Hot tub..... I use mine every single day. They can be a lot of work, but with proper maintenance, should last quite awhile. My current hot tub I restored last year. It was leaking like crazy, had a bad pump, and a rotted bottom frame. It took me about a month of working on it every night, but it turned out great. The integrated car stereo/speakers are great, there is nothing better than jumping in the hot tub at night and listening to various games (mostly baseball) and music.

I bought this tub for $200 because the shell was still good. I replaced both pumps, all of the siding and the rotted frame, and I am into it for a grand total of $1100.
20181021_170014 (resized).jpg20181021_170023 (resized).jpg20181127_222206 (resized).jpg

Thanks.... in the first picture, you can see a sliding door. That sliding door is my master bedroom. It certainly makes it very easy to get in the hot tub when your bedroom is two feet away from it.

Be careful when looking for hot tubs. There are hot tub forums similar to Pinside. Not all hot tubs are created equally. My first hot tub purchase was in 2002. Brand new hot tub, I took extreme care with it, did everything by the book. It went through three different pumps, two Motherboards, and an ozonator in 5 years. The final straw was when the 2nd motherboard crapped out when we were gone in the dead of winter and two of the main PVC feeds both cracked/broke. I gave that one away for free, and swore I would never have another hot tub.

Fast forward 10 years and I have had two knee surgeries and have a ton of cartilage missing courtesy of severe arthritis. The hot tub has been my saving grace.

That being said, before I dove back into the hot tub world, I did a ton of research to see if my first experience was a normal one. It appears that a combination of cold Wisconsin winters and various manufacturers can make for a poor experience similar to my first one. This second go round, I started looking at hot tubs that were more favorably reviewed from the "tried and true" manufacturers. It turns out, those tubs were typically in the $7500 range this time around. So I went back a few years and looked for hot tubs made in the last 5-10 years that were found to be reliable. I found a project one (the one I pictured above) and restored it back to its former glory. It has been 1 year so far, and absolutely zero problems. It has been a completely different experience than my first one.

I will say if you can find a way to have 220 run to it instead of 110, do it. The 110 tubs seem to be a bit under-powered for what they are supposed to be. Many of them don't even support the heating element and the jets being on at the same time using 110.

Hot Spring, Caldera, and Sundance are the ones that come to the top of the list the most. That being said, even with those, certain models had more issues than others. But generally, those are the ones that are fairly reliable.

Buying a used one is a crapshoot. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best. I have seen/read where tons of tubs have leaked after being moved. Leaks are not fun to find when they are fully foamed. I had to use a pressure washer on my foam to get to the three leaks on mine. It is super messy blasting through foam. Fixing the leaks is generally fairly simple once they are found.

Also, before buying a used one, look for available parts before buying. Besides cost being a factor, availability can be an issue too.

The “Moto-massage” feature by Hot-Springs seems to have a fan base. Other than that, find features that are important to you. For myself, my wife had to have a lay-down lounger, my only requirement was that the water was hot....

My old hot tub had a waterfall and LED lighting, I don’t miss either of those.

Make sure you set aside a few bucks for a nice cover lift. Those are a priceless must-have.

I mentioned that maintenance can be a bit of work as it is more of a critical scenario depending on where you live. When I had to replace a pump on my first tub- it was hovering just below zero outside. Working with water in these temps is a huge pain in the ass. It is also critical that time is of the essence. You can't really winterize a hot tub during the middle of winter, LOL. I had to wait two days for a replacement pump to come in. I took off a side panel, threw in two space heaters, and closed it back up while waiting for the replacement pump to come in. you don't really have much of a choice if one goes to shit in the winter. You fix it immediately or risk losing it to the temps.

As far as electric goes, I would say mine runs about $40-50 a month using it daily. A good cover is essential in colder climates. They aren't a ton of work, but they are something you have to do with a solid routine. If you don't maintain your water, it can be a real PITA to get your levels back where they need to be. But yeah, 10 minutes a week for maintenance/chemicals isn't that bad if you use it regularly.