So many people have been asking this question, Can you use an inflatable hot tub in winter?
So we decided to do a post about it to help those with existing hot tubs or those looking to buy the perfect hot tub for the winter.
Disclaimer
Our site is reader supported, this means we may earn small commissions from Amazon and other affiliates at no extra cost to you if you buy through links on our website.
The Short Answer Is Yes You Can Use An Inflatable Hot Tub In The Winter Months:
How Hot Can An Inflatable Hot Tub Get In Winter?
In freezing temperatures, the water will only get to about the low 90’s Fahrenheit (32-Celsius) at best, Most inflatable hot tubs will start to struggle to maintain maximum temperatures in freezing temperatures and also start to cost you more money to heat the water up unless you follow some of the insulation tips we have provided below.
The Best Winter Inflatable Hot Tubs 2023
The best inflatable hot tub for winter is if you have one of the very latest edition’s of the inflatable Lazy Spa hot tubs which all have built in anti-freeze technology from 2021 – More on that a little later!
Lay-Z-Spa St Moritz Hot Tub is a suitable all-year-round hot tub, It has a 180 AirJet Massage System, Rattan Design Inflatable Spa with Freeze Shield Year Round Technology, Holds 5-7 Person
In fact, all hot tubs without freeze technology or anti-icing built-in do stand the chance of freezing up as soon as the area weather temperature drops below 40 degrees Fahrenheit which is 4 degrees Celsius.
- If you don’t have a freeze shield hot tub then we would recommend shutting down your hot tub when the weather gets this low. Or taking extra insulation measures on your existing inflatable hot tubs without freeze technology… (More on that later.)
Inflatable hot tubs just don’t have the same level of insulation as their non-inflatable counterparts. And they don’t have a pump and blower to pump water through the heater. “So your basically heating the water and using air jets to blow the hot water around”
Extra Expenses involved:
If you do decide to keep your inflatable hot tub going for a while at the beginning of winter, bear in mind that more heat is being transferred from the hot tub into the cold air and up through the ground underneath the tub!
This means that it will cost you more money on your electric bill to keep the tub running at your desired temperature unless you take some extra measures to insulate your hot tub ready for the freezing temperatures! ” Is your hot tub worth the investment to you”
6 Top Tips On How To Insulate Your Inflatable Hot Tub For The Winter
If you already have a hot tub and you looking for advice on how you can get set up to continue using your inflatable hot tub in the winter without it freezing up! Then we have a few tips for you below.
1. Use a portable shed or garden room to place your hot tub inside away from the cold elements.
2. You also need to think about whether your hot tub is transferring its heat to the ground or patio or decking. Insulate the floor underneath your hot tub with foil-backed wall insulation or a suitable insulation mat, Then place your tub on top.
With any luck, your inflatable hot tub would have come with a ground mat or you have a suitable hot tub base to help further insulate the tub and prevent any heat from being lost in this way.
How To Insulate a Hot Tub For Winter
3. If you want to know how to insulate inflatable hot tubs, For insulating inflatable hot tubs you can use an extra top cover layer of thermal blanket insulation on top of your hot water when not in use to help retain the heat inside your tub.
You can go the extra mile and use a complete thermal hot tub cover as shown below. These save you vast amounts of money on your electric bill of up to 50% cutting your costs in half.
The CleverSpa Award Winning Universal Thermal Hot Tub Cover, Small Round Outdoor Spa Cover Waterproof, UV Resistant is the Best Inflatable Hot Tub Insulation for Winter – Fits all Hot Tubs up to 180cm
4. Use a hot tub gazebo with wall coverings to help keep the elements out and the heat in.
5. First of all you must always remember to put a top cover over the hot tub when not in use. This goes a long way to ensuring that as much heat as possible is retained in the water rather than released into the air. The cover not only protects the water from debris but also helps to insulate the hot tub.
6. You can also use a complete hot tub cover that completely covers the whole tub overnight when not in use to further maintain heat levels more efficiently.
Frequently Asked Questions?
Can you leave an inflatable hot tub outside in winter?
Yes as long as you have the right hot tub with freeze shield as explained above, and you follow the guidelines on insulating your hot tub.
Can an inflatable hot tub stay warm in winter?
Yes but they struggle more than they do in the summertime for obvious reasons, The cold weather! but if you take extra measures on insulating as we explained then you will be able to keep your hot tub warm in the winter without breaking the bank.
How much does it cost to run an inflatable hot tub in the winter?
With electricity costs rising in 2022 it’s hard to say depending on your model, We have tested the MSPA Tuscany with anti-icing built in and a number of Lay Z Spa hot tubs with freeze shield built in and they both used an average of £5 a day to keep running for 24-hrs in the current climate of rising energy bills!
The Dos and Donts of Winter Hot Tubbing?
Do Make sure you have a hot tub with either anti-icing or freeze shield technology or your hot tub could end up freezing up if temperatures drop below 3/4 degrees.
Do Make sure you take the steps outlined in this article to further insulate your hot tub as this will not only keep your hot tub water warm, it will also save you money on electricity heating your hot tub up
Don’t chance to leave your hot tub out in the cold if you don’t have anti-icing or freeze shield built in, the only exception would be if you are planning to leave the heater on at all times and add further insulation to stop your hot tub from freezing up altogether.
Are Inflatable Hot Tubs Good In Winter?
Most inflatable hot tubs are good to use in winter as long as you further insulate them and keep up the regular maintenance to keep your tub in good shape.
But to be honest, as we said earlier they simply do not offer the same level of insulation relative to their non-inflatable counterparts such as a hard sided hot tub or a hard shell hot tub. “But they are more expensive than inflatables”
Sure, they can stay quite warm most of the time and you can have good fun in the summer, but once the weather slips down to as little as 40 degrees Fahrenheit, (4-Degrees Celsius) The highest temperature you can expect the hot tub water to get is around 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35-Degrees Celsius) or less. “It’s time to either insulate it to reach maximum temperatures or put it away for the winter”
Once you do hit freezing temperatures, our advice is to either insulate it or winterize the hot tub until you are ready to use it again.
- If you just scroll down a little you will find our instructions on how to winterize your inflatable hot tub for the coldest winter temperatures.
If you do decide to use your inflatable hot tub in winter before the weather reaches freezing temperatures, then you will need to do all you can to insulate it from the cold as we’ve explained above.
There is an exception to this state of affairs with the new winter freeze technology introduced by the Lazy Spa brand, which we are coming onto next!
Can I Leave My Lazy Spa Out In Winter?
The short answer is yes if you have one of the latest 2021 Lazy Spa’s, you certainly can leave your lazy spa out in winter. And we’re not just talking about leaving it out until the weather gets to freezing temperatures at about 40 degrees Fahrenheit. “Older models from 2020 don’t have freeze shield built-in”
If you get yourself one of the newer models of lazy spa, you can leave your lazy spa out all year round, even in the coldest parts of winter.
Since 2021 Lazy spa has built freeze shield technology into all their tubs where when the temperature drops below 6 degrees centigrade, The heater will kick in on autopilot to heat up your water to 10 degrees centigrade to stop your hot tub water from freezing up.
This is because Lazy Spa introduced the Helsinki. It was the very first inflatable to be designed for all-year-round use with antifreeze technology built in.
It’s also one of the biggest inflatable hot tubs available to date seating up to 7-people.
Not only can you do away with all the hassle of winterizing your Lazy spa, but you also don’t have to worry about taking any special measures to keep it insulated.
All the plumbing will remain at a suitably high temperature, and you don’t have to worry about any freezing over or cold-related damage of any kind.
How Do You Winterize An Inflatable Hot Tub?
As I believe we have already covered, you can continue to use your inflatable into the winter months if you wish to but you can also winterize it.
However, we also get that you may instead decide that you don’t want to use it in the winter if you think it will still feel too cold to use without all the work insulating it.
If you want to shut your inflatable hot tub down for the winter months, that’s no issue. It just takes a few very simple steps. explained below!
- The first thing you need to do to winterize your inflatable hot tub is to turn off the heater, and then unplug it altogether.
- Then once the jets have stopped, you drain out all of the water from the hot tub. (But please don’t pour the water out onto the grass, as the chemicals can cause damage to the environment.
- Then remove all of the water filters, and clean them by placing them in a cleaning solution. And you also need to clean out the filter basket.
- Open up any drainage plugs and let them drain, and ensure that no standing water is left in the plumbing. You can do this by hand drying or by using a shop vac to suck out the water.
- When you are completely satisfied that your inflatable hot tub is bone dry, you are then in a position to deflate the hot tub. This then means that you can pack it away and store it, until you decide to set it up and use it again.
Winter Inflatable Hot Tubs For All Year Round Use – Our Top Choices
We have researched and reviewed some of the best inflatable hot tubs for winter use where you can keep your inflatable hot tub constantly running throughout the winter, without the hassle of checking water temperatures or running your hot tub on a high heating level constantly which could end up costing you a small fortune on your electric bill.
We have found after our research that it’s much less hassle nowadays to go for an inflatable hot tub with built in freeze technology where you can sit back and relax without worrying about your hot tub freezing up! Or spending more money on heating it or insulating it.
As we mentioned earlier on, All new Lazy Spa’s from 2021 onward all have freeze shield technology built into them which is a great thing for hot tub lovers who want their hot tubs for all-year-round use.
Other types of hard-sided hot tubs also have Anti-Icing systems built into them where they are suitable to hot tubs for all-year-round use, Though these may be a little more expensive than inflatables they are more hard-wearing and durable, Most of them also come with built-in ozone technology that also will save you a tonne of time adding chemicals.
See our short review of the hard-sided MSPA Tuscany premium with built-in Anti-Icing system and Ozone system, it also comes with whisper quiet technology which makes it run much quieter than regular inflatables.
We also reviewed the super rigid MSPA Shatchi Concept MONO that also has Anti-Icing built-in along with an ozone system and other extras, this hot tub is super durable and made to last. Though it says it holds 6-people, Beware it’s more like 4-people realistically for comfort.
Wrapping Up:
Now we’ve covered whether or not you can use your inflatable hot tub in winter it’s time to wrap up! We have mentioned all options on existing hot tubs or new hot tubs with winter freeze built-in, The simple answer to your question? Can you use an inflatable hot tub in winter is a big fat yes as long as you don’t mind freezing when you get out:)
We are open to your comments on this subject, you can leave a comment by using the comment box provided for you below.
We Do Not Tolerate Spam!
You Might Also Like
- Should I Leave My Inflatable Hot Tub On All the Time?
- MSPA Inflatable Hot Tubs
- Lay Z Spa Miami Review
I’m Simon the owner of this website, I’ve had years of experience in the hot tub hire business and pool water maintenance where I learned a thing or two about hot tubs and water chemistry which I share here on my website. Learn more