12/03/2022
Tips to reduce running costs
If you are reading this then the chances are you are into your tub!
Given the current energy issues, we are seeing a few posts from people worrying about escalating costs, and I thought it would be good to read a positive post, with some hopefully helpful pointers.
Location of your tub:
· Position your tub in a sheltered area to reduce any wind chill.
· Look to have some sort of roofed area, preferably a solid structure or a robust gazebo. Sides will help keep away drafts (weather permitting). Make sure any structure is fixed down solidly.
· Try to avoid an area with direct sunlight so as not to damage the PVC/vinyl material. Do not over-inflate and leave a little give in the tub walls, so as to leave room for expansion for when we have nice weather again.
· A summerhouse is great for all year round use; however, make sure it has plenty of ventilation to avoid moisture issues in the winter and to allow heat out in the summer. Without ventilation, they can be like an oven in the summer, which in turn expands the air in your tubs causing irreparable damage.
Insulation is key
You would be surprised as to how much heat is lost to the ground if no insulation is used below your tub. This can be easily demonstrated with a simple laser thermometer, to compare the heat of say, the flags around your tub, compared to just a couple of feet away. There can be many degrees difference. You are effectively throwing away money by heating the ground below your tub.
Try to:
· Use good quality insulation below the tub, such as Kingspan, or similar. The thicker the better. If you can’t push to this, then use good quality closed cell EVA foam jigsaw mats. Avoid using the small thin ones. I use 26mm, 1m x 1m gym type mats. And this gives you a step off area if you have a round tub. Most tubs only need 4 mats. You can get these online. I get mine from https://blornflooringmats.co.uk/?ref=HotTubMats
· Add extra insulation on top of your tub. Again you can use a Kingspan type of insulation to place on top of your tub. If you use 50mm, then you should be able to make a lid that will be large enough to sit directly on top of the rim of your tub and if you extend the straps on the tarpaulin lid you should still be able to fasten it down. This will create a nice snug seal. There will be no need to use the inflatable lid, or you can just float it on the water. You should wrap the insulation with Visqueen, or similar, and seal with silver tape. Try to do any of the tape work on top of the lid to keep it away from the chlorine
· You can also cut a lid to float on the water, by joining 4 gym mats together and drawing a circle and cutting out to allow a snug fit up to the walls of your tub. This also helps reduce evaporation.
· Make sure that if you use chlorine, you keep your levels correct, because with all this insulation, there will be less air escaping, and over-chlorination can damage the PVC material. If you keep your levels correct it should be fine.
· Try to get a thermal cover to go over the whole tub. I understand that Lay Z Spa have a thermal cover out, but in the meantime, CleverSpa does one that gives reasonable results. A word of warning though. They don’t fare well with UV, so buy a cheapo waterproof patio table cover to place over to protect the thermal cover.
Lay Z Spa has fortunately been working hard, and have brought out more energy-efficient models, and in conjunctionwith these tips, can reduce costs even further.
Keep your heater pump running efficiently
· Regularly descale your pumps. A partially blocked heater will not be working efficiently. You will require more energy to heat the same amount of water compared to a well-maintained pump. On top of this, if left untreated limescale can attack the outer layer of the heater element, which can allow water in and create a leakage to ground, and in turn trips your RCD. The only solution would then be a replacement heater.
· We descale our kettles, coffee machines etc. These are only on for minutes at a time, yet our tubs are on 24/7 and are often overlooked.
· The frequency of descaling is very much dependent on the water hardness in your area.
In very hard water areas you may need to descale monthly, With hard water areas, every 1 to 3 months, normal areas every 3 to 6 months, and soft water areas perhaps every 6 to 12 months.
· It should also be noted that limescale production will increase if your pH levels are not within the recommended parameters. It is important to regularly dip test your tub water
· You can find details of our descalers, and other hot tub related products on our website https://www.thehampsonscaleaway.com/
Hot filling with warm water
For my first fill, and as long as you have a combi boiler, I always fill it with warm water. Even with the rising price of gas, it is still far cheaper to hot-fill than using the tub's heater. I fill from a mixer tap around bathwater temperature. I turn down my boiler temperature so as not to stress the boiler. Make sure that you still shock your water and let the levels come down to a safe level before use.
IF you use your tub more than 3 times a week then it's generally cheaper to keep the tub running at the required temperature rather than turn it off and reheat. If however you only use it at weekends I would just turn off the heating and only heat up the night before you intend to use it, either by electricity or doing a partial dump and topping up with hot water. Again make sure you sort the chemicals. This also depends on whether you are on a water meter or not.
I find my tub is very important to my sanity. It’s my release from what going on around us. Once I am out, it is back to reality!
With a bit of careful planning, I fully intend to continue to use my tub.
I hope you have found this beneficial.
Please feel free to join in with any money-saving tips
We can all help each other.
Karl
The Hampson Scale-Away
Hot Tub descaler , Lay Z Spa , CleverSpa , Intex , Canadian , Spa , Cosy Spa , Wave Spa , Avenli , Studio , E02 error , limescale, HL error, E3 error
