5 Things To Ask When Buying a Hot Tub

Buying a hot tub is the ultimate investment in your wellness and you want to ensure the decision that you make is one to ensure happy hot tubbing for many years to come. We love the beginning of a hot tub buying journey as it gives us the chance to use our years of experience to give honest advice to help guide buyers to their perfect spa. In this post we will focus on five key questions to ask before buying a hot tub. This list is not exhaustive and there are other factors to ask about but based on our experience these are some of the most common and most important questions to ask. We will cover; What is the warranty on the hot tub and who is responsible?, What are the Electrical Requirements of the Hot Tub?, What Accessories Come with the Hot Tub or Can be Purchased?, What Guidance/Instructions Will I Receive on Usage and Chemical Balance? and How is the Hot Tub Insulated?

What is The Warranty on the Hot Tub and Who is Responsible?

A warranty on a hot tub is as important as a warranty on your boiler, car or washing machine. If something goes wrong then you want to be sure that it can be resolved in a timley and efficient manner, with no charge and no fuss. Warranties vary in length and can also differ across different components on the hot tub such as the the shell, cover and music system. There are two main types of warranty in the hot tub industry and they are as follows:

Parts Only Warranty

This where the manufacturer will replace any parts deemed faulty for the user to replace themselves. They will usually send them to your address via courier. These warranties tend to be administered by the manufactruer directly rather than the retailer or dealer. This is not as common as a full warranty and if you are not confident on parts replacement or working on your hot tub yourself then it is probably best to stay away from this type of warranty.

Parts and Labour (Full) Warranty

A parts and labour (full) warranty means that if a component fails during the warranty period then the manufacturer will cover the parts and labour of an engineer to visit and correct the fault, with the manufacturer covering both the cost of the time on site and the parts replaced. This is the general standard across the hot tub industry and gives you the most peace of mind as a buyer.

Who is responsible and who carries out the work?

This is almost as important as the type of warranty. Most hot tub retailers are 'dealers' or 'authorised sellers' of a specific brand and are backed by the manufacturer when it comes to warranty. This can result in good service when you have a well respected retailer who is easy to contact and fast to act but it can go the other way when a dealer is hard to reach and/or poor has service. One benefit of a clear manufacturer-backed warranty is that if the retailer is offering poor service, you can also escalate the issues to the manufacturer. The weakest type of warranty is one formulated in whole by the retailer and backed only by the retailer themselves as they import a product directly with no manufacturer backing. This can result in a warranty that is not worth the paper it is written on and can leave you as the buyer with the risk of no support in the future. 

Further Questions to Ask About Hot Tub Warranties

  • How long is the warranty? Does it vary across different parts?
  • Who backs the warranty?
  • Is it a full warranty or parts and labour?
  • Who carries out warranty work? Who holds the parts?

Warranties at Happy Hot Tubs

We pride ourselves on excellent service and always being there for our customers. At Happy Hot Tubs, we offer a wide range of hot tubs from the Worlds largest hot tub manufacturer with warranties ranging from 2 to 5 years, all with full parts and labour cover. We keep a huge range of parts in stock and all warranty work is carried out by our fully employed team. Hot Spring have a parts availability of 20 years which makes them servicable and repairable for many years to come! To add to this we only service brands that we know or understand ensuring that we focus specifically on our customers and keeping our service standards high.

What are the Electrical Requirements of the Hot Tub?

The electrical requirements of a hot tub are important to ensure your location is ready for the unit arriving, everyone is kept safe and to ensure delivery day goes smoothly. There are different electrical requirements across the board but the general difference is 13 or 32 amp. A 13 amp hot tub has a simple 3-pin plug connection, whilst a 32 amp hot tub will require larger cable and a specific 32 amp supply going to the hot tub. Read more about the differences between 13 amp and 32 amp hot tubs on our blog post here. 

This is a key aspect to ask about as you will need to conuslt a qualified electrician to ensure your site meets the requirements for the incoming hot tub.

Further Questions to Ask About Hot Tub Electrical Requirements

  • What is the power specification/requirement of the hot tub? 
  • Can the heater and jet pump run at the same time? 
  • Do you have an electrician that you recommend?

What Accessories Come with the Hot Tub or Can be Purchased?

We love hot tub accessories as they add to the fun and enjoyment of hot tubbing but some accessories can also add ease to the hot tub life. Most hot tubs will come with a basic accessory kit to get you going, this may include a cover, cover lifter, steps and a starter kit for example. There may be additional extras or upgraded extras such as music systems that can be purchased too. One key accessory in our opinion is a cover lifter. This mechanism is important to prevent dragging around your hot tub cover and also to make removing the cover nice and easy. 

Further Questions to Ask About Hot Tub Accessories

  • What accessories are inlcuded in the price?
  • What upgrade accessory options do I have and what are the benefits?
  • What chemical kit is included?
  • Do you recommend chlorine, bromine or a salt system and why?

Accessories at Happy Hot Tubs

When you buy a hot tub from Happy Hot Tubs, we break down accessory options into easy-to-understand packages and will guide you through the benefits of each. We also sell all chemicals and accessories online with free next working day delivery if you wish to accessorise even more once your hot tub is delivered!

What Guidance/Instructions Will I Receive on Usage and Chemical Balance?

This should not really be a question you have to ask but with more and more online hot tub retailers offering a 'drop and go' type delivery service, it is important to know what level of guidance and support you will receive. Instructions and chemical guidance booklets are useful but nothing is more useful than a white glove delivery service with a full lesson on the running and chemical balance of the hot tub. This is most important with chemicals as they need to be fully understood to ensure the safety of bathers. 

It is also important to ask about ongoing support whether that is via phone, email or with water testing in-store. Guidance from knowledgable people is very important when it comes to hot tub maintenance and chemical balance.

Further Questions to Ask About Hot Tub Usage and Chemical Balance Guidance

  • Will I get a full chemical and usage lesson on delivery?
  • How can I get ongoing support with usage and chemical balance?
  • Do you offer water testing in store?

Guidance & Support at Happy Hot Tubs

Looking for 7 day a week support on the phone? Online live chat? In-store testing? Well thats all on offer when you purchase your hot tub from Happy Hot Tubs. This is in addiiton to the full white glove delivery service and chemical/usage lesson from our fully employed installers on delivery day.

How Well is the Hot Tub Insulated?

This question is not last on importance, in fact it should be first in many ways! More and more hot tubs are appearing on the market with little to no insulation. Buying a hot tub with good insulation is so important as it helps reduce energy costs, enviornmental impact and reduces temperature drop when the hot tub is in use. There a three main ways to insulate a hot tub:

  • Full Foam Insulation - The hot tub is fully filled with insulation ensuring it retains as much heat as possible.
  • Reflection Blankets - Reflective thermal blanket placed on the panels to reflect heat back into the compartment between the shell and panels.
  • Shell Spray Foam - A foam spray on the back of the shell to reduce heat loss through the shell. Sometimes combined with reflection blankets.

The above is a very basic overview. Hot tub retailers will be able to go into more detail on R value if you wish. The basic spray foam insulation seems to be dominating the market at present and we have even seen buyers having to add insulation to their newly bought hot tubs, which you should not have to do! A hot tub should be adequately insulated when it arrives in your garden in order to retain as much heat as possible and conserve energy costs.

Further Questions to Ask About Hot Tub Insulation

  • What insualtion does the hot tub have?
  • What is the density or R value of the insulation?
  • What are the hot tub running costs? Have they been tested?

Hot Tub Insulation at Happy Hot Tubs

At Happy Hot Tubs, we sell Hot Spring Spas and Freeflow Spas. Hot Spring Spas use a variety of multi-density full foam and FiberCor depending on the model range. Freeflow Spas use a full spray foam inside the cabinet. We only sell hot tubs with full foam insulation to help reduce running costs and improve the ownership experience overall. You will never have to add extra insualtion to any hot tub purchased from us! In addition Hot Spring Spas have full running costs published on their website which have been tested independently to ensure full clarity on running costs before you buy, find out more over on our hot tub running costs post.