SundanceAltamarOwner

Thanks for the clear information. My additional KWhr usage for December was 555 but the average temperature in the San Francisco Bay area is much warmer than 27 degrees, probably more like 50 degrees. Also, my brother-in-laws D1 tub in the same city as mine only used 270 KWhr more in December than before he got the hot tub. The service man read my amps and the tub is pulling normally so I wonder if it is the insulation. One question, although I have the temperature set for 102 degrees, it heats to that and then immediately (within a half hour) drops down to 101 where it stays until it drops below there before it heats up. Does your temperature read what you set it at or usually a degree below?

Hi soaker, I was wondering where you got those statistics? What country do you live in? All the sites I've found dealing with hot tubs and their energy efficiency quote this statistic: An average sized energy efficient hot tub consumes 5-7 kWh per day, while a poorly insulated, inefficient hot tub may use 12-18 kWh per day. If you take the high end 7 kwh per day for an energy efficient tub for 31 days, that would be 217 kwh per month, which is quite a bit less than your "standard" estimate of 575. If you take the high end of the poorly insulated, inefficent tub of 18 kwh per day for 31 days, that is 558 which is much closer to your "standard". Either way, your "standard" seems too high. In addition, there is clearly not a "standard", since the energy efficient and inefficient spas consume very different amounts of power. These numbers seem right on the money from my personal experience. Here, our price per kwh is 2 cents. Use their figure of 217 kwh per month and this is only $4.34. It explains why I've seen little or no increase on my powerbill since installing my tub. This month, my power bill was up $6.00 compared to this month last year, but I've added the tub, did a refill during this time and we've had record breaking low temperatures. You just can't argue with those numbers. In addition, you can look at smilin's post which states an increase of only 345 kwh per month. It might be that your spa uses 575 kwh per month, but that doesn't make that a standard. Tiny, where do you live - 2 cents a kwh? I live in KY, we're a little over 6 cents (I think we are the 4th cheapest state). 2 cents is unreal though. The kwh usage of my tub puts a lot of my electricity used in the top tier of .34 per kwh so it really adds up. My tub seems to use about 9 kwh/day in mild climate.

How would I do that?

Thanks for the information. My tub used 18.5 Kwh/day this past month but I live in California where the temperatures are between 40 and 65F. Also, our electricity is way more expensive. There are tiers depending on how much yu use and the usage from the tub brought me into the .33/kwh bracket for a bunch of it. Also, my brother-in-laws D1 tub uses half of what my Sundance Altamar does.

Yup... Unless you put a kW meter on the spa and record how many kW it uses over a period of time, all you're doing is guessing at how much power it's actually using. A difference in power consumption between this year and last year only indicates, well, a difference in power consumption for your entire house. There are many things besides a spa that can increase your power consumption..... Some other appliance that's malfunctioning (like the extra fridge in the garage), a new TV that has a high power stand-by mode, a new computer that's left on all the time, a well pump with a leak, colder ambient temperature (the average temp is a poor indication of expected power use), or any other of probably 100+ things. It's easy to blame the spa, but all the things I've mentioned above have been discovered to be the real power hogs over the years, and eventually reported on various message boards. I have done just that. I turned off the spa for 36 hours and monitored the kw usage. The kw usage went down to my pre-spa levels. Then I turned the spa back on and so far it is adding the expected load to the system (5.5 Kw/hour to heat). I will next try to see if perhaps it is poorly insulated making the heater go on a lot more than other tubs. I plan to ask my brother-in-law, whose tub is using less electricity, to turn off his tub for the night and I will do the same. Then I will be able to see how much the water temperature drops in his tub vs. how much mine does.

Can I ask you what you are basing this on? I also thought that Jacuzzi's were built by the same folks as Sundance? Sundance also uses a small circulation pump but I don't know about the type of insulation. He doesent know, he just sells them! go with what owners tell you the actuall usage. I think the sundance is accurate but these dealers don't want to admit it. plain and simple, a spa will always make your bill go up noticibly, anyone that says otherwise is not being accurate. If in doubt, call your local utillity company and ask them what a average spa uses a month in electrical cost. I bet you will find they don't agree with what the dealer said it would be MMMMMMMMM! Just a thought:) Yes, but I have a Sundance and my hot tub used 18.5 kwh/day last month and my brother-in-law, who lives in the same areas as I has a D1 and it used half of what my Sundance used. I checked with the Sundance folks and they seem to have similiar insulation but maybe not. Anyone have any ideas?

Can I ask you what you are basing this on? I also thought that Jacuzzi's were built by the same folks as Sundance? Sundance also uses a small circulation pump but I don't know about the type of insulation.

If it were a thermal pane I'd advice you to properly insulate it but since its full foam I know it is insulated well already but your Sundance really should be costing you about the same as your BIL's D1 (assuming similar use). I wonder if you have an issue. The real answer is to put a meter on the spa to see what power it is directly drawing but unless your dealer has that set up its not so simple. I'd start by talking to the service people at the dealer. The service guy put a meter to measure how much amps each piece of equipment was drawing and he said they are all drawing fine. Is that what you mean by putting a meter on the spa?

Thanks for your input. The service person put it on Economy and it actually seemed to use more energy because the heater had to stay on longer I guess to get the water back up to the set temperature. He checked the amps of all the parts, heater, pumps, etc. and he said everything is working fine but it still is using a ton of energy. I will check into the filter cycle time, but I think he cut that in half as well. Any other ideas? Do you have clients who you can ask what their electricity usage is for Sundance recent models. Thanks.

Thanks for sharing the real world cost of owning a " premium " spa . 575 kwh per month in winter is standard for most spas which equals $57.35 a month in winter. .10 cents a kwh. Your use is normal and don't let a dealer tell you otherwise as you have your bill as proof. Yes, but I am in California where the temperatures are pretty mild. Where do you live and what is your usage. My brother-in-law, who has a Dimensions One and lives in my area, has a much lower bill than mine.

Did you ever get the hot tub? I have an Altamar and it seems to use way more energy than my brother-in-law's Dimension One. How much Kwh/day does it use? I did get the tub. My first bill was around $50. That was for 25 days of use and 5 days a week for 20 minutes. I set it to 104. My rates are .08/kwh. The last bill was a doozy, but I think christmas lights hurt me as well. We are figuring 50-65 a month. I am using the standard mode. I wonder if the economy mode would work? So it looks like you used 625 KwH/day for the first month. That is pretty high, 25Kwh/day. Do you have the kind of bill that breaks out Kwh/day? If so, can you tell me what that is and how it compares to the year before when you didn't have the tub? My electric company breaks the bill out that way. Perhaps you can also touch base next month to see what the use is. I am trying to figure out if my Altamar has something wrong with it or if it just uses a lot of electricity compared to some of the more efficient tubs.

Did you ever get the hot tub? I have an Altamar and it seems to use way more energy than my brother-in-law's Dimension One. How much Kwh/day does it use?

Did you ever get the hot tub? I have an Altamar and it seems to use way more energy than my brother-in-law's Dimension One. How much Kwh/day does it use?

____________________________________________________________________________ Can I ask you what type of tub you have. I own a Sundance and it seems to use much more electricity (10 Kwh/day in summer and 18.5 in winter)

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and have a Sundance Altamar, 2006 model. When I put it in (this summer) my electricity bill went up 10 kwh/day. This past month, because it was colder, it was up 18.5 kwh per day from the year before! My brother-in-law has a Dimensions1 tub (even larger than mine) and it uses much less electricity than mine does. Does anyone out there have a Sundance similar model in the Bay Area or other west coast, reasonably mild but still cool climate? How much electricity do you use per day? I am wondering if there might be something wrong with my tub because it uses much more electricity that my brother-in-laws. The repair person says it is working just fine. Thanks