Is a Hot Tub Worth It?

In some ways, this is the ultimate question: Is a hot tub worth it? 

Well, we say yes. But being honest, we know they aren’t for everyone. 

We are biased, as we make hot tubs. But we have also heard from customers who didn’t buy hot tubs and even from some who bought and regretted the purchase. 

So we have heard both sides, many times. We know it’s not an open-and-shut case.

By far and away most people who have bought hot tubs from us have been happy with them. We have been in business for 40 years and if they weren’t happy, we’d be out of business by now. 

So in this article, we want to go over what makes a hot tub worth it. And at the same time, we will go over what might make one not worth it for you. 

And by the end? We hope you’ll know if you should remodel that kitchen or buy a hot tub (or both)!

Is Buying a Hot Tub Worth It? The Pros

If you’re in the yes camp, it’s because: 

• You’ll use it year-round: Unlike a pool, which must be shut down in most locations all winter, a hot tub is available to you year-round. It’s a unique experience and instant fun, heading to your hot tub with snow on the ground.
• They cost less than a pool: A decent hot tub starts around $10,000 Cdn, with a bit more for your electrical and what your hot tub sits on (full article on cost breakdown here). You can’t come close to a pool for three times that price today. 
• They help: We have to be careful here. We aren’t doctors and we aren’t giving medical advice.  But at the same time, hot tub massage isn’t water being sent out of a pipe. It can provide relief. We sell many hot tubs to people who experience pain, stress, illness, fatigue, lack of sleep or have other symptoms and they don’t bring the hot tubs back. 
• They are a place to connect: Want a place for your kids to put down the phone and enjoy life in the moment? That’s a hot tub. We can’t tell you how many parents say they can actually talk to their kids in the hot tub and that their kids want to talk to them there. A hot tub is where you get away from it all. 
• They are a vacation in your backyard: A hot tub is what you hope your hotel has when you go away. Hot tub parties are perfect year-round events. 
• Hot tubs are an affordable luxury product: How many things do you own that feel like a reward? 
• Hot tubs may raise the value of your home: Realtors often say it’s a split. Remember, if someone doesn’t want it and you’re selling, you can always take it with you. 

Kids and hot tubs are made for each other. If you want one place where the kids will happily enter and forget about their phone for a moment, it’s a hot tub, like this Hydropool Signature 679.

Is a Hot Tub Worth It? The Cons

• Money is money: There’s the upfront cost and the ongoing costs to owning a hot tub. They can’t be avoided, any more than buying food for your pets is part of the deal.  
• The maintenance: Hot tubs require maintenance. Some are more efficient than others but all of them require some effort to keep clean and sanitized so you can use them when you want to.  
• They take room: Small backyard? A hot tub could fit, but it’s going to take up a lot of it. Big backyard? Then you’re going to have to landscape your hot tub into it or have it plunked there. Either way, there’s a bit of work to integrate a hot tub into your space.  
• The resale value is low: If you buy one, don’t expect to get rich flipping it. People are wary of used hot tubs because they don’t know how they have been treated. There’s also the hassle of moving an acrylic tub – they don’t move easily.  
• You can’t use it long: You can sit in a pool all day, but it’s harder to do that with a hot tub, especially if you’ve got the heat cranked. 

Should You Buy a Hot Tub?