If you are a swimming pool owner and have been wanting to have a hot tub or spa, you may be wondering, “isn’t it time to get your own hot tub?” Or perhaps you don’t have a swimming pool but have long been wanting a hot tub or spa. This could be, perhaps should be, the year you pull the plug on it and just get the project moving forward.
What are you waiting for?
- Do you have the space for a hot tub?
- Will you put it on the deck by the house or in a different area of the yard?
- Do you want to have a swim up spa constructed as part of a pool remodel?
There is no time like the present to turn up the heat in your backyard and become a hot tub or spa owner.One of the main benefits of a hot tub is that you can use it year round — it doesn’t matter what area of the country you live in — hot tubs can be used even in the depth of winter. In fact, soaking in a hot tub in the depth of winter is a luxury beyond compare!
Isn’t It Time To Get Your Own Hot Tub?
Are there benefits to owning a hot tub or spa — well, other than being able to use it and be in the water year-round? Yes, there are and here are a few.
The benefits of spas and hot tubs
Relaxation. Our lives are so hectic and our schedules are packed from the time we wake up until we go to sleep. If you’re a parent, chances are your children are involved in a myriad of activities and that means you have even more to do. Home life. Work life. They both conspire to stress you out. A soak in a hot tub or spa — for even as few as fifteen minutes can lower your blood pressure, relieve your stresses and help you sleep better.
Health. Diabetics can benefit from the heat and the circulation-improving jets that are in a hot tub or spa. Arthritis sufferers can find relief from their aching joints with a heated soak and it’s even better if you have therapeutic jets installed in the hot tub.
Fitness. You can exercise in your spa or hot tub. Sure, you can’t swim laps, but you can do leg lifts, squats and other exercises. Talk with your pool contractor for advice on workout equipment you can invest in to use in your hot tub or spa.
Features to consider for your spa or hot tub
Pack your bathing suit when you’re shopping for your hot tub or spa. Yes, you read that right! How else can you choose the correct height and placement for the seats in your hot tub or the placement and more importantly, the style, jets for your hot tub? If you don’t get a chance to feel them for yourself, you may find — too late — that they aren’t the style jets or placement you’d wished for. A soak in a hot tub, for research purposes, when you’re shopping is crucial to getting the hot tub of your dreams.
Here are some of the choices you will need to make when hot tub or spa shopping.
- How big you want it
- As mentioned — the placement of the seats
- Again, as mentioned, the type and placement of the jets
- Accessories like a heated towel rack, sound systemn, television, wine fridge and more
- The cover and whether you will get a cover lifter. A cover should be purchased the same time you buy the hot tub or spa
- The equipment to run the hot tub itself
Spa and hot tub safety tips
Spa safety is as important as it swimming pool safety. Here are a few spa and hot tub safety tips for both new hot tub owners as well as a refresher for long-time hot tub owners.
- No one should be in the hot tub unattended
- Children shouldn’t be alone in a hot tub.
- Children should only soak in the hot tub for a few minutes at a time.
- To save money, lower the water temperature a degree or two — you may never notice the difference
- Being in a hot tub is dehydrating because it makes you sweat. Drink water the entire time you’re in the hot tub. Avoid alcohol as that is dehydrating as well and could lead to health issues.
Hot tub and spa maintenance plans
Maintaining a hot tub or spa is considered by some to be easier for a do-it-yourselfer than is caring for a swimming pool. That is a matter of opinion, but one thing that is true is that bacteria will grow much more quickly in the heated water of your spa and because of that you need to be diligent in the hot tub’s care.
Test the water with a water test kit — the same ones used for swimming pools — regularly. Add chemicals as needed. If you don’t want the responsiblity or the stress of caring for the water chemistry of your hot tub, call a local swimming pool service contractor and ask him for an estimate on the costs for his service to maintain it on your behalf.