Think you know everything about hot tubs? You're in for a surprise. We're taking a deep dive into common misconceptions about hot tub sanitization. Chlorine and bromine, as it turns out, don't completely sanitize your hot tub, and adding more isn't always the solution. Even if your water looks clear, testing is essential, and not all hot tubs, like saltwater hot tubs, are chemical-free. We'll clear up these myths and more, so grab your swim gear and prepare to have your hot tub knowledge reshaped!
We'll then switch gears to discuss the truth behind hot tub shocking and natural sanitizers. How does shocking a hot tub help? Can over chlorinating cause issues? What role do natural products play in sanitation, and why is an EPA-approved sanitizer still necessary? We'll answer these questions, and explore the process behind breaking down chloramine molecules, and the potential dangers of ineffective sanitizers.
Lastly, let’s debunk some energy consumption myths. Did you know setting and leaving your hot tub temperature is more energy-efficient than constantly adjusting it? Or that hot tubs with better insulation and optimized pumps can save you money in the long run? We'll discuss these aspects, alongside the significance of summer timers and eco modes, and why maintaining a comfortable temperature is key. Remember, whether you're a hot tub owner or planning to become one, being informed helps you enjoy a better, safer, and more cost-effective hot tub experience. So get ready, because we're turning up the heat on hot tub knowledge! 💦💦 Looking for more excellent hot tub tips download the FREE 7-Page Hot Tub Care Guide: https://www.thehottublady.co/7-hot-tub-care-guide
Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpaMUcsvnDBCo0A8fGh5rmQ/join
📙 Buy my book. Hot Tub Clarity: https://geni.us/OpT2z Awning for hot tub space Amazon: https://amzn.to/3rIoZ1l 👕 Get your Hot Tub Lady Merch 👕 https://www.pressnsow.com/thehottublady Hot Tub Chemcials: https://kit.co/thehottublady/salt-water-hot-tub-start-up-kit 💧 Get your FREE printable downloads here: Including chemical dosage charts, Salt water cheat sheets, frog @ease cheat sheets and &-Page Ultimate Hot Tub Care Guide https://www.thehottublady.co/Free-downloads
☎Are you stuck on how to take care of your hot tub? Book a 1:1 call with Jacque The Hot Tub Lady and get a personalized plan on how to take care of your personal hot tub. ☎ https://www.thehottublady.co/consultation-landing-page
Hi! My name is Jacque The Hot Tub Lady! And if you're a hot tubber who wants to turn your hot tub into the happiest spot in your home, then this is the place for YOU!
Looking for answers to your hot tub questions? Look no further than Hot Tub Clarity! Our easy-to-understand guide is available now on Amazon. Simply search for Hot Tub Clarity Book and get your copy today. Plus, while you're there, check out our log books to keep your hot tub maintenance on track. Trust us, you won't regret it!
Think you know everything about hot tubs? You're in for a surprise. We're taking a deep dive into common misconceptions about hot tub sanitization. Chlorine and bromine, as it turns out, don't completely sanitize your hot tub, and adding more isn't always the solution. Even if your water looks clear, testing is essential, and not all hot tubs, like saltwater hot tubs, are chemical-free. We'll clear up these myths and more, so grab your swim gear and prepare to have your hot tub knowledge reshaped!
We'll then switch gears to discuss the truth behind hot tub shocking and natural sanitizers. How does shocking a hot tub help? Can over chlorinating cause issues? What role do natural products play in sanitation, and why is an EPA-approved sanitizer still necessary? We'll answer these questions, and explore the process behind breaking down chloramine molecules, and the potential dangers of ineffective sanitizers.
Lastly, let’s debunk some energy consumption myths. Did you know setting and leaving your hot tub temperature is more energy-efficient than constantly adjusting it? Or that hot tubs with better insulation and optimized pumps can save you money in the long run? We'll discuss these aspects, alongside the significance of summer timers and eco modes, and why maintaining a comfortable temperature is key. Remember, whether you're a hot tub owner or planning to become one, being informed helps you enjoy a better, safer, and more cost-effective hot tub experience. So get ready, because we're turning up the heat on hot tub knowledge! 💦💦 Looking for more excellent hot tub tips download the FREE 7-Page Hot Tub Care Guide: https://www.thehottublady.co/7-hot-tub-care-guide
Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpaMUcsvnDBCo0A8fGh5rmQ/join
📙 Buy my book. Hot Tub Clarity: https://geni.us/OpT2z Awning for hot tub space Amazon: https://amzn.to/3rIoZ1l 👕 Get your Hot Tub Lady Merch 👕 https://www.pressnsow.com/thehottublady Hot Tub Chemcials: https://kit.co/thehottublady/salt-water-hot-tub-start-up-kit 💧 Get your FREE printable downloads here: Including chemical dosage charts, Salt water cheat sheets, frog @ease cheat sheets and &-Page Ultimate Hot Tub Care Guide https://www.thehottublady.co/Free-downloads
☎Are you stuck on how to take care of your hot tub? Book a 1:1 call with Jacque The Hot Tub Lady and get a personalized plan on how to take care of your personal hot tub. ☎ https://www.thehottublady.co/consultation-landing-page
Hi! My name is Jacque The Hot Tub Lady! And if you're a hot tubber who wants to turn your hot tub into the happiest spot in your home, then this is the place for YOU!
Looking for answers to your hot tub questions? Look no further than Hot Tub Clarity! Our easy-to-understand guide is available now on Amazon. Simply search for Hot Tub Clarity Book and get your copy today. Plus, while you're there, check out our log books to keep your hot tub maintenance on track. Trust us, you won't regret it!
Hey, hot Tubbers, this is Jackie the Hot Tub Lady, and welcome to the podcast. Tub Talk with the Hot Tub Lady and I am super excited to visit with you all. And let's just get started today. Today we are going to be doing what we call the miss and truce of hot tubbing and we just what I did is I just went through, I was doing some research, I'm doing marketing for quite a few hot tub stores these days and I was just looking up some stuff for a podcast and one or, I'm sorry, for a blog, and one of the things that was really important for me to do was we needed to actually just see what people were talking about out there on Google and other, on the Facebook groups and that type of thing, and there was a lot of miss out there that I just felt that I needed to visit with and talk about, and hopefully this will be helpful for a lot of you and hopefully you'll learn a few things and we'll just talk about all of them. I have a ton of them here and if you guys have any questions that you think, gosh, is this true or does it? I heard this and somebody said that, and if you have any of that. Please be sure to check in and see how that works. But we are super excited to have you and we're just going to get started.
Speaker 1:
We're going to start with the top myths that I found about hot tubs. So that's what we're going to start with, and one of the first one is chlorine, or bromine, will completely sanitize the water. So if I have a three part per million of chlorine in my hot tub, I am 100% on track and I don't have to worry about that, and there's absolutely nothing that's going to be in the hot tub. Yes, you're going to be safe in the things that cause issues or like hot tub rash and pseudonomous and those type of things. You only need a 0.1 part per million of free chlorine for that to work, but that is how that there are still things that can be going on in the hot tub. It's not 100% sanitized, but it's very sanitized and it is safe. So that is one of the things that I sell out there, but you do want to try to keep the chlorine on your hot tub at a three to five part per million, and that will keep your hot tub safe in a good environment for you to be soaking in.
Speaker 1:
Another one is adding more chlorine, or bromine is always better. Chlorine will fix a lot of problems in a hot tub. In fact, I just did that this morning in mine. I actually added a tablespoon of chlorine to my hot tub because I just felt that the salt system wasn't quite keeping up. So more chlorine. The reason that's a myth is there's a lot of stuff in that bottle of chlorine. You're adding cyanaryic acid, you're adding fillers, you're adding calcium, you're adding all the things. If you just fix all your problems by adding chlorine every single time, you're also messing up with the balance of the water. So make sure everything else is balanced. When you're doing that, don't just automatically assume that chlorine is going to fix the problem. Chlorine can cover up a lot, but it doesn't necessarily cover up absolutely everything. That is something to keep in mind as well. We just did that one.
Speaker 1:
You don't need to test the water if it's clear. Oh man, is this a big one? If your water is clear and you haven't tested it forever? The thing that I find the most and I've had just a ton of customers come in and they're like my water looks just crystal clear. I don't even know why we're concerned about anything. Really crystal clear water is really low alkalinity and really low pH, and sometimes that'll even almost give off like a little bit of a yellow tinge or something along that lines. But crystal clear water doesn't necessarily mean that it is safe water. So super low alkalinity or super low pH, those will cause a lot of damage to your hot tub. So keep that in mind. You don't want to necessarily just assume that your water is good because it's clear. One of my favorite things I always used to use with my customers was my water is clear and their alkalinity to be at zero, and I would just be like I've never seen a cloudy bottle of moratic acid either and that'll eat through concrete. So that's a big thing. So just keep that in mind. Clear doesn't always mean it's good. We all want crystal clear water, but more importantly we want balanced water. So keep that in mind. You do need to test your water on a weekly basis. That's just something that's really important to do. You can get the eye care and it'll do it for you. You can do just test strips real simple and easy. You can take them into your local hot tub dealer and most of them have computerized water labs. But it is important that you do test your water, and I'm going to suggest that you do it weekly, but at least if you do it once a month, you want to test your hot tub water. So that's really important.
Speaker 1:
Saltwater hot tubs are chemical free. I get this one every single day. People assume that because it's a saltwater hot tub, it's a chemical free hot tub. There's a lot of retailers out there that are actually selling saltwater hot tubs as chemical free hot tubs and that is not the case. You are on a saltwater hot tub. You still have to balance everything and balance these key to a saltwater hot tub. So you're going to have to add the products that raise your pH, raise your alkalinity, those type of things. You can do that with some real natural products, but it is something that you have to do.
Speaker 1:
And saltwater hot tubs the thing that I need people to understand is a saltwater generator only generates a teaspoon and a half of chlorine in a 24 hour period. That's the most it can do if it's on the boost cycle or if it's on 100%. That is the most that it can actually do. So if you are behind and you need to add more chemical, you need to do that. Now there are people out there that say just add chlorine bleach. You can do that. Watkins Manufacturing actually recommends just using that.
Speaker 1:
I'm not a fan of it personally. I feel like you're adding a lot more fillers and it's not doing enough for it. I personally prefer the chlorine concentrate. I think you're just better off with that. That's my personal opinion. That's what I've had the best luck with.
Speaker 1:
But you are on occasion going to have to add chemicals and, if I notice anything, people will get a false sense of security on a saltwater hot tub and they just assume that it's going to actually just take care of it and it's going to balance itself out and you put salt in it and adding more salt will fix the problem. That is not the case. You do need to make sure that it's balanced and everything is going on there. This is a big one. Hot tub filters don't need cleaning, that is. I actually have a Facebook page called Clean your Filter. So if you guys want to join a group and that has a lot of knowledge on it, that's a group to join. It's a private Facebook group, but it's called Clean your Hot Tub Filters and if you guys have heard anything from me. I have a t-shirt and everything about it.
Speaker 1:
Cleaning your Hot Tub Filters is the most important thing that you do for your hot tub. If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook or any of that, I'm in the process of testing and making a video for a new filter cleaner. It does make the water pink and that's one of the things that works really well and I'm super excited to share that with you. But you do need to clean those hot tub filters a minimum of once a month. I'm going to tell you to clean them once a week, hoping you do it once a month. That is the most important piece of your hot tub. That is going to be what. That's the heart of your hot tub. If your filters are dirty and not working, it's a big problem and it can actually cause major issues down the road, especially during those winter months. It can shut the heaters down, it can shut the circulation pump down, so a clean running filter is super important. So please don't believe that myth. If anybody tells you anything other than you don't have to clean your filters, cleaning your Hot Tub Filters is probably the most important thing. If you get nothing else out of this podcast clean your hot tub filters.
Speaker 1:
Draining the water means you can skip a sanitation. That's not true as well. Clean water is great. There is nothing better than a freshly drained hot tub. That is my absolute favorite. After I drain a hot tub, I cannot wait till the next morning that I can get up and have my coffee in there, because the water just feels so good. There's no total dissolved solids. It feels good, it smells good, it's balanced. But it does not mean that you can skip a sanitation. You do want to get starting to. You want to get started using what's going on there. So that's a big deal. I'm going to jump in over here.
Speaker 1:
We had somebody pop on and ask a question. We got Colin Sager. Hi, colin, welcome to the podcast. And your question is what are the best tabs to soak your filters in? So if you're going to go tabs, I prefer plate co-filter tabs. Filters work really well. I am in the process of introducing a new filter cleaner. It's going to be called Filter Soak. You can find that on my website at thehottubladyco and go to the shopping page. You can find it there. If you wait till Sunday, I'll have a video out on that. But if you want to go tablets, and I'm a big fan of the tablets. I do the plate co-filter tablets. So, colin, I hope that answers that question. If you have any more, please jump on and ask a few more. So that's what we got going on there, and then where was I? Ok, so those are my top Hot tub shocking is harmful.
Speaker 1:
This is a myth that it can go both ways. The hot tub shocking is really important and what shocking does and people just don't understand this, what shocking does is it's not sanitizing the hot tub. What it's doing is it's taking the bad chlorine or the bad bromine in the hot tub. So, if I can explain it anyway, you've got a chlorine molecule. It's floating around in the hot tub, it's doing its thing and then eventually it's starting to get broken down and other molecules start attaching to the chlorine molecule. So you're going to eat your nitrogen, your sweats, your body oils. You're just the stuff that's in the hot tub pee. If anybody does that, that all starts eventually attaching to the chlorine molecule and that molecule changes. It now becomes from chlorine molecule. It goes to what we call a chloramine and once it becomes a chloramine it is no longer effective. So when it's that combined molecule. That's when you smell it. That's when you know if you go to a hotel and you smell the chlorine, it's because they have a lot of combined chlorine in the pool or the hot tub and it needs to be shocked.
Speaker 1:
And so what you're doing when you're shocking a hot tub, you can do that either with spa shock or you can, which is monopersulfate, or you can do it with chlorine itself. You can actually shock a hot tub with more chlorine. But the whole purpose, the whole idea of what you're trying to do, is you've got to get your free chlorine up to what we call breakpoint chlorine, which is 10 part per million. And so when you get to that 10 part per million, you break those molecules apart and the bad molecules gas off. They oxidize and that's why they call it shock. But when they do that, that gas is off. That's why you need to leave your cover off completely, otherwise it's going to hit that cover and bounce right back down into the hot tub and make the problem worse. But once you do that, bad stuff gases off and then the chlorine becomes more effective and it becomes good chlorine again. So that's why we shock a hot tub.
Speaker 1:
Where it can be bad is where it can be bad for the hot tub is a you don't let it gas off, you don't let it do what it needs to do. Or B let's say, use chlorine to shock your hot tub, which you can do, and you over chlorinate it. And when you do that, then the chlorine it takes forever for that chlorine to get back down to a safe level that you can use. That's why I do prefer to use shock or monopersulfate is it raises that chlorine level really high, really fast, but it also drops it down really high really fast because it oxidizes off. So when people say that shocking your hot tub is bad, if you overdo it or if you don't do it enough, then you're causing issues. But that's where the bubbles and the foam and that type of stuff come on. So if you shock your hot tub and you get a lot of icky foam in that happening, that's actually a really good thing, and the more that foam you can physically remove, the better off that your hot tub is going to be. So that's just a myth that I want to get out there and talk about. But again, if you guys have any questions, be sure to ask and I will be happy to answer them.
Speaker 1:
Natural products can replace chemical sanitizers. This one I kind of struggle with. There are a lot of natural products or a lot of things that people say, oh, you don't want to use actual chemicals and you want to use other things. There are things out there that help. They do make a difference. None of them I have not found one that is a standalone product and the closest would be that it's just a natural product is going to be your salt. However, salt turns into chlorine, because that's what salt is. It's chlorine and sodium. So when you split that molecule then you have chlorine and that's a sanitizer. But when I hear things of people using just copper or just ozone or just UV or just silver I've heard a lot of people do that. I've heard people using just hydrogen peroxide. Those type of things. They help, but they are not a standalone sanitizer. And that's if I can tell you anything. And if you start using some of these off the wall ideas, a lot of times you can't.
Speaker 1:
It's not as big a deal in a hot tub as it is in a swimming pool, but if you start going down that road and you can't fix it, I mean you have to drain it, to fix the hot tub. You can't necessarily do that with a swimming pool, but on a hot tub side of things, natural products they're nice. They usually make the water feel really good. There's some really great things about them, but you just need to understand that they're going to need a helping hand. They are going to need an EPA approved sanitizer, which is going to be. Your chlorines, your bromines, my guanides are out there. They're a natural sanitizer and they are EPA approved. That's going to be like your bakwa seal and your soft soak and those type of things. I personally am not a fan that. There's a lot of maintenance that goes along with those and they are not compatible with other things like chlorine and bromine and that type of thing. So if you put those two products together, you have a peanut butter goopy, soupy mess and you just don't want to do that. So if you're going to go down the path of natural water chemistry, just know that you're not going to be able to do that on its own. You can do some things, but you're still going to have to help with that Moving on. So those are some of the top myths that are out there.
Speaker 1:
The next category I have is energy consumption myths. There's a lot of crazy stories out there about energy consumption and I know once I turn this podcast into Tik Tok and all those things, there's going to be some haters out there that are going to be like that's not true. I've been doing this for about 30 years and I do know what I'm talking about. On some of this stuff, we'll just jump into it.
Speaker 1:
Hot tubs use a lot of energy all the time. Hot tubs do use energy. That's how they work. They need electricity. You've got to heat them up. You've got to circulate the water. You've got to do what you need to do.
Speaker 1:
Now, if you buy a well-built or quality, top tier hot tub that's super well insulated, it's going to use way less energy than some of those other ones out there. And when I'm talking about that, I'm talking about the hot springs, the calderas, even the free flow fantasy, any of those. The Nordics are real well insulated hot tubs. Sundance, kuzi, those are all real well insulated. You just need to be careful and pay attention to that, because if you have a well-insulated hot tub, and especially a well-insulated hot tub with a circulation pump, your hot tub is going to cost you way less money and use way less energy to run than other things out there. Hot Springs has a really great. If you go on, there's an energy guide that'll tell you exactly how much your hot tub is going to cost in the part of the world that you live in.
Speaker 1:
But I can tell you I live in South Dakota it gets cold, I would say. My hot tub costs me $40 a month to run. I have the great, big, huge grandie. It might get up to 50 when it gets into, when we get into January, february, when it gets to be 40 below. But it doesn't cost that much to run. It's a big thing. Now I have had hot tubs in my backyard and they have cost me $200 to $300 a month to run and they were not circulation pumps and they were insulated that well. And if you have a hot tub with a circulation pump and it's well-insulated and it's costing you quite a bit to run, there's probably something wrong. It's something is running too much and in that case I do suggest that you get a service call. But hot tubs don't cost that much to run. If they're built well, you have nothing to worry about it Going on to that. It's just leaving the hot tub here on all the time is more efficient.
Speaker 1:
So I have another myth that kind of ties into this myth that's coming up here pretty quick. But so I'm one. I believe that you should set your hot tub temperature and forget it. I do not believe that turning your hot tub up and down is going to save you any money. It's actually your hot tub cost you the most to run when your heater is running, and so your heater will run to maintain heat and your heater will run to heat up your hot tub. So if you set your hot tub at 101 degrees and you like it at that temperature and I know that's it's really hot out there for some of you and get it way past that, but if you want to do that, I'm a firm believer in setting it and forgetting it versus turning it up and turning it down. If you do that, your hot tub is going to cost you the least amount of money to run.
Speaker 1:
Now there are people out there that think you need to have your heater on 24 seven. You don't need to do that. And even the ones with the circulation pumps, the heater shut off when it's at its right temperature. It's still circulating the water but the heater itself shuts off. And the little side tip for those of you that are really struggling in the heat dome and the 115 degrees right now If you turn off, if you have a 20, 30 breaker, you can turn off that 20 amp breaker. That'll turn the heater off and you might not have all the function of your hot tub, but that will help you cool that. Cool that hot tub down. Of course, do your summer timer and do your eco mode or your sleep mode. Those will help as well. But no, you don't have to leave your heater on 24 seven.
Speaker 1:
But I do think you should set your temperature and leave it where it belongs and don't be going up and down. Higher temperatures are always better. I don't agree with that either. Higher temperatures are good and those of you with 110 hot tubs, especially during the winter months, you probably do want to set it a little higher just so that you can stay in there longer when it is time to do that, because they cool down. At 110 hot tub only heats one degree an hour and if you get in the really cool temperatures then you want to do that. But you need to set it at the temperature that you like to use it.
Speaker 1:
104 is when you're going to get the best benefits out of a hot tub. I to me, for me that's too hot. I don't use my hot tub as much at 104 degrees as I would at, let's say, 101 or something like that. Like right now, I have mine turned down to 100 degrees. I was actually down to 99 the other day and then when it gets a little warmer out I'll turn it up, or a little cooler out, I'll turn it down to 101 degrees. So those are that's where I like to keep mine. If you like it really hot, set it really hot.
Speaker 1:
Most hot tubs today can only do 104 degrees. Ul listing is come in and shut everything down and that's as high as you can go. There are some work around. You can maybe get it up to 105.6 or something like that. I do recommend for energy consumption that you do not set your hot tub at 104 or the absolute highest temperature that it has, because if you do that, you're opening up that thermistor, the thermostat, and you're opening it wide open and it never shuts off and that's where the energy consumption is going to come in. So if you like it at 104, turn it down to 103 when you're not in it and then, when you're in it, turn it up to 104 and then, on the way out, turn it back down. It'll heat up that one degree at no time whatsoever. You won't even notice it. But that's what I have to say about higher temperatures.
Speaker 1:
Turning the hot tub off when it's not new saves a lot of energy. Again, I totally disagree with that. I already touched on that. The only reason I suggest ever turning your hot tub off is or turning it way down, is if you're totally not going to be using it. And if you're going to turn it completely off, the water needs to be circulating, no matter what. So if you just turn off a hot tub, leave the cover running, leave it for a week or two let's say you're in a warm enough climate that you can do that You're going to have such a mess and you're going to spend so much money on chemical to clean it up that it's just going to be. It's just not worth it. So the only way I suggest turning your hot tub off completely is if you're going to drain it. And again, I'm not a big fan of that either, because the seals dry out and they don't work as well. So that's just one of the things that I suggest maybe not doing. So that's what we got going on there.
Speaker 1:
Bigger hot tubs are always more energy. They're always more energy. Hungry is what it says here. There's usually your mind and use on this. Obviously, a 500 gallon hot tub needs a little more energy than a 180 gallon hot tub. There's no way around it. That's going to going to cost you a little bit more money. But we're talking pennies. We're talking pennies on the month. A grandee versus a jet setter. It's probably going to cost you 36 cents more to run the grandee over the jet setter. It's just they're not. They're engineered the same. It's such a small amount and obviously use a little more chemical, because 500 gallons of water needs more chemical than 180 gallons. But if you want the bigger one, get the bigger one. Don't think twice about it. Get the one that fits you the best. Get the one that you're comfortable in. If you're not comfortable in the hot tub, you're not going to enjoy the hot tub. So that's a really big thing. So I do suggest you do that. I don't not buy the bigger one because you think it's going to cost you more as far as operational costs, it's not enough to worry about. It really isn't. So that's what we got going on there. Excuse me, just a second needed needed to wet my whistle there.
Speaker 1:
Hot tubs only use energy when heating. Hot tubs use the most energy when heating. That's when your hot tub is going to require the most energy and raise your bill the most is when they're heating, but they do use energy all the time. So, for example, my granny outside, which is pretty close to a 500 gallon hot tub, it does have a 24 hour circulation pump and the fact that 24 hours circulation pump is running it's going 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and it's running the filter, the water through the filters, keeping water moving, keeping it clean. That is requiring energy. However, that is so efficient of a hot tub that it, that circulation pump, uses less energy than a 65 watt light bulb, so it's super efficient.
Speaker 1:
Again, check this out. Check out the different manufacturers, because they're all a little bit different. There are some out there that their circulation pumps are a horse pump that uses a ton of energy. So definitely check that out as you're shopping and what you're doing with that. But it's always using energy. It's always using a little bit, but before, when I was talking, it cost me $40 a month. That's all of it, that's everything. And I've had this hot tub for I'm on my seventh year with it. In fact, I was just looking at my filters and they needed to be replaced, but they're seven years old, so it's worth something. Okay, this one will probably bring on the haters.
Speaker 1:
One ton hot tubs are more expensive to run One ton hot tubs. So here's the difference. A one ton hot tub heats a hot tub one degree an hour. Two 20 hot tub heats a hot tub in four degrees in an hour. So yes, it's going to cost you more to heat that hot tub, four degrees in that in the same amount of timeframe. Now, the difference is that one ton hot tub can only do what it can do. So when it comes down to the actual energy costs once you get it up to temperature.
Speaker 1:
So let's say you like to keep your hot tub at 101 degrees, your 110 hot tub and your 220 hot tub, cost wise, is gonna cost. I mean, you're gonna spend a little bit more on your 220 than you are on your 110, but you are consuming more energy on your 220, but your 110 hot tub, again, is only doing one degree an hour and those of us that live in the colder climates that one degree an hour isn't enough to keep the hot tub warm. So you can sit in it for two hours most of the time, or when it's really cold out. Most of the time it works really well. Your actual energy cost I'm gonna say that your 110 hot tub is gonna cost you 50 cents less a month than your 220 hot tub. This is once you get it to temperature. Now the 24 hours it takes to get your hot tub to temperature it'll cost you a little bit more, but after that it'll be less. So I guess it's how you look at it Technically, yes, the 110s cost more to run, but actual out of your pocket expense, no, they're not.
Speaker 1:
And then there is the 220, you have to pay the cost of having the electrician to hook up the 220. So you need to weigh all that out. I had a 110 hot tub for years I bet about 12 years I had a 110 hot tub. Absolutely loved it, thought it was the greatest thing ever. I did eventually go to a 220, and, yeah, there's no way I'd ever go back to a 110, because I do have to be in my hot tub for hours at a time, but that is something to definitely keep in mind.
Speaker 1:
Hot tubs don't contribute much to the monthly energy bills, so that is the myth that I'm talking about now. I've really talked on this quite a bit. If you buy a good quality hot tub, it depends on what you consider much, but if you budget $40 a month for a good quality hot tub, that's about what it's gonna cost you anywhere from $25 to $40 a month. If you buy a less expensive hot tub and maybe not one that's insulated as well as it should be, you could spend $40 to $120 to $200 a month. Do your homework, figure it out. Every salesperson's gonna tell you it's gonna cost you about a dollar a day. Do your homework. Is what I have to say about that?
Speaker 1:
Covering your hot tub with any material will insulate it equally well. Covering your hot tub is important. I highly suggest that you have an insulated cover. It needs to be made out of styrofoam. It's important that you have a good quality cover and it's important that you replace that cover. That is, every four to seven years. Your hot tub cover needs to be replaced and it does make a big difference.
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Now I am seeing a lot of people. I've been seeing on the Facebook pages a lot lately. It's been showing up a lot are spa blankets or they look like giant sheets of bubble wrap that sit on top of your hot tub. They are a good thing they really are. They do help keep the evaporation down. They do help keep the temperature up and they do help protect the cover to keep the water from getting absorbed up into your cover. They do help with all those things. They they're never a bad thing.
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I personally have tried it. I've done it. I found it to be more hassle than what it was worth and didn't personally get that much more life out of my cover or notice that big of a savings on my electric bill that I felt that it was something that I needed to continue to do. They do work. They just don't. They're not life changing and for me it was it. I just wasn't worth it. I dragging that on and off was just not my cup of tea, but I wouldn't tell you not to do it. I just I'm not telling you not to expect huge, huge results from doing that. And you do need to have an insulated cover, just like covering with a tarp or something like that. Or I've seen people try to cover with plywood or it just no, that's not gonna. That's not gonna help your energy costs in any way, shape or form.
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My next category is myths about hot tub ownership. So the first myth I got there is hot tubs or a maintenance nightmare. If you don't have a routine and you don't weekly check on your hot tub and deal with your hot tub, hot tubs can be a maintenance nightmare. So there's some truths to that. How I like to explain it to customers and people are trying to like how much does it actually take? It takes about 30 minutes a week that you need to pay attention to your hot tub and there are things coming out there the the eye care, the hot tub smart spa, the caldera smart spa. There are things that are coming out there that are making it easier. But one of the things that's included in that maintenance is testing your hot tub. So you do need to test your hot tub. You need to adjust your chemicals accordingly. You need to do that at least once a week.
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If you don't, you can cause a lot of damage and cost a lot of money, to be honest with you. Service calls are not cheap. The average service call probably starts and I'm probably really low here it's probably gonna be 250, 280 just to get the tech to show up and then whatever they have to do on top of that. Keep that in mind. Just depending on where you are, it could even be more than that. But how I like to explain it to customers is it's like mowing the lawn. If you mow the lawn once a week or even twice a week, it's a pretty easy, quick thing that you don't need to worry about too much. But if you wait a month or you wait six weeks to mow your lawn, it's a nightmare and it takes 10 times as long as it would have if you just would have took the half hour to mow the lawn once a week. So that's how I equate hot tub ownership is you do need to just check on it. Do the one little thing that you need to do and, like I mentioned, everybody clean your filters once a week, hoping you do it once a month. There's some reality that I know I don't even clean mine once a week, but I tell people to clean them once a week and but I do get it done monthly on the least, or at the least. So just stay on top of it, and it just makes it really simple.
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We got Colin over here again and Colin says what are your favorite test strips? So, colin, I have a saltwater hot tub and my favorite test strips are gonna be the freshwater five-way test strips from Watkins. I don't have any out here. I have them. I was testing the hot tub earlier today actually, so those are my favorite. Otherwise, I'm an aqua check girl. I do like the aqua check test strips as well, the ones with the yellow for the chlorine and if you are in bromine they have a little red cap. But aqua check is a really good test strip as well.
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I am a test strip girl over the test kits. If you're gonna do a test kit, do the Taylor full kit. That's important that you do the one with a DPD tablet and you're testing your free chlorine. You don't wanna just be testing your OTO. So those are what I have going on there and I appreciate the question for sure. So, hot tub ownership where, where am I at there? Bear with me for just a second. Oh, I want to clear up here. Also on hot tub ownership using more chemicals is always better for water quality. That is not true. Just dumping chemicals in because chemicals are there, that is not gonna necessarily mean that you have good, safe, quality water. That's enjoyable.
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You can overdose on anything. You can put too much chlorine in the water than your cyan air Gas. It gets high and it really messes that up. You can, you can use it. You can have your pH too low and that's irritating to the skin and eyes. You can have your alkalinity and pH too high and that causes scale and that's really bad as well. If you're using a stain and scale control, which is an absolutely awesome product, you can overdose that and that can cause cloudy water and you can't clear that. You can't shock that out of the tub. Too much anti foam that's a big one. If you put too much anti foam in your hot tub, it's great, it's fun to use, it works, but it will cloud your water and there's no way to clear that back up without draining your hot tub. So the more stuff you put in the hot tub, the higher your total dissolves solids get. The higher your total dissolves solids get, the less room the chemicals actually have to work and it just causes issues and then that requires a drain cleaning, refill. Figure out the routine that works for you and use that properly.
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Miss about etiquette and socializing these are probably more for public hot tubs, but there were just some things that popped up that I thought we'll talk about them. It's a hot tub show. Hot tubs are for strangers to socialize. I've been in a hotel and either been alone or been traveling and someone will just wanna chit chat. You gotta, it's just an airplane, just respects people's. If they wanna talk, they'll talk, if they don't, they won't. I have in my head the Will Ferrell hot tub from Saturday Night Live. If you guys haven't seen that, look it up. It is flipping, hilarious, it is really funny. But the couple is just they're overstepping their bounds. They're definitely crossing the line of what you should do in a hot tub. Just read people's social cues and if they wanna visit with you, they'll visit with you and be polite and talk, but stay in your own space, don't crowd their space, and definitely you want to just read the cues that are laid out there.
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Drinking alcohol will enhance the hot tub experience. So socializing and etiquette I love to have a glass of wine in my hot tub. We don't necessarily promote that. That's probably not the best thing in the world, but I do enjoy having a cocktail in my hot tub and I do. Moderation is always key and if I have the neighbors over or if anything like that's going on, you will usually have a cocktail or two. But just don't stay in there for hours and try to overdo it. I mean, there are physiological things happening to your body while you're in the hot tub. Your heart rate is increasing, your blood pressure's lowering, there's just some things happening, and so it does your alcohol goes further. I will definitely say that, but just do it in moderation. And again, I'm not promoting that, but I'm just letting you know we're gonna bring Transam on here Transam. Thanks for asking the question.
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He says I'm looking to buy the Caldera Niagara. Anything about this hot tub? I know a lot about that hot tub. Caldera Niagara is actually one of my favorites. I've had one for years, absolutely loved it. I actually had a lot to do with the design change where it's got the two neck jets now. That was actually my suggestion. So that's one of the.
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It's the Niagara's great hot tub. I highly suggest it. The number one thing I'm always gonna tell you when it comes to buying a hot tub is buy from someone you like. You're going to create a relationship with that person. So if you a Niagara and you like the Caldera dealer, buy all means, buy that hot tub.
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It's a great hot tub. It's super energy efficient. If you do the salt system, it's amazing. The therapy on it is really good and I'm a big fan of the Niagara and I might go back to it you never know, but the Niagara is one of my favorites. I also like the Selena in that series or the one down below the Paradise series. So the Niagara is in the Utopia series and the Selena is in the Paradise series.
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And again, another really good hot tub if you're looking at the Caldera's, the insulation on those is great, the light show is awesome, the water features are great, the salt system is amazing. It's a good. Yeah, if you find a dealer you like, you definitely want to go there and he says oh nice, they seem to listen to their dealers. They do listen to their dealers. They Watkins is a great manufacturer. They I can't say enough good stuff about Watkins manufacturing. They do a really good job. Okay, let's go back down here. Do Trans Am says thank you? Thank you, trans Am, for joining us on the show today. I really appreciate that. Okay, so now we're going to talk about pop culture. Just a couple things I needed to throw out there, just because I thought these were fun.
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Hot tubs are always a party scene. Back in the 80s, hot tubs were a party scene. That's how I used to sell them back then. Is you wanted a hot tub, you were going to get everybody to come over after the bar. That's the hot tub was a good way to do it, and people love to be in hot tubs. People love to socialize hot tubs, but I will tell you that hot tubs have definitely shifted and they are a wellness machine and as I've aged and I'm in my 50s now, I could not live without my hot tub.
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I am in it every single day. I'm in it every single day, twice a day. I need to use my sauna a little bit more and work on. I'm working on that and giving up one of my hot tub soaks, but the hot tub benefits from soaking in a hot tub. They've become a wellness machine and people really having them in their backyards and so not only can you use it to socialize in, but you don't have to use it to socialize in.
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I'm working from home these days and every morning. That's how I start my morning. It's about 7, 38 o'clock. I'm out there for a good half hour, 45 minutes, and that's how I go. And then in the evenings I'm using it a good hour and a half before I go to bed at night and I sleep like a baby because I am using my hot tub. But it's also when my neighbors want to come over. I've got some great neighbors and they absolutely love my hot tub. The neighbor kids love using my hot tub. It's just an awesome thing. They're not about just the party, they're definitely more of the medical side of it and I just like to call them a giant bowl of medicine. So that's what we got going on here.
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This one kind of cracked me up A hot tub time travel. It doesn't exist. I know there's a movie out there that says the hot tub time machine and it's funny and it's flipping, hilarious. You can't travel, but you can escape for a little bit sometimes. So they're good for that. You can leave your woes and worries behind. So that's some of the things that you can do there. This kind of comes from the pop culture.
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Hot tubs are a luxury only for the rich and famous, and I think there was a time that was only certain people could afford hot tubs. And I remember back in the 80s and 90s when I was selling hot tubs and I'd go to the Nebraska State Fair and everybody'd be like, oh, that's a big bathtub and my house isn't big enough for that, and you kind of had to educate people. And now hot tubs are definitely an appliance that most people are wanting and the pandemic helped a lot. There's hot tubs have definitely become a household item and that's something that we can definitely get on board with and we're loving. And the cold plunges are coming and we're going to have to educate again on that and start over, but the hot tubs are definitely there. I would consider them a household appliance and every house needs one and you're going to use it. You're going to love it. They've survived.
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A lot of people said hot tubs are fads. They're not a fad. They've been around for a really long time. I've been a part of the industry for a really long time and it's only growing and it's only getting bigger and everybody wants a hot tub and so anybody can afford a hot tub. There are hot tubs anywhere from $5,000, $6,000 all the way up to $30,000 these days. So there's a hot tub out there for everybody. With the financing that's out there and the things that are out there, you can definitely get a hot tub.
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So historical myths let's see what historical myths we've got. Hot tubs were invented in the modern era. Hot tubs have been around for centuries. So they were hot baths, they were hot springs, they were all the things that people have always seen the benefits of hot tubs. So hot tubs have been around forever. The modern day hot tub that you know of today yes, that was born in the 70s. Jacuzzi brothers invented the pump and then the Watkins brothers came along and perfected it and it's just been. If you want to go back and check out, I've got a podcast on here with Mike Dunn who was part of it. He was one of the industry. First, check out that podcast. Check out the podcast with Steve Hammack and we talk about the history and how far the hot tub industry has come. But no, hot tubbing and the benefits of hot tubbing have been known for centuries. So that is something to know.
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Hot tubs were only used for recreation. That's not true as well. That is, hot tubs have always been used for their medical benefits. Even back centuries ago, people would use soaking a hot tub for medical relief. They help with anxiety, they help with depression, they help with all the things. They give you a boost to serotonin. Hot tubs are good for you and they definitely help you become happier. They say every day made better, you're better physically, you're better emotionally, you're better socially, you're better spiritually All the things hot tubs do help with that.
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Hot tubs were reserved for royalty. Yes, way back in the day, when there was big bath houses, the hot tubs were, yes, the royalty. Obviously they had bigger, better, badder ones. But no, that wasn't the case. There was always bath houses. There was always something for everybody to use. Your best ideas come when you're soaking in hot water, and there's physiological reasons for that, and this is one of the things that hot tubs have been around forever.
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Hot tubs were exclusively indoor installations. No, that's not true either. Yes, now they're outside, but back in the day they've always had hot springs. Natural hot springs have always been around. There has always been the wood burning heaters, that type of thing. No, that's not always the case. Hot tubs inside and outside have both always been available and always been their thing. So anyway, guys, that is a few of the myths that I have about hot tubbing. I hope I enlightened you in some way shape or form and we enjoyed that.
Speaker 1:
My guest list is growing. We're going to have a ton of new people just send out probably 40 emails today, just people lining everything up to get things going. We got Ryan from A&B accessories. He's going to be coming on. We got some Coles Plunge people coming on. Jim Wallace is coming soon. He's got a new chemical line that he's going to be launching here pretty quick. The Bioguard people are coming. So lots of really great information coming on the podcast. So stick around for that.
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Don't forget to buy the book Hot Tub Clarity. You can find that on Amazon. Just search Hot Tub Clarity the book that's doing really well and the words just keep coming in on that. So thank you, thank you, thank you. If you have the book, make sure you throw up a review on that.
Speaker 1:
Join the Facebook group Clean your hot tub filter. We'd love to have you, and it's definitely. It's a fun group and we talk about a lot of stuff and a lot of really knowledgeable people on there that are answering questions and I love the fact that it's just taken on its own personality at this point and people are discussing a lot of things and it's just been great. I don't have to be in there every single minute, but I am in there. I do check in at least once a day, so that's a great place for you guys to get a hold of me. You can also check on me on Instagram. If you need to send me a message, that's the best place to do. It is just DM me on Instagram and all the things there. I absolutely appreciate you guys. Download the free seven page guide and I will see you guys next week and thank you so very much for watching and thank you for letting me help you be a happy hot tub owner.