What does a hot tub cost to run?
Pick one of our hot tubs or enter your own, set your electricity price and see what it costs per year and per month. Winter heating is where most of the money goes, so the month-by-month bars matter more than the total.
Estimated running cost per year
£650
About £54 per month of use, 2,045 kWh of electricity a year.
- Electricity
- £538
- Water (4 fills)
- £16
- Chemicals
- £96
Electricity per month
- Jan£51
- Feb£45
- Mar£48
- Apr£44
- May£41
- Jun£36
- Jul£34
- Aug£34
- Sep£37
- Oct£42
- Nov£46
- Dec£50
How we calculate
Most of the electricity keeps the water warm. A tub loses heat through the lid, walls and floor, faster when the air is colder. We use a heat loss of 7 watts per degree of difference for an inflatable, 6 for a rigid frame tub and 5 for a foam-wall tub, all with the lid on. We multiply that by the gap between your water temperature and the Met Office average UK air temperature for each month (4.5 °C in January, 16.6 °C in July).
On top of that come the filter pump (40 W for the hours you set), the bubble blower (800 W while it runs) and reheating fresh water from 10 °C after a refill every three months of use. The default electricity price is the Ofgem price cap for October to December 2026, 26.32p per kWh, without the standing charge you pay anyway. Water is £4.50 per m³ including sewerage. Check your own bill and change both if yours differ.
Treat the result as an estimate, not a quote. A sheltered spot, a thermal ground mat and a tight lid bring it down, wind and an old cover push it up. When a maker does not publish the water volume, we use 700 litres for 4 seats, 900 for 6 and 1,100 for 7 or 8.
Want to compare the tubs themselves? Use the hot tub finder or read how we score.