Hot tub costing way too much..

blakk

In September 2017 we had a good quality hot tub installed by a reputable company. In the showroom when finding out about them we said our biggest concern was running cost. We were told it would be around £1 or so a day.

After a couple of months we realized that our electric bills were massively higher and got in touch with the hot tub company in early 2018. At first they were concerned and sent someone to look who said he couldn't understand it as we had it on the best settings. They changed the main circuit board, still no different. They sent their electrician out, he measured everything and found nothing wrong, he agreed it should only use a little over £1 a day.

After doing research I was told to ensure that the air jets were turned off when not in use as they would bring cold air in from outside when the tub was trying to do the heating cycle. Tried this and it seemed to make difference. Unfortunately it also coincided with the weather changing from freezing and snow to warm spring temperatures. I told the company we bought it from that things seemed better although still not as cheap to run as i had been told, but we would monitor for a while and see.
We used the tub a lot through the summer, so was difficult to gauge electric use, but as we got into Autumn and we we were using it less and the weather cooled we realised it was using quite a bit still. We spoke the company again, but now they were saying there isn't much they can do.
I've spoken to the hot tub manufacturers uk branch and they've agreed that it's using more electric than it should, and also some other hot tub sales companies, all saying something isn't right.

We went to the company we bought it from just before Xmas and said how unhappy we were and we wanted them to refund us. They said they would get their boss (who is been told I couldn't speak to several times previously!) To ring us the next day. Instead we had one of their office staff ring us and say that the boss would ring us 'sometime in the next few days'. He actually rang a week later, arranged to come and have a look himself.
He came to the house and tested the hot tub but was evasive with questions and quite condescending. He then asked us to take readings (id fitted a smart meter just for the tub by now) and run for several days with the heat turned right down and then several days on normal. Also wanted to see 2 years of electric bills (we gave him 3).

All the information he wanted was handed over at the beginning of January, it's now the 28th and heard nothing!
Do we push for trading standards to get involved or wait a little more? This has gone on for a year already. It uses £2-2.90 a day in electric depending on outside temperature, and we can't afford it!
In electric units it's using 11-14kw a day, depending on the outside temperature. This is when not used and the lid not even lifted! The casing has the basic insulation plus loads of rockwool stuffed into everywhere (except around the pumps)

Comms69

I'm pretty sure that this is more to do with your tariff than the hottub.


FWIW I don't keep mine on 24/7; I suspect that this is simply your problem.

societys_child

depending on outside temperature

Where is the tub situated?

spadoosh

Yeh youre on a bad electricity tariff.

Your hot tub would cost me a maximum of £1.78 per day and as low as £1.39. When you consider the last few years have pretty much been price rises it seems in line with their initial expectations (as well bearing in mind theyll normally pick the best of the best comparisons).

blakk

Regardless of our tariff, the tub should be using 4-6kw a day depending on the weather (direct advice from the manufacturer) and it's using 10-15kw a day!!

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

blakk wrote: »

In September 2017 we had a good quality hot tub installed by a reputable company. In the showroom when finding out about them we said our biggest concern was running cost. We were told it would be around £1 or so a day.

After a couple of months we realized that our electric bills were massively higher and got in touch with the hot tub company in early 2018. At first they were concerned and sent someone to look who said he couldn't understand it as we had it on the best settings. They changed the main circuit board, still no different. They sent their electrician out, he measured everything and found nothing wrong, he agreed it should only use a little over £1 a day.

After doing research I was told to ensure that the air jets were turned off when not in use as they would bring cold air in from outside when the tub was trying to do the heating cycle. Tried this and it seemed to make difference. Unfortunately it also coincided with the weather changing from freezing and snow to warm spring temperatures. I told the company we bought it from that things seemed better although still not as cheap to run as i had been told, but we would monitor for a while and see.
We used the tub a lot through the summer, so was difficult to gauge electric use, but as we got into Autumn and we we were using it less and the weather cooled we realised it was using quite a bit still. We spoke the company again, but now they were saying there isn't much they can do.
I've spoken to the hot tub manufacturers uk branch and they've agreed that it's using more electric than it should, and also some other hot tub sales companies, all saying something isn't right.

We went to the company we bought it from just before Xmas and said how unhappy we were and we wanted them to refund us. They said they would get their boss (who is been told I couldn't speak to several times previously!) To ring us the next day. Instead we had one of their office staff ring us and say that the boss would ring us 'sometime in the next few days'. He actually rang a week later, arranged to come and have a look himself.
He came to the house and tested the hot tub but was evasive with questions and quite condescending. He then asked us to take readings (id fitted a smart meter just for the tub by now) and run for several days with the heat turned right down and then several days on normal. Also wanted to see 2 years of electric bills (we gave him 3).

All the information he wanted was handed over at the beginning of January, it's now the 28th and heard nothing!
Do we push for trading standards to get involved or wait a little more? This has gone on for a year already. It uses £2-2.90 a day in electric depending on outside temperature, and we can't afford it!
In electric units it's using 11-14kw a day, depending on the outside temperature. This is when not used and the lid not even lifted! The casing has the basic insulation plus loads of rockwool stuffed into everywhere (except around the pumps)

blakk wrote: »

Regardless of our tariff, the tub should be using 4-6kw a day depending on the weather (direct advice from the manufacturer) and it's using 10-15kw a day!!

Heating water using electricity is expensive. My Neighbour never uses his in the winter as it costs too much to keep it frost free!

worried_jim

My friend spends £200 pm heating hers! Another friend with an outdoor pool spends £500.

coffeehound

Have you checked what the water temperature is? (Dodgy thermostat?)

Comms69

blakk wrote: »

Regardless of our tariff, the tub should be using 4-6kw a day depending on the weather (direct advice from the manufacturer) and it's using 10-15kw a day!!

It depends entirely on the outside factors.


primarily temperature. If your hot tub is totally exposed to the elements, then the amount of electricity needed to maintain the temperature will be much higher

wesleyad

blakk wrote: »

I've spoken to the hot tub manufacturers uk branch and they've agreed that it's using more electric than it should, and also some other hot tub sales companies, all saying something isn't right.

the tub should be using 4-6kw a day depending on the weather (direct advice from the manufacturer)

I've had various hottubs running on smart meters for many years and I can tell you this is where it goes wrong. The sales people and manufacturers have, to put it mildly, complete !!!!!!!! numbers. They have nothing to back it up, any tests are done in the warmth of the factory. Of course they act surprised, "but our hot tubs should only cost 5p a year to run!" they say. And they have a vested interest in keeping those numbers artificially low.

Basically you can rely on them as much as I can rely on Audi telling me how much MPG i will get.

I mean the simple physics tells you its rubbish, most tubs have a 2kw pump, so to get 4kwh per day it means it only runs for 2 hours, which in the british climate is impossible.

Mr_Singleton

Too many people hear what they want to hear.