50 / month. Our monthly bill in the winter is around $140 for a 1500 sq foot home gas heat and gas hot water with a 240v electric hot tub.

So if I had to guess your  £3  is about correct. I know when a tub is new you are in it more and likely have it open more with messing with the water and stuff. Summer usage is different also as you will likely run it at a lower temp and the outside temp is warmer. Mine sits on a wood deck like yours and I don’t see that as a problem.

So the question is on a yearly basis I’m paying about $2 a day for power and well less than $1 day for water and supplies and hoping the tub lasts 20 years or 7300 days we paid $12k for the tub so that’s $1.64 per day. So all in I’m guessing my tub costs me about $5 per day for having a spa treatment just outside my door for the rest of my life. Then there are two of us that enjoy it so lets call it $2.50 per person.

The health benefits are hard to measure my guess is the good outweighs the bad in the long run. Especially when you look at all the things we spend $3 per day on.

[terps19]

I live in an all electric house in the North East USA.  Electric heat, electric appliances, electric water heater etc.   

We just got our tub 1 month ago.  The temps have averaged (during the day) 39 degrees F.  However, some of the nights have been pretty cold for us around 10 degrees F.

Our usage the month prior when the temps were again around 38-39 degrees F was 1508 kwh for the month.

Our electric usage for the month we got the hot tub was about 28% more as we are looking at around 2000 kwh in January.  However one of those days was the initial heat up that we used 120 kwh that day alone (we average about 60 KWH per day with the hot tub) and another 120 KWH day when I flipped the breaker when I was taking the cover off and forgot to turn it back on until the next day.  But I would imagine something else used a lot of that KW that day.   

I am in the hot tub everyday for about 30-40 mins.  Weekends I am in it twice a day usually.  Sometimes my kids will use it as well outside of my use.  So looks like this past month we are using about $2.25 more per day in electric usage. 

     

[Spatech_tuo]

I live in an all electric house in the North East USA.  Electric heat, electric appliances, electric water heater etc.   

We just got our tub 1 month ago.  The temps have averaged (during the day) 39 degrees F.  However, some of the nights have been pretty cold for us around 10 degrees F.

Our usage the month prior when the temps were again around 38-39 degrees F was 1508 kwh for the month.

Our electric usage for the month we got the hot tub was about 28% more as we are looking at around 2000 kwh in January.  However one of those days was the initial heat up that we used 120 kwh that day alone (we average about 60 KWH per day with the hot tub) and another 120 KWH day when I flipped the breaker when I was taking the cover off and forgot to turn it back on until the next day.  But I would imagine something else used a lot of that KW that day.   

I am in the hot tub everyday for about 30-40 mins.  Weekends I am in it twice a day usually.  Sometimes my kids will use it as well outside of my use.  So looks like this past month we are using about $2.25 more per day in electric usage. 

     

Not sure what brand of spa but for your usage that's not terrible. You could further insulate it, especially in the front equipment area with a foil backed blanket type (you'd want to remove it for summer though).

[terps19]

I live in an all electric house in the North East USA.  Electric heat, electric appliances, electric water heater etc.   

We just got our tub 1 month ago.  The temps have averaged (during the day) 39 degrees F.  However, some of the nights have been pretty cold for us around 10 degrees F.

Our usage the month prior when the temps were again around 38-39 degrees F was 1508 kwh for the month.

Our electric usage for the month we got the hot tub was about 28% more as we are looking at around 2000 kwh in January.  However one of those days was the initial heat up that we used 120 kwh that day alone (we average about 60 KWH per day with the hot tub) and another 120 KWH day when I flipped the breaker when I was taking the cover off and forgot to turn it back on until the next day.  But I would imagine something else used a lot of that KW that day.   

I am in the hot tub everyday for about 30-40 mins.  Weekends I am in it twice a day usually.  Sometimes my kids will use it as well outside of my use.  So looks like this past month we are using about $2.25 more per day in electric usage. 

     

Not sure what brand of spa but for your usage that's not terrible. You could further insulate it, especially in the front equipment area with a foil backed blanket type (you'd want to remove it for summer though).

Hey.  Im in a Tropic Seas Waikiki Elite 3 pumps (including the circulation pump).  I was told that the elite Tropic Seas series (made by Artesian) was a full insulated tub.  When I took the cover off I could see it looked more insulation than other pictures I saw.  But would you put the foil backed blanked on the inside of the panel cover and then removed it every summer?  Or just kind of prop it up in there? 

Does the thermal blanket really help save the headrests when you have an ozonator?  Since it is the elite model it does have the ozonator, and I also use the frog @ase system as well.  The two combined seem to do a great job.