Whirlpool baths - help needed please!

mylifemyrules

Hi,
So my eldest has autism, epilepsy and a chromosome condition he's also non verbal - we have just come back from our first ever hot tub holiday. My son had never been in one before and absolutely loved it. So I'm debating about whether to replace our bath in the future for a whirlpool bath. 

Our bathroom is upstairs and my son's bedroom is downstairs and we are awaiting a accessable wetroom for him to be built downstairs for him (so only bath will be upstairs). Just wondered if they are a faff or worth it!  Are they expensive to run? 

silvercar

I can tell you that they take longer to fill, as they are generally bigger. You need to use them regularly or the jets get clogged with mould and gunk and spew out black stuff!  

A relative fitted one, after a holiday where their bathroom had a whirlpool. It was great for a few weeks/ months, but then the novelty wore off and it became too much faff to wait for the bath to fill. Then the gunk started to appear and they had it removed.

I’ts going to be more expensive to run, because you will need to generate more hot water to fill the bath, plus the water level has to at least cover the jets. Worth checking that your hot water system can cope - if you have a conventional boiler with a hot water tank, the tank needs to be big enough to cope.

Grumpy_chap

mylifemyrules said:

Hi,
So my eldest has autism, epilepsy and a chromosome condition he's also non verbal - we have just come back from our first ever hot tub holiday. My son had never been in one before and absolutely loved it. So I'm debating about whether to replace our bath in the future for a whirlpool bath. 

Our bathroom is upstairs and my son's bedroom is downstairs and we are awaiting a accessable wetroom for him to be built downstairs for him (so only bath will be upstairs). Just wondered if they are a faff or worth it!  Are they expensive to run? 

Can I just check that your son liked the hot tub, but there was not a specific (professionally recommended) claimed health benefit?

A whirlpool bath is an expensive next step and takes up a significant amount of space for something that may turn out to be an enjoyable bit of fun but also a novelty that wears off relatively soon.

If you have any outdoor space, it might be worth considering a temporary solution such as a Lay-Z-Spa (other brands are available).  That will be more like the hot tub on holiday but also easier and cheaper to install and can be put away if the interest wanes.  They are not cheap to run (primarily because of the heating required).

bobster2

If it was the bubbling he liked - would recommend only a regular shaped bath with whirlpool/jet features. If you go for anything larger / differently shaped it would take a huge amount of water to fill to get the water level deep enough.

silvercar

bobster2 said:

If it was the bubbling he liked - would recommend only a regular shaped bath with whirlpool/jet features. If you go for anything larger / differently shaped it would take a huge amount of water to fill to get the water level deep enough.

or just buy some bubble bath from a pound shop!

emchoc

There are temporary solutions for your existing bath - e.g. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DCBYNBB6 and https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DM1CHGG3 (not specific recommendations, just an idea of the kind of thing that's available)

mylifemyrules

bobster2 said:

If it was the bubbling he liked - would recommend only a regular shaped bath with whirlpool/jet features. If you go for anything larger / differently shaped it would take a huge amount of water to fill to get the water level deep enough.

Yes that's exactly what I was looking for! 

mylifemyrules

Grumpy_chap said:

mylifemyrules said:

Hi,
So my eldest has autism, epilepsy and a chromosome condition he's also non verbal - we have just come back from our first ever hot tub holiday. My son had never been in one before and absolutely loved it. So I'm debating about whether to replace our bath in the future for a whirlpool bath. 

Our bathroom is upstairs and my son's bedroom is downstairs and we are awaiting a accessable wetroom for him to be built downstairs for him (so only bath will be upstairs). Just wondered if they are a faff or worth it!  Are they expensive to run? 

Can I just check that your son liked the hot tub, but there was not a specific (professionally recommended) claimed health benefit?

A whirlpool bath is an expensive next step and takes up a significant amount of space for something that may turn out to be an enjoyable bit of fun but also a novelty that wears off relatively soon.

If you have any outdoor space, it might be worth considering a temporary solution such as a Lay-Z-Spa (other brands are available).  That will be more like the hot tub on holiday but also easier and cheaper to install and can be put away if the interest wanes.  They are not cheap to run (primarily because of the heating required).

To be honest we all enjoyed it. My son is in the process of having a accessable wetroom built downstairs for his needs so a bath with jets in  was more for the whole family 

MeteredOut

silvercar said:

I can tell you that they take longer to fill, as they are generally bigger. You need to use them regularly or the jets get clogged with mould and gunk and spew out black stuff!  

A relative fitted one, after a holiday where their bathroom had a whirlpool. It was great for a few weeks/ months, but then the novelty wore off and it became too much faff to wait for the bath to fill. Then the gunk started to appear and they had it removed.

I’ts going to be more expensive to run, because you will need to generate more hot water to fill the bath, plus the water level has to at least cover the jets. Worth checking that your hot water system can cope - if you have a conventional boiler with a hot water tank, the tank needs to be big enough to cope.

The majority of whirlpool baths I've seen filled from standard taps, so fill in the same time as a standard bath. Are you referring to those that only fill via the jet outlets?

sheramber

MeteredOut said:

silvercar said:

I can tell you that they take longer to fill, as they are generally bigger. You need to use them regularly or the jets get clogged with mould and gunk and spew out black stuff!  

A relative fitted one, after a holiday where their bathroom had a whirlpool. It was great for a few weeks/ months, but then the novelty wore off and it became too much faff to wait for the bath to fill. Then the gunk started to appear and they had it removed.

I’ts going to be more expensive to run, because you will need to generate more hot water to fill the bath, plus the water level has to at least cover the jets. Worth checking that your hot water system can cope - if you have a conventional boiler with a hot water tank, the tank needs to be big enough to cope.

The majority of whirlpool baths I've seen filled from standard taps, so fill in the same time as a standard bath. Are you referring to those that only fill via the jet outlets?

Whirlpool baths are often bigger than a standard bath- wider and deeper.  So take longer to fill .

faerielight

I have owned 1 bath with whirlpool jets, and one with air jets at the base.. the whirlpool ones weren't nearly as powerful as the jets on an outdoor hot tub and  was a let down, and  the pipes were hard to clean. the air jets at the base of the bath are easy to clean as it just blows warm air out, not air and water, so nothing to go mouldy inside. air jet baths are usually cheaper than whirlpool baths. The other thing they might like are chromotherapy lights for the bath.. im neurodivergent and i find the lights  really helped.