With the ongoing energy crisis causing heating, electric and gas bills in UK homes to soar, it’s understandable that you’re wanting to compare how efficient a hard-shelled hot tub is compared to an inflatable spa.
This depends on a range of factors including how often you are wanting to use the hot tub and if you are wanting a long-term investment in a hard-shelled spa, or if you are wanting an inflatable spa to test if a hot tub is something you enjoy.
Hard-Shelled Spas Take Less Time To Heat Up
Hard-shelled spas are always quicker to heat up. The main reason is because the heater is integrated within the spa meaning there is no chilling of the water between the external heater and the spa. As a rule, the heater unit is larger, typically a 3kw unit.
You then have the spa insulation, as this is far superior on a hard shell hot tub, the heater is not fighting heat loss through a lack of insulation.
Hard Shell tubs will typically raise the water temperature at 2 degrees per hour. An inflatable hot tub will raise the temperature at 1 degree per hour.
Find out more about our innovative insulation system by looking at our hot tub range
Once Heated, They Stay Heated
As we mentioned earlier, our innovative insulation system in our hard-shelled hot tubs means that the water retains a warmer temperature than inflatable spas, which means it takes less time and less energy to heat up when you are wanting to use it. But it also has its benefits when you are using your hot tub, as the temperature controls mean you don’t need to compromise losing heat in the water to enjoy the powerful massage jets.
However, an inflatable hot tub uses an Air Introduction System to power their jets which creates a more ‘bubbly’ effect than massaging your body. This system draws cold air from outside the spa into the water, which cools the water. Whereas hard-shelled spas pump the hot water from the inside the tub around through the jets. This provides a more intense massage but also does not cool the water. Warm air can be introduced to some jets byway of a venturi effect to make the jetting more powerful. However this warm air is captured from the inside of the cabinet heat retention area.
Lastly when our hard shell spa is not in use, the high-density foam lid helps keep your heat inside, which is far more effective than the inflatable lid on soft shell spa.
Which Type of Hot Tub Is the Most Efficient?
Overall hard-shelled hot tubs offer more efficient running costs in the long-term, although they come with the higher price tag. Comparatively, although inflatable spas are more affordable in terms of the initial cost, they can run up higher depending on how much you use them.