Electric Bill

[Electro]

Hi Everyone,

I've just gotten a full month's electric bill, after installing and running the hot tub.  As I expected, the bill is much more than the estimates posted for running a tub for 20 minutes a day in various climates.  I suspect these estimates do not include the fact that you need to leave the tub open without an insulated cover whenever you superchlorinate or go above 5 ppm chlorine.  Of course, now I see the tradeoff between chlorine destroying the cover and especially the seams (which means buying a new cover) and paying for the electricity and heating tub water that is uninsulated for one or more days at a time, until the chlorine level drops below 5 ppm.

The bottom line: last year during a 31 day period (without the hottub) my electric bill was $85.28.  This year it was $226.54.  The apparent cost of running the hot tub for a month from August 11 thru September 10 this year was $141.26.  This is for a big tub - the Sundance Maxxus with 600 gallons of water and 3 pumps to run when the chemicals need to be mixed.

I am not pleased about this and am now reconsidering things.

Electro

[ebirrane]

Wow.  

I've had my tub a little over 3 months and the past 3 months samplings showed $10-$15 over "normal".

My tub is, I think, 450 gallons.

Questions:

1) You've had work done on your house, right?  Any new lights?

2) Running AC more?  Higher cost to cool more rooms?

3) What temperature do you keep the tub at? 104 degrees?  99 degrees?  I keep mine set around 98 (95-99) and during the day it goes over that which leads me to think my heater doesn't kick on in the summer with the temps I use.

As a last resort, you can hook up a power meter to just your tub and measure it over time.  At least that would let you figure out how to best cut down costs.

Good luck!

-Ed

[Pebble_Beach_Bum]

If you install a floating "spa blanket" you will never have to leave the cover off after adding any sanitizer or other spa care products. Plus, the water will stay warmer.

My electric bill is about $20 higher per month with an average KWH cost of $.13. I filter 5 hours per day and generally use the spa during filtration cycles. Also, the control panel is set to "economy" year around, i.e. the heater comes on only when necessary -  at the beginning of filtration cycles.

[doodoo]

This post is very worrysome for me. I too have been highly skeptical about the actual costs of running our tub.  We have had it operating now for about 4 months.

But the one thing that I am certain about though is not jumping to conclusions quickly.  Rather than examining this in such a short time span I am going through a full year with full analysis. I am also keeping track of serious anomalies like weather. This summer has been rather cold which means that our AC system has not been running. As a matter of fact I only had it on for 2 days. Normally we look at about 4 weeks of cooling period.  And then there is also usage.

On the plus side, I work in  energy efficiency in the residential sector which means that I have several testing systems and resources available to me.

As part of this tub install, I had several meters  installed at source to measure the load consumed on 12 of my larger appliances including the tub.  I plan on having my staff run the numbers quarterly and then summarise a report next summer after a full year.  Note that this will be based on KWH and not $$.  I will have this report include the dollars but they will be adjusted to $$ as of whatever date. In Ontario the cost  per KHW is going up and so I want to make sure that it is reflective of reality rather than skewed by higher $$ costs.  

The other thing that will be done is to plug this into our residential models to spread out over 30 years based on degree days. These are weather data that have been gathered over 30 years so that you can get a normalised result rather than be influenced by a blip in the weather like we just had this year (colder than normal).

Now. I did look into the costs on our bill since the tub install. I did note a higher cost. Much higher than I expected. Is it a direct result of the tub? based on what my staff tell me, NO. The load consumed by the tub thus far is absolutely correct based on the usage. I am also tracking the usage of the tub.  I have a tracking mechanism for the tub which involves the following data collection system asside from the meter at the tub.  Length of time in tub; number of people in tub; time of day used; wearing suits or not; water changes; dates shocked; dates of filter changes;  and a general commentary for other data like the recent episode of my four lessons learned (sigh).  This data collection will also be plugged into the model as usage playes a large part in load consumed for any appliance. And judging from what our friends and kids say about the tub it is getting more than its fair share of use.

I figure that by next July I should have the final report in and plan to share it with you at that time.

[HotTubMan]

I posted this a week or two ago:

"To those of you with electrical increse estimates:

Can you say all other thing have been equal? Is the pirce electricity the same? Have you been using all of your electrical appliances the same a  amount as last year? TV, furnace, AC, oven, computer, dishwasher, washer, dryer.  

Were your bills in years previous consistent year over year? Did you ever experience a $25-50 increase in comsuption from year to the next before the hot tub.

No more or less scientific than the FF vs TP or 2-speed vs circ pump debates I guess.  "

Obviously your tub is faulty or you and Ed have different levels of satisfaction with: tub, install and after sale service. In my experience buyer satisfaction and electrical consumption go hand in hand.

Satisfied Customer= low electrical bill
Buyers remorse seems to lead to high electrical bills

My two cents

HTMan

[stuart]

Hi Everyone,

I've just gotten a full month's electric bill, after installing and running the hot tub.  As I expected, the bill is much more than the estimates posted for running a tub for 20 minutes a day in various climates.  I suspect these estimates do not include the fact that you need to leave the tub open without an insulated cover whenever you superchlorinate or go above 5 ppm chlorine.  Of course, now I see the tradeoff between chlorine destroying the cover and especially the seams (which means buying a new cover) and paying for the electricity and heating tub water that is uninsulated for one or more days at a time, until the chlorine level drops below 5 ppm.

The bottom line: last year during a 31 day period (without the hottub) my electric bill was $85.28.  This year it was $226.54.  The apparent cost of running the hot tub for a month from August 11 thru September 10 this year was $141.26.  This is for a big tub - the Sundance Maxxus with 600 gallons of water and 3 pumps to run when the chemicals need to be mixed.

I am not pleased about this and am now reconsidering things.

Electro

Electro,
The Maxxus is not cheap to run, but nowhere near that much! We have had 3 incidents lately where customers called to complain about their electrical and when we researched it we found in every case that the customers were on an "average energy use program" with the utilities company and when meter reader saw a spa installed, they assumed it would run about $100 per month so they boosted their bill that much. We wound up with the utilities company giving us a site meter to test spas directly for the trouble.

The only high bill that was really the cause of the tub was a Master spa we installed and we brought that down from way over $60 a month to about $40 by taking off the deck, setting it on an insulated base, adding a low “E” wrap and changing the filter cycles.

The other two (both Marquis) when tested with the site meter came out well under $20 per month. You might be able to rent one of these meters from your Power Company. BTW, we tested all three of these tubs over a 3 month period just to get a feel for what they averaged. In the last month we traded meters to make sure they read the same (two were borrowed from the power company)

[ebirrane]

Obviously your tub is faulty or you and Ed have different levels of satisfaction with: tub, install and after sale service. In my experience buyer satisfaction and electrical consumption go hand in hand.

In fairness, it has also been a cooler summer in MD.  Perhaps I have run my AC less.  Sans a meter, all you can do is look at the numbers.

-Ed

[CalicoskiesNC]

I live in Raleigh NC and my A/C ran consistently all thru July and Aug, this year and last. I compared my costs from last summer w/out a tub to this summer w/tub.  I've got a difference of $34 for July and $29 for Aug.  I was happy with this, seems I might run $10 higher still in winter months with the heater, but we've noticed the tub will hold a temp extremely well with the cover on.  I have no other electrical draws that differ from last summer to this summer.  

I have an Optima.  During July/Aug we kept temp at 96, ran filter cycles for 45min x 4 cycles.  We have 5 of us using tub and never are we in together, so the pumps then run every day for at least 2hrs, many days even 3+hrs.  

[zeuspaul]

Electro,

Running the spa with the cover off for days at a time will certainly send the electric bill through the roof.  After chlorinating run it for 15 to 30 minutes and then put the cover on.

[TahoesMama]

Good Lord!!!
This post put me in cardiac arrest!!  Is this what we have to look forward to?  Most dealers we wet-testsed with quoted an approximate anticipated energy cost increase for the area we live in as an additional $20/mth.  Naturally, we are counting on it being double that just to keep from being too disappointed when the bill arrives, but E-Bill's, bill is outrageous regardless of the size of the tub!

To all of the long-time tub owners, would decreasing the temperature setting while the tub is not in use, and raising the thermostat just prior to use possibly keep cost down?  Any ideas will help - we live in K.C. where winter is cold and bills are high.  Our utility regulators can't wait to blame anything and everything in the world from weather, to supply/demand to the full moon or even the Chiefs home win/loss record to justify energy cost increase.

[Drewski]

Geez Guys, don't FREAK!

I respect a "technical" approach to an issue, but this thread is going to pocket protectors and slide rules REAL quick!  

I've had my tub for 5 years.  Twin 5 HP pumps, a circ pump, a 5.5 KW heater and full foam.  At least 20 minutes a night in the tub, both pumps running, "hot tub socials" on weekends, 104 degrees ALWAYS, no "economy mode" operation.  Average daily temperature = 60 degrees, average days below 32 = 51 days (see http://www.weatherbase.com/).

In that ENTIRE time, my biggest hit was $65 in one month when I refilled in winter (500 gallons of 52 degree water) three (yeah, 3!) times in one month. Even lately, with higher power costs, I'm not over $40 per month.

Here's a clue:  I DON'T CARE about the cover going bad.  I also use chlorine for sanitation (sometimes BIG shocks because I'm a high use tub).  The sides are a little worn and the color is faded, but what's the big deal?  The outside is protected from UV with an additive and the cover is still solid.  Leave it OFF?  Yeah, right...

Do the math.  Let's say the tub is set at 104 degrees.  At night (during the SUMMER), the temperature drops to 75.  That's a difference of almost 30 degrees!  Add a 5 to 10 MPH breeze across the water surface and that heater will ALWAYS be on.  I couldn't imagine how BAD that would be in the winter.  Maybe you could use the power meter wheel to saw some wood?

A spa cover these days (NOT from a spa dealer!!!) will set you back $200 to $350, DELIVERED, depending on what you get.  Don't get fooled by dealer claims that "not all covers are the same."  Check the construction details, insulating quality, vinyl grade and make your OWN decision (HINT, search "hot tub cover" on E-BAY).  Even if you need to REPLACE it after 5 years, that's an annual cost of only $70, at the MOST.  I'll trade that ANY day for a $140 power cost.

If someone on this forum is suggesting leaving the cover off because of chlorine damage and replacement issues, it's BAD advice.  REAL bad advice.  

Put the cover on and check heater usage.  You WILL see an immediate improvement.

Good luck!

Drewski

[Chas]

First month is always much higher. If you were to time the amount the spa is uncovered during that first month of ownership, it would easily equal three month's use down the road. Also, you tend to be home more, run more lights, dryer loads etc.

If the power is up three or four months from now, get a meter out there and measure the actual power consumption of the tub.

[ttodd1]

Just got my bill today and it only went up $3.00.  The bill included the all but 1 week of the tub.  I was greatly surprised.  Just for the facts, we keep it at 101, soak in it for about an hour each night (might have missed 2 or 3 due to the hurricanes going through), and not much has changed in the other electrical needs in the house.    

[Nhbeacon]

 :-/Our electric bill from 8/12 - 9/14 increased by over 600kwh with our new Siberian hot tub. However, during this same time we had a dehumidifier running in the basement. Our highest kwh for the year was in January with 877  vs. 1314 for this last bill. I did call the Electric company to find out if this was a "true meter read " after an estimate bill, but no, the meter has been read all summer. The Rep did say that this increase is average with a hot tub, but I was still very suprised given that I had found NH based website for hotspring tubs that did not have this big of an increase.

But now that we are back in school and the humidity is lower, I can only hope and pray that my electric bill won't be so high next summer.  The cost increase= $140 vs. last month of $78, but we have used and enjoyed it almost daily.
Jan

[HotTubMan]

Most manufacturer electrical estimates are not based on daily usage. You will use your tub more at the start (some will continue daily usage but not most) and use more electricity, sanitizer and balancing minerals.