Jay6 Posted November 24, 2022 Report Share Posted November 24, 2022 Question about 1200 gallon swim spa. I purchased a spa from SwimSpaManufactures based in Florida this July. Unfortunately I did not do my homework well enough and purchased a spa with no insulation. Idiotic move, I’m the biggest dummy don’t need to tell me that, but they certainly did a share of lying and being new to this industry I was very trusting seeing they had been in business 30+ years. They pushed how energy efficient their tubs were and now I’m spending 341-400 a month on electricity. My previous bill in the same month last year was 115 and it was colder. With the hot tub I’m spending around 260-300 more a month. I have had the spa insulated with little difference. So instead of the heater in standard mode kicking on 5 to 6 times a day it kicks on 4 times a day. It takes 1.5 hours to heat it 1 degree and loses 1 degree every 4-5 hours. So you can see quickly it’s completely useless if I put it in economy or sleep mode because it loses heat faster than gaining. By the time the 12 hour cycle goes by it’s losses about 2-3 degrees. And it does not matter if its at 80 98 100 102, when that heater kicks on in standard mode it turns on 4 times a day running at 1.5 hours it cost around 7-9 dollars(for the heater and this is only if I’m not in the spa and it’s completely sealed up cover on tarps closed. About $1.28 hour again if it’s not in use. I have a 6KW heater 240 voltage exchange a balboa 500sz system. What is up with this, I’m hearing 30-50 a month difference from people with swim spas. I have 8ft by 14ft holds 1200 gallons. It’s stuff with insulation, it came with a decent cover I don’t see any heat lost coming from the top. I have tarps surrounding the sides, it’s under a pergola so the top is open. But I just want to know if the spa itself is just junk or if the cost is correct. I saw one forum out there where a guy said it could cost 100-200 to run a spa. And one more thing it takes 1.5 hours to take it up 1 degree and the cavity is now filled with insulation. Forums are reading I should get 3 degrees an hour with the kind of heater I have. I that to say should it be this way? Picture of spa below. Cedar wood cabinet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dashmer Posted November 24, 2022 Report Share Posted November 24, 2022 Jay6, You didn't mention where you live, other than saying your bought your spa in Fla. I don't own a swim spa, but I do have a 360 g hot tub that is insulated on 4 sides with foam. I live in Canada (east coast) and the tub gets used almost daily year round. My average daily kWh consumption for 2022 so far is 12.9. Your daily consumption of over 50 does seem pretty crazy. Out of curiosity, what did you insulate it with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay6 Posted November 25, 2022 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2022 12 hours ago, dashmer said: Jay6, You didn't mention where you live, other than saying your bought your spa in Fla. I don't own a swim spa, but I do have a 360 g hot tub that is insulated on 4 sides with foam. I live in Canada (east coast) and the tub gets used almost daily year round. My average daily kWh consumption for 2022 so far is 12.9. Your daily consumption of over 50 does seem pretty crazy. Out of curiosity, what did you insulate it with? I’m in Southeastern part of Michigan about 30min from Canadian border. I put the pink fiberglass insulation owens Corning R33, nine inches thick with reflective insulation surrounding with 3/4 inch gap to create a radiant barrier. The vinyl surrounding my pergola is Marine grade 20mil to help with wind blockage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dashmer Posted November 25, 2022 Report Share Posted November 25, 2022 I can understand why you are frustrated with this situation. It should be better than that. Depending on the time of year, your heat loss may not be that far off typical. It is below freezing here at the moment (about -7 C) and my hot tub is heating about every 3 hours for about 15 min (while not in use). 5500 watt heater. 360g. It does seem to take a while to heat but you have nearly 4 times as much water as me, so an hour plus for a degree may not be that far off. If your filter cycles are set too long and your spa uses the massage pumps for it, that could be a big power hit as well. Make sure your air controls are off when you are not using the spa. You could also try a temp gun or infrared camera to see if there are any areas where heat is still escaping. You might get more ideas if you post in the hot tub forum, as it appears to be more active than the swim spa one. Good luck figuring it out. With an operating cost like that, it sure takes the fun out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay6 Posted November 25, 2022 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2022 The filter cycle I have set runs for 2 hours every 12hour. I’ve run the filter cycles on sleep mode to keep the heater off and noticed filtering takes very little energy almost unnoticeable. But the heat loss is so fast that it’s not useable in sleep or economy mode. The money saved from running in economy quickly is used. I ran a test paid 4 dollars a day in economy mode over a course of 4 days that was about 16 dollars of savings. However it dropped 4 degrees during that time. I had to run it 6-7 hours to get it back to the normal temp -that cost $8. Getting in cost 4 (jets running heat on) and then it had to warm back up from top being off and heat lost cost 4 dollars. $16 dollars savings gone and had to wait to get into tub. So yeah not fun. But I’ve never heard of the camera I will look into it. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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