How Much Do Hot Tubs Cost?

A question that’s commonly asked by people that are doing their research for the first time into buying a hot tub surrounds the overall cost of the purchase.

When considering a spa, there’s a huge number of questions that you might have… you’re entering some new territory and you’re likely turning to Google or to a reputable hot tub retailer such as ourselves to ask the experts all those burning questions you’ve got like… should I keep my hot tub running all the time? Are hot tubs expensive? Are there eco friendly hot tubs out there? Should I turn my hot tub off in the winter? What are the running costs like? How do I balance my chemicals?

The important thing is that there’s no stupid questions… everybody’s new to it once. There are also some great communities out there that will help you, like the Hot Tub Owners group on Facebook where you can ask questions from real hot tub owners to get their opinions.

So, how much do hot tubs cost?

So let’s get to the point, shall we? How much are they? Well, typically hot tubs cost between £3000 for a basic hot tub to just over £10,000 for a high-spec and large hot tub with lots of features. This is a price guide for most of the hot tub retailers on the market in the UK. American-built hot tubs will usually start from around £15k and go upwards from there.

Of course, prices can fluctuate throughout the year with offers on for things like New Year, Black Friday and even Easter sales. You can find out more about the cheapest time to buy a hot tub to get all the facts and prepare yourself.

So, what do I get for my money?

Let's look at both ends of the scale, with regards to the H2O range of quality hot tubs that we sell. The lower end of the scale, between £3000-4000 is going to get you a smaller 13A plug & play hot tub with 3 or 4 seats.

In our case we have the Bliss hot tub, which you can see below. This is a four-seater spa that retails between £3499 and £3999 depending on the time of year. You don't get fancy features like Bluetooth or smartphone connectivity, but you do get LED mood lighting, a reasonable number of jets and a good all-rounder hot tub that's suitable for families on a budget.

The Bliss, from H2O

At the other end of the scale we have our 7000 Series hot tub. This big beast normally retails for between £10,000 and £10,499 depending on seasonality, and is a large and feature-packed hot tub for those wanting the absolute best for their garden.

On this particular model you get 7 seats, with touchscreen controls from Gecko (which connects to your iOS or Android smartphone for remote control), it's self sanitising, with a larger number of jets, two pumps, a wireless audio system with subwoofer and LED lighting (including cupholders) plus a waterfall.

As you can see, the difference in price does lead to a huge difference in specification.

The 7000 Series, from H2O

Other factors

This cost is for the hot tub alone, but there are some additional costs to consider. For a start, some retailers in the United Kingdom will charge for delivery and installation (which can be up to £400-500 more depending on where you live). After that, there’s chemicals (which actually aren’t too pricey) and then the biggest ongoing cost is your energy. A hot tub will impact your energy bill.

You can learn more about how much it costs to run a hot tub here.

After that, there's servicing. We strongly recommend that you get your hot tub serviced every year and particularly before a winter shutdown (if you don't want to use your hot tub in the winter, that is... though we recommend that you do because they're great when it's cold outside!).