power bill came j 385

[chaunceyboyblu]

hey, we got our power bill and it was for the whole time we have had our hot tub. it was only 5 dollars more than the months before. i was very surprised because we also have an rv that has some electric heaters that come on when it gets really cold. pretty nice, i thought it would go up a bunch like a couple bucks a day since it is so cold here. it was 18 when i went to bed last night. im pretty amazed.

[drewstar]

Chauncey,

that's great. While most will point out you can't do electric rates comparrions with out Kilowatt hours,  Bottom line dollars figures are handy, and how I tpically measure what's going on in the house.

Where are you located?  How cold has it been and what type of tub do you have?

[chaunceyboyblu]

we are in northwest montana, whitefish. it is 25 deg right now got down in the teens last nite. the spa is a jacuzzi j 385 that i bought used. it is a year old. we use it several times a day. and have it only at 102 deg.

[Haynes]

Was the bill estimated or an actual reading?

[chaunceyboyblu]

hmmm i didnt even know that was a thing that was done. i will check.

[ndabunka]

One of the NICEST things about Jacuzzi is the efficency of the equipment. Both myself and a buddy of mine were told to expect a rise of about $20/month in power bills. I bought a J-370 about 3 years ago and have seen between $10 & $15/month increase. He bought another major (regional) brand and saw about a $50/month increase.  Jacuzzi's foam-filled is the WAY to go!

[smartymose]

Hi Folks,

I was just going to start a thread about electric usage, so I see it has already been started here.

I've got a problem...We've got a 2005 HotSpring Grandee that was installed in April, and has been in SummerMode the whole time...no heather or circ pump running during the day (we live in the NorthEast...80's+ all summer). So we haven't used it much since installation.

We began using it for 45 minutes a night beginning in Oct (still in SummerMode). I just got my electric bill, and while the bill was running the same as last year (month for month),  Oct was very high compared to that month in 2004...28 kilowatt hours per day in 2004 versus 40 kilowatt hours for this past month. In my area, a 40 kilowatt per day usage equals 1200 kilowatts for the month, which equals a bill for $160!

I called Watkins to see what the kilowatt hours per day rate I should expect, and they couldn't give me a number. They suggested I hook up a meter to see how much electricity the tub was using.

Even if I do this, how would I know if the usage was high, low, or normal? Anyone have an idea of how much electricity this tub should be using?

Thanks

[East_TX_Spa]

Smartymoose, it should be running no more than $15 per month.  That's it.

Terminator

[smartymose]

The Oct difference is 12 kilowatt hours per day...360 kilowatt hours per month extra with the tub (over last year) times $.0608 per kilowatt (from my bill)...equals $21 more per month, and that's when it is in SummerMode. I hate to see the next bill, now that it's on "regular" mode. We haven't even factored in whether there is enough insulation in the cabinet to keep the heat inside, or the quality of the cover! If either of those are not suffcient, this bill is going to get way out of control!

So, could it be wired "wrong"? What else could cause this excessive usage (during moderate outside temps)? Do I ask my electrician to come back and "verify" his installation? Do I pay for another electrician to check the wiring?

-Me

[hotubinn]

My guess is that you won't see a huge difference between the two modes, heck it might even go down.  I am presuming summer mode only heats during filtration.  Sometimes it is more efficient to maintain a specific temp, ie tub comes on periodically throughout the day to heat, rather than for an extended period during filtration.  I don't know what amperage your system is drawing, but let's say that it is drawing 40 amps with everything running.  40 amp draw for 1 hour would be 9.6 kw used for that hour.  If you are using your tub 45 mins everyday, that would come to approximately an extra 288 kw per month for your use ($17.51 american).  You would need to add your costs for filtering during the times you aren't using it.  That should give you a good idea as to the op costs.

[sms392]

We put in a 2005+ Grandee in August in Mass.  Been curious about how power usage would be but so far, 4 months of bills, are all lower in $'s and kW, estimated/measured.  Think the house AC/Pool heater and other power users were masking any real impact to electricity readings so far.  November will be interesting to say the least as it's starting to feel like winter.  By the way never used summer mode simply been setting the temp up as it cools down.  At 102 today and looking forward to the first real snow fall.