A decent hot tub isn’t cheap, a cheap hot tub is rarely a bargain, there are costs involved in running it, and it’s sensible to have some basic knowledge about what could go wrong. If it’s something simple you might be able to fix it yourself. Other times you’ll probably need a hot tub maintenance expert. Here’s what you need to know.

Tip 1 – buy a hot tub with a great warranty

Our first tip is this: Invest in a good quality model with a long warranty so you’re safely covered for the early years. Many hot tub suppliers provide a 2 year warranty for the electrical and plumbing systems, with the first year also covering labour. Some go a lot further with a shell warranty of 10 years, a shell surface warranty of 5 years, a 5 year construction warranty and a 2 year extended warranty for the electrical parts.

Tip 2 – Know what it’ll cost to run

Hot tub running costs vary, but the biggest cost will be the energy used to heat the water and run the jets. The thing is, a cheap hot tub with sub-standard insulation could easily cost more to run than a good quality tub with excellent insulation, something it’s very useful to know. 

Your electricity bill depends on how well-made the tub is. A high quality, properly insulated model should cost around £40 a month in electricity, just under £500 a year. If the insulation isn’t very good you could easily be looking at £100 per month, £1200 a year, simply because the heat doesn’t stay in, it leaks away into the ground and air so you’re constantly having to bring the water back up to the required temperature of 37 to 40C. 

The high water temperature you need for hot tub comfort means bacteria and other health threats love it just as much as humans. To keep the water clear, clean and safe you need chemicals. One of the usual suspects is a sanitiser, either Chlorine or Bromine. You’ll probably need to adjust the pH so the sanitising chemicals will work properly, which means you’ll want a supply of pH test strips. This is all part of regular hot tub maintenance, a routine to get into from the offset.

Something called a ‘shock’ will also prove handy. It basically means oxidising the water to take out smells and other unpleasant things, and will help reduce the amount of sanitising chemicals required. The filter deserves frequent cleaning since a dirty filter won’t work very well to clean the water and won’t last as long as a filter that’s cleaned regularly. Sometimes there are tiny particles in the water that make it cloudy, too small for a filter to get rid of, in which case a ‘water sparkle’ product does a top job of making the water crystal clear again.

The most dedicated hot tub owners test and adjust the water daily, which may sound like a lot but the more time you spend looking after the water the less it’ll cost you in chemicals.

You might choose a self-cleaning hot tub but that doesn’t mean you can just forget about cleaning.  While they do slash the time taken for maintenance, you still have to test the water to make sure the automated built-in system is sending out the right amount of chemicals. Because they use pressurised filtration, faster and more efficient than ordinary filtration, you’ll naturally use up less sanitiser and save cash on chemicals. So it’s a good way to reduce the costs of hot tub ownership in the long run.

Tip 3 – Don’t forget to factor hot tub servicing in

The tub itself will need to be serviced, simply because it’s a machine with moving parts. Draining and refilling is something you do yourself, around 4 times a year, and you’ll also want a 12 monthly check by an expert. Prepare to pay about £400 for your annual hot tub service.  Again it’s actually a cost-saver since servicing means it’s less likely to break down. If you’d rather go it alone, prepare to pay anything from £50 for a basic replacement part to thousands for major repairs.

Essential basic DIY hot tub maintenance tasks

• Wipe down the shell with a soft damp cloth
• Clean the waterline where scum can collect
• Remove debris from the skimmer
• Remove debris from the filter area
• Clean the hot tub cover

Common hot tub repairs you might need to deal with

If the hot tub is struggling to reach the temperature you want or won’t heat up at all, it’s probably the heater element or thermostat. Check the heater settings, the water level, and the circulation pump. If you can’t see anything obvious that’s gone wrong, contact a professional.

If the water level is going down you might have a leak. You’ll want to deal with it asap since leaks can cause a lot of damage when left to their own devices. Check the plumbing, jets, equipment compartments and connections to see if you can spot where it’s leaking from. If not, or if you can’t easily see how to mend a leak you’ve found, call in a pro. 

If you hear grinding, banging or rattling you could have pump or motor problems, both of which are best left to a qualified hot tub repair expert

As a rule anything as complex as an electrical problem, heater repair, or motor malfunction needs expert attention. Because water and electricity don’t mix well, there are serious safety issues involved in messing with them unless you know exactly what you’re doing.

Mending a hot tub leak yourself

Never ignore cracks in the shell – they have a nasty habit of spreading. They’re often reasonably simple to fix as long as you’re confident with DIY. Hot tubs often leak at the pump, an easy fix or repair with the right components and materials. If it isn’t the pump try the heater and the jets. Now and again it might be a matter of repairing or replacing old plastic piping. 

If there’s a crack in the acrylic shell, the inside bathtub bit, drain the water out then drill a little hole at either end of the crack to stop it getting worse.  Acrylic repair paste is ideal for filling cracks in hot tubs, adding acrylic artists paint to the paste to match the rest if the tub is coloured. Once it’s dry, all you do is sand it smooth and buff it to a shine.

• The holes you drill should be just a tiny bit bigger than the size of the crack
• The repair paste you need is called Plast-aid Acrylic Repair Kit, available on Amazon
• Because it dries so fast you’ll want to fill the crack quickly
• Wipe excess paste off the shell straight away before it dries
• If you need a patch because the hole is bigger than a crack, use a product called Spa Bond Hot Tub and Pool Leak Seal Patch Kit, also available on Amazon. It’s really good, rated highly by hot tub maintenance experts. Because you affix simple to use ‘peel and stick’ patches that are clear, there’s no need for colour-matching

Buy good quality in the first place, a tub with the best warranties you can find. Know what problems might occur and why. Clean and maintain your tub like a ninja and all will be well. It makes sense to find a hot tub maintenance engineer just in case, then if something goes pear shaped and you can’t repair it yourself, you know who to call and won’t waste precious time.