Are hot tubs eco-friendly?

Sustainability has been a growing concern for homeowners around the world. Many resort to eco-conscious choices when choosing the materials, furniture, amenities, and more on their property.

You might have already made eco-friendly choices for your home – waste management, recycling, composting, minimizing carbon footprint, and more. Suppose you want to invest in a hot tub. You may wonder, has the product negatively affected the environment from its manufacturing to its supply? Is it eco-friendly? 

The answer to all these is yes. However, it depends on the following:

Insulation

A hot tub contains aerated and heated water, which you soak in for recreational or physiotherapy purposes. Since it utilizes hot water, it’s important to consider insulation. Does the hot tub promote heat loss? A good hot tub can prevent heat loss if it has a dense insulating material around its perimeter. It’ll be an added advantage to have a thermal wrap around the insulating material for optimum insulation. With this, there’ll be no heat loss.

Heat loss makes you over-rely on your heater, which in turn uses more energy to maintain the water temperature in your tub. Using more energy to meet daily needs isn’t energy efficient.

Stoked wood-fired hot tubs are eco-friendly options that rely on about a few dollars worth of firewood to stay heated instead of relying on electricity or gas. Consider picking one of these as an eco-friendly option.

The Heater And The Pump

Your hot tub works because of two mechanisms – the heater and the pump. The heater keeps your water warm or hot, depending on your preference, and the pump circulates water in your tub for its aerated property.

Here, how the heater and pump run determines the eco-friendliness of your hot tub; they should be energy-rated. This way, the heater will consume less electricity to run your heated plunge pool. On the other hand, the pump will use less power to circulate water. Less power and electricity consumption are part of eco-friendliness.

The Heat-Retaining Covers

Your hot tub will likely lose heat from the top since it’s exposed. Heat loss becomes an issue in cold weather, unlike when it’s hot. In such a case, your hot tub isn’t eco-friendly. Your heater has to do more work to maintain the tub’s warm temperature. 

However, your tub will be eco-friendly if it has a heat-retaining cover. As the name suggests, it’ll cover the top of your tub, preventing evaporation and heat loss. The cover should be insulated and waterproof for optimum performance. Also, ensure that it covers the entire top without any gaps. The gaps leave room for heat to escape, defeating your purpose. 

Maintenance

Maintenance ensures your equipment is in perfect condition and works as it should, as issues with your hot tub might make it less eco-friendly. 

For instance, if the insulation wears away, you’ll end up using more energy when you use your hot tub. Besides the tub itself, maintenance should extend to the heater and pump. Ensure both parts are working well and are not producing weird sounds or emitting smoke as they run.

All in all, for your tub to be eco-friendly, it must run efficiently. It’s something you can only achieve by regularly maintaining it. Be sure to inspect your tub’s insulation regularly; your hot tub’s vendor or manufacturer can help you do this. 

Stainless hot tubs are also eco-friendly in that no chemicals or additives are needed to clean or maintain them. This ensures that no harmful or contaminated water is reintroduced to the water system after you drain your tub.

The Raw Materials

The sustainability of an item starts right from its raw materials. Before purchasing your hot tub, it pays to ask. How was it manufactured? Was the environment harmed in any way? 

Your hot tub will only be eco-friendly if it’s made from recyclable material. Recyclable materials won’t end up as waste in the environment. You can recycle them into new items. One of the eco-friendly, recyclable materials you can adopt for your hot tub is polyethylene.

Transport

Transport is an aspect that greatly contributes to the environment’s well-being due to emissions. There are many places you can source hot tubs, both near and far away from where you’re installing them. Where you source yours determines its sustainability one way or another.

The eco-friendlier option is to buy from a vendor within your locality. The vendor will use a car with carbon emissions to deliver your tub. Since it’s nearby, the vehicle won’t travel a long distance, reducing the percentage of carbon emissions. It’s not the same as when the delivery requires coverage of several kilometres; there’ll be a lot of pollution. 

Conclusion

A hot tub is a great investment for your home or premises. Do you like the idea of relaxing in your tub knowing you have and are positively contributing to the environment? The discussion above shows how eco-friendly your hot tub can be. Consider those factors before you purchase your hot tub.