Indoors vs out doors?

[mrallan]

Had a nice 12X15 cedar attached bldg off bedroom with sunken Spa. ( bought the house with this already in place) it was a Fac Rec Spa ... But for the seven years I was there just replaced the heater twice. Used spa twice a day every day. Now will be in new home no attached bldg and home costs are way higher. So question can a Hot Springs small spa be run in basement ( 110) with use of good exhaust fan and not create moisture problems , humidity. Eventually may have a spa room built outside but for now need to save $ and get my aching body back in a good spa?? Wife thinks there will be humidity problems, basement has windows door daylight etc, I so no problem and good advantage ( no need to pour foundation etc... Opinions welcome here or e-mail. Thanks Allan .

[drewstar]

My brother in law did this and had no problems.

However, he sectioned off the area by putting up sliding glass doors. The tub area also had a window for venting.

[Bill_Stevenson]

You should review what you want to do with the builder.  The engineer who designed the HVAC system would need to know what spa you intend to install and what the heat and moisture load would be.  It may be necessary to add a dehumidifier to compensate for the increased moisture load.

Regards,

Bill

[Snowbird]

When we planned our enclosed tub room we were also concerned about moisture even though we have two 4x8 windows and a 6 ft sliding glass door to the outside.

We put in an exhaust fan controlled by a humidistat and keep it set at 70%.  Although we are not done painting and decorating, the tub has been up and running since mid-December.

I can tell you that there are zero mositure issues with the cover on; which is at least 90% of the time.

When the cover is off we get condensation on the glass surfaces (its cold here in Steeler town) and the vent fan will come on once in a while for about 15 minutes.

We always wipe up any splashed water from the floor after a soak so there is never enough moisture to cause problems.

We bought our fan on the internet from Continental Fan in Buffalo for a little under $300 including humidistat and intake grill.  It is capable of exchanging the air in our room (12 x 18 x 10) 8 times per hour.  It runs at 62 decibels (normal conversation) at the end of a 25 ft run of flexible insulated ducting.  We never hear it.  A little water does come out of the exhaust when it comes on so there must be some condensation in the duct.

After all is said and done the fan was probably over-kill.  We have a 2nd sliding glass door to the dining room and a 3rd to the family room. Any humid air helps with the dry air caused by the gas furnace.  We could have gotten by with a cheaper model fan, but I just don't want to climb around in the attic fixing a cheap one.  And the fan is mounted under the peak of our roof about 30 feet up.  My knees won't let me go up a ladder.

[johnvb]

I vote for indoors! Just make sure that along with exhaust ventilation, you also need makeup air, from the outside or inside. Also if using inside air, and you have any gas appliances in the house, make sure they are not "backdrafting" when the vent fan is on.

I used Azek PVC beadboard for the ceiling material, pocelain tile for the floor, the wall are now just painted/sealed sheets of PT plywood, will them finish later with more Azek. Painted both my walls and ceiling with this mildew resistant paint:

http://www.zinsser.com/product_detail.asp?ProductID=35

[kered]

I'm all for the tub indoors as that is where mine is, but I built a 3 (4 with hot-tub) season room that I built for the tub. I've got electric skylights and exhaust fans built in. I put the fans on and open the skylights for make-up air as someone mentioned.

Depends on how big the tub is, how long you have the cover off, and really - how much humidity you release into the air and how well your exhaust fan will exhaust it. Also, the make-up air thing. If you have a powerful fan but no make-up air (ie. source of extra air - open window, etc), you will burn out the motor as it's working too hard to pump air out that isn't there to be replaced.

You have to be careful about a hot tub in an area that is supplied by your home heating system. You don't want too much humidity in that system. Obviously some is okay, as evidenced by humidifiers, but too much and you get moisture build-up in the system, ducts, etc. This can cause a mold problem and you don't want that.

So, there is no easy yes/no answer. You need to make the call as to how much moisture is produced by your size tub, how much it's used, and how well you can vent it.

Good Luck!

[ssbraun]

I know it's off topic, but johnvb, your spa room is beautiful.  I love the outdoor installations best myself, but that is really nice

[johnvb]

Thanks… if the room was larger, I could have gotten more in the picture. We have all sorts of "metal art" animals hanging on the walls, such as frog, lizards, butterflies, etc. (you know, that woman’s touch thing) Going for a tropical theme, tacky, I know, but we love it  



At night we use only the tub lights, electric candles, and a back spot light that reflects  the palm tree across the ceiling, looks very cool. I still need to find a tucan on a perch to hang over the tree.

As you can see by the pic, this room is part of a larger as yet unfinished house addition..had to get the tub room done first, for all those future aches and pains.




We bought a small outside bar piece, that we use, turned backwards as a table. I picked up a scratch and dent bath cabinet, painted it the color of the bar piece. I cut out part of the back and hung it so it covers over but stills allows access to the GFI breaker panel, plus it's where I store all the chemicals.

Both the candles you see are electric candles (one's also a water feature), but they look very real at night. I have them hooked into the same circuit as my exhaust fan switch, kind of a reminder to turn off the fan when we leave the room (the switch has a 30 minute time-delay "off")

http://www.smarthome.com/4633bd.html

Make sure you check out the video on the bottom of the page.

I'm trying talk the wifey into letting me replace the towel hangers with some sort of towel heater rack, that's one feature I miss, especially this time of year. They are attached on a double stud wide wall (for noise reduction), so I could do something sunk into the wall...maybe next year.