sandi Posted November 10, 2007 Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 I recently posted a question on the thread for Infinity Sun Peak owners to tell about how things are going with their spa. But since owners of other brands of spa may not follow that thread, I figure I'll get more feedback if I also start a new topic. As new owners of our first spa, I have no idea what I should expect a spa to cost per day/per month to run. Based on the electric bill we just got, our spa cost about $5 a day to run and we're only into November. That seems like an awful lot. Is it? We live in the mid-Atlantic region - average daytime temps in the 30s in mid-winter and 20s at night. I would love to hear from other spa owners to help me decide if we should test out the Costco satisfaction guaranteed warranty. Please, no "I told you so" comments, just data to help me make a decision. Thanks. Sandi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biggz Posted November 10, 2007 Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 I recently posted a question on the thread for Infinity Sun Peak owners to tell about how things are going with their spa. But since owners of other brands of spa may not follow that thread, I figure I'll get more feedback if I also start a new topic. As new owners of our first spa, I have no idea what I should expect a spa to cost per day/per month to run. Based on the electric bill we just got, our spa cost about $5 a day to run and we're only into November. That seems like an awful lot. Is it? We live in the mid-Atlantic region - average daytime temps in the 30s in mid-winter and 20s at night. I would love to hear from other spa owners to help me decide if we should test out the Costco satisfaction guaranteed warranty. Please, no "I told you so" comments, just data to help me make a decision. Thanks. Sandi I would try using a thermal blanket in addition to your cover and adding additional foam insulation before trying the warranty route. How much money do you want to spend to heat a tub under those weather conditions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnInSJ Posted November 10, 2007 Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 Cost in $ is not going to be easy to compare... can you convert $ to Kw/h a day? And how often do you use the spa? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandi Posted November 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 Cost in $ is not going to be easy to compare... can you convert $ to Kw/h a day? And how often do you use the spa? OK, good point. So, in terms of KWH, we used 47 additional KWH per day than we did during the same time period a year ago, or a total of 1311 additional KWH in the 27 day billing cycle. Is this average for a 350 gallon spa? High? Low? We only use it once or twice a week for about an hour each time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jadi Posted November 10, 2007 Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 Sandi, Like you I'm new spa owner in mid-atlantic area. Same temp as you. I had my tub since Aug but did not start it till mid Sept ( patio wasn't ready ). So far Sept - Nov is about $1.75 a day. I'm expecting $3.50 tops in coldest months. I have Nordic (425gal) full foam and I kept temp at 101 at all times. We use our tub every day except when it's too windy or rain. I usually leave my cover open for 10 minutes when adding mps after each use and 20+ min when shocking with dichlor weekly. $5 a day is really high. Is your filter cycle on 24/7 ? As far as cost of owning a hot tub..., I found out it's not cheap. If you factor in the electric, chemical, test kit, N2, filter, the extra hot water you use to rinse off, extra usage of towel= extra load of luandry, dryer, detergent, water, gas..........and who knows what else. $$$$$ Happy hottubing, jadi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake the dog man Posted November 12, 2007 Report Share Posted November 12, 2007 I don't know what you "should" be spending, but $5 per day just on power seems pretty steep. I also live in the mid-atlantic are (hour south of Philadelphia), but my Tiger River has barely caused my bill to rise. I keep my temp 102, used almost every day, sometimes twice. It stay uncovered during the 10 minute clean cycle, after each use. We have had frost this year, but no freezing yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Got-soaked Posted November 12, 2007 Report Share Posted November 12, 2007 I don't know what you "should" be spending, but $5 per day just on power seems pretty steep. I also live in the mid-atlantic are (hour south of Philadelphia), but my Tiger River has barely caused my bill to rise. I keep my temp 102, used almost every day, sometimes twice. It stay uncovered during the 10 minute clean cycle, after each use. We have had frost this year, but no freezing yet. I have a Master Spa LSX1050 and last year the coldest month during the winter it cost me $200 (1800kwh). I live in Delaware so the winters here are pretty mild. My hot tub on the average consumes from 25 KWH per day in the summer to 60KWH per day in the winter. I pay 11 cents per KWH so it cost me anywhere from $2.25 a day in the summer to $6.60 per day in the winter. My highest electric bill was for January 2007 and according to my electric bill the daily average was 42 degrees. The tub is used on the average 30 minutes a day 5 days a week. The LSX1050 is a 2007 model with a new Sunstar (4in to 2in) 2lb foam cover. The tub sits on pavers and is surrounded by a 2 1/2 foot high sitting wall. I have 3 coworkers and each of them own a Hot Springs tub and all three of them say they see a $10 increase of usage in the summer and about $30 in the winter (per/month). There tubs are 1-3 years old and are fully foam insulated. The Master Spa East website states Master Spa's hot tubs are some of the most energy efficient portable spas ever built. You can expect to spend on average $30.00 a month. Actual costs will vary from situation to situation. (Note that the Master Spa website does not explain what conditions they determined the cost of $30 a month). D1 website states at 10 cents a KWH their hot tub will cost you $15.79 per month. Their testing is done with the ambient temperature at 60 degrees, the thermostat set at 104 degrees to maintain the water temperature a minimum of 102. Their tests are based on spa use at 20 minutes every other day with the high speed jets on. My LSX1050 using the same test as above would cost me $100 a month. IMO full foam insulation is the way to go, my experience with Master Spa is the thermal pane design doesn’t work( Master Spa's are energy pigs). There may be a spa company out there that has perfected the thermal pane design, but I can tell you that it isn't Master Spa and at $14,000 the tub isn't cheap. Do your homework, wet test and most of all know what the tub is going to cost you to operate. A poorly insulated tub is going to cost you big bucks to operate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TinyBubbles Posted November 12, 2007 Report Share Posted November 12, 2007 Sandi, is there anything else that could have contributed to the additional kwh's on your bill? Was this month colder than the same month last year? Did you run any other appliances more? Was the bill for the same month last year for the exact same number of days? You are talking approximately $90 for your spa, that seems really high, especially based on your useage. What length are your filter times? I had contacted my power co. to ask them if it's more efficient to maintain a constant temp. on my spa or to lower it during the day and raise it at night before use. They told me it's cheaper to maintain a constant temp. They followed up by mailing me a pamphlet on hot tub and pool efficiency. In it, it states that a well made, well-insulated hot tub would use around 5-7 kwh's a day, while a poorly insulated, less efficient tub could use around 12-18 per day. That's still alot less than the 45 kwh's per day you are figuring that your spa is adding. They mentioned using a floating thermal blanket like biggz suggested. A 1/4" closed cell. They say that most heat is lost through the cover of a spa. Do you have a well-made cover that fits correctly? I have a 350 gallon spa as well, but I haven't received my first power bill yet. I'll give you more info. when I receive it. My sister has a 450 gallon spa, that is 5 years old. They use it every single day and twice on weekends. In the coldest months, it adds about $60 to their bill. They keep it set at 104 degrees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandi Posted November 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2007 Sandi, is there anything else that could have contributed to the additional kwh's on your bill? Was this month colder than the same month last year? Did you run any other appliances more? Was the bill for the same month last year for the exact same number of days? You are talking approximately $90 for your spa, that seems really high, especially based on your useage. What length are your filter times? I had contacted my power co. to ask them if it's more efficient to maintain a constant temp. on my spa or to lower it during the day and raise it at night before use. They told me it's cheaper to maintain a constant temp. They followed up by mailing me a pamphlet on hot tub and pool efficiency. In it, it states that a well made, well-insulated hot tub would use around 5-7 kwh's a day, while a poorly insulated, less efficient tub could use around 12-18 per day. That's still alot less than the 45 kwh's per day you are figuring that your spa is adding. They mentioned using a floating thermal blanket like biggz suggested. A 1/4" closed cell. They say that most heat is lost through the cover of a spa. Do you have a well-made cover that fits correctly? I have a 350 gallon spa as well, but I haven't received my first power bill yet. I'll give you more info. when I receive it. My sister has a 450 gallon spa, that is 5 years old. They use it every single day and twice on weekends. In the coldest months, it adds about $60 to their bill. They keep it set at 104 degrees. OK, my electric bill did NOT double as a result of my Costco spa - I made a huge mistake and don't want other people who purchased Infinity spas thinking that they made a huge mistake with their purchase. Today, my son pointed out that last winter, we added a 1000 sq. foot 2-story addition to our house. Since construction didn't start til mid November, this time last year we didn't have the addition. SO, the increase in our electric bill is primarily due to the fact that we are heating and cooling an extra 1000 sq. feet of living space 24/7, NOT due to our hot tub! I guess I had read so many, "Wait til you see your electric bill ..." posts that I was focused on expecting to see a big increase in my electric usage as a result of buying a bargain spa, and that was the only thing that came to mind when I looked at my bill. Either that or it was just a blonde moment! Sandi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnInSJ Posted November 12, 2007 Report Share Posted November 12, 2007 Phew! That makes a lot more sense - that would have to have been one heck of an inefficient tub to burn 47Kwh/day - that would be 5-10x what you would expect from a tub that's used daily. Maybe if you hat it open, set at 104, and pumps running full out 24/7 you could burn that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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