jagercrow Posted July 11, 2011 Report Share Posted July 11, 2011 Hello, I recently bought a very small 4 person 110 volt Coleman Spa. I don't know what year it is. I would say newer than 1995 at least. I put in a dedicated outlet that it is plugged into. Based on the research I did and asking around, I just keep it heated to 104 degrees 24 hours a day. People have told me it is best to keep it on all day then to only heat it up when you are going to use it. Usually it retains that tempature pretty well because the Spa is so small, however I do notice it kicking on every once in a while to keep it @104. Anyhow, I was prepared for paying a little extra on my energy bill, like $50 or so, but I just got my $423.00 bill in the mail. I live in San Diego CA and the summer here has been really hot. So, I am well aware that the Air Conditioning plays a huge role in the bill amount, however, even before the bills at most would be $255 or so. Anyhow, my main question...anyone have any advice/input about this Spa raising the energy bill? Does anyone think it COULD be adding more than $50 to my bill every month?? The motor is small, but I also don't have the exact details in front of me. Should I be keeping the temp up to the max 104? Also, it should be noted that I have also started running my pool filer/pump 10 hours a day instead of the 6 I was doing before. THis is my first time maintaing a pool/spa so any advice would be appreciated. Thanks for your time... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njmurvin Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 Hello, I recently bought a very small 4 person 110 volt Coleman Spa. I don't know what year it is. I would say newer than 1995 at least. I put in a dedicated outlet that it is plugged into. Based on the research I did and asking around, I just keep it heated to 104 degrees 24 hours a day. People have told me it is best to keep it on all day then to only heat it up when you are going to use it. Usually it retains that tempature pretty well because the Spa is so small, however I do notice it kicking on every once in a while to keep it @104. Anyhow, I was prepared for paying a little extra on my energy bill, like $50 or so, but I just got my $423.00 bill in the mail. I live in San Diego CA and the summer here has been really hot. So, I am well aware that the Air Conditioning plays a huge role in the bill amount, however, even before the bills at most would be $255 or so. Anyhow, my main question...anyone have any advice/input about this Spa raising the energy bill? Does anyone think it COULD be adding more than $50 to my bill every month?? The motor is small, but I also don't have the exact details in front of me. Should I be keeping the temp up to the max 104? Also, it should be noted that I have also started running my pool filer/pump 10 hours a day instead of the 6 I was doing before. THis is my first time maintaing a pool/spa so any advice would be appreciated. Thanks for your time... First of all, since it is 110v, I would get a killawatt device (google it) to determine the actual power consumption of the spa. Second, using the A/C and nearly doubling the pool filtering time will have significant effects on your bill (especially if you have an old-school inefficient motor/pump). I'm a bit North of you in Ventura county. Our upper level billing tier is $.30kwh this time of year and I can only guess yours is similar. So, it doesn't take much increase in incremental usage to really spike the bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jagercrow Posted July 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 Thanks for the response! So, what do people usually do for running their portable Spa's? I remember back in my day you weren't suppose to keep the Spa on all day and were suppose to turn it down after using it. Now a days I hear people say it's cheaper to just keep it heated to the tempature you like 24 hours a day. Granted this may be for the newer "energy efficient" spa's which mine certainly isn't...any opinion on this?? I keep mine at the max 104 all day... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spatech (the unreal one) Posted July 13, 2011 Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 Thanks for the response! So, what do people usually do for running their portable Spa's? I remember back in my day you weren't suppose to keep the Spa on all day and were suppose to turn it down after using it. Now a days I hear people say it's cheaper to just keep it heated to the tempature you like 24 hours a day. Granted this may be for the newer "energy efficient" spa's which mine certainly isn't...any opinion on this?? I keep mine at the max 104 all day... If its well insulated I'd keep it at temp 24/7 and I'm not sure about a '95 Coleman but hopefully that is only part of your issue. There are lots of meters available for a 110v spa. Take a look at your plug and go see what they sell at Home Depot to monitor your spa power usage (I know they're available on-line). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spawn Posted July 14, 2011 Report Share Posted July 14, 2011 Probably not much of a factor in your situation but turn the tub down to 102. Few people keep them at 104 but some love it and would even like it higher. If mine is at 104 I can only stay in for 10 minutes. I keep mine at 102 three seasons but turn it down to 100 or so during the summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hot_water Posted July 21, 2011 Report Share Posted July 21, 2011 Thanks for the response! So, what do people usually do for running their portable Spa's? I remember back in my day you weren't suppose to keep the Spa on all day and were suppose to turn it down after using it. Now a days I hear people say it's cheaper to just keep it heated to the tempature you like 24 hours a day. Granted this may be for the newer "energy efficient" spa's which mine certainly isn't...any opinion on this?? I keep mine at the max 104 all day... Contrary to what you sometimes see written, there is no way that it can cost less to keep a spa at temperature 24/7 compared to turning it down - that would violate laws of physics. However, it is true that depending on your usage, the savings from turning it down may be insignificant. It sure sounds like your bill is way out of hand, especially for San Diego, this time of year. You really do need to determine how much of that energy is being consumed by the spa. I agree with the other posters that have suggested 110V power monitoring devices. Should cost you around $25-35. As a fellow Californian (Northern CA, but similar high electric rates) I can tell you that my summertime energy usage is peanuts. Don't neglect to check out your AC. If it needs maintenance, even something as simple as brush that has grown around the unit blocking airflow, this can drive your operating costs through the roof. As to the spa, make sure your cover is in good shape (not loaded with water), and sealing well to the shell. It is very important to limit evaporative losses. If you're adding water often, then this can be a problem. I haven't added any water to my spa in over a month. Also, make sure that when you exit the spa, you've turned the air controls valves to the off position. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
werner Posted August 4, 2011 Report Share Posted August 4, 2011 Hello, I recently bought a very small 4 person 110 volt Coleman Spa. I don't know what year it is. I would say newer than 1995 at least. I put in a dedicated outlet that it is plugged into. Based on the research I did and asking around, I just keep it heated to 104 degrees 24 hours a day. People have told me it is best to keep it on all day then to only heat it up when you are going to use it. Usually it retains that tempature pretty well because the Spa is so small, however I do notice it kicking on every once in a while to keep it @104. Anyhow, I was prepared for paying a little extra on my energy bill, like $50 or so, but I just got my $423.00 bill in the mail. I live in San Diego CA and the summer here has been really hot. So, I am well aware that the Air Conditioning plays a huge role in the bill amount, however, even before the bills at most would be $255 or so. Anyhow, my main question...anyone have any advice/input about this Spa raising the energy bill? Does anyone think it COULD be adding more than $50 to my bill every month?? The motor is small, but I also don't have the exact details in front of me. Should I be keeping the temp up to the max 104? Also, it should be noted that I have also started running my pool filer/pump 10 hours a day instead of the 6 I was doing before. THis is my first time maintaing a pool/spa so any advice would be appreciated. Thanks for your time... We live in Portugal and considering buying a spa. Energy is very expensive here. Is it possible to warm the water with solar panels ? The first year we lived in Portugal we heated our house with electricity and we had bills of a 1.200 dollars a month. This is no option...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pecos Bill Posted September 12, 2011 Report Share Posted September 12, 2011 We live in Portugal and considering buying a spa. Energy is very expensive here. Is it possible to warm the water with solar panels ? I would think Portugal is perfectly suited for solar heating. The challenge would be getting a solar system for heating water then connecting it in place of the heater. Another concern is if you are using it at night, you would see some amount of heat loss as the cover is off without any solar heating. You could try placing the solar hot water return pipes in front of a standard electric heater inlet though there would be some energy usage that could be rather expensive. The motor that runs the jets also uses a lot of energy. You'd need a pump to circulate the solar system (air or water) too. My inlaws have an air based system that circulates the hot air around a 6'x6x4' box of rocks (no idea what size rocks). They soak up the heat from the air then that heat is used to heat water. Supposedly, it is sufficient for heating the water in the Summer (without supplemental natural gas) which should have a similar climate (or they are cooler) than Portugal. There is a product called a K-VAR that reduces the amount of energy used by motors: http://theofficialkvarstore.com/ which we installed. It only works with inductive loads and not resistive so it doesn't help with electric heaters. It was very reasonably priced and will work with any inductive load in the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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