Inflatable Hot Tub Pros and Cons
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2-4 hours
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Beginner
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- 500-1,000
There are many advantages and disadvantages to consider if you are looking at purchasing an inflatable hot tub. Your specific situation, how and when the hot tub will be used and what your particular tastes are will help you decide. Here are some pros and cons of an inflatable hot tub.
Pros
Inflatable hot tubs provide excellent flexibility. You may think that you only have to choose between an in-ground hot tub or a solid, yet portable above-ground model. There is, however, another choice: Inflatable hot tubs offer not only flexibility, but they can be broken down and moved anywhere in or out of your yard.
Unlike more permanent hot tubs, the inflatable hot tub will often run off of no more than a regular, 120 volt home electrical outlet. The inflatable hot tub's operating costs are also drastically lower than those of the more permanent types.
For those that don’t want a permanent hot tub, or like the idea of traveling around with their hot tub during extended vacations, an inflatable hot tub may be just right.
Cons
Perhaps the biggest disadvantage of the inflatable hot tub is the lack of durability, especially in comparison to the more solid models. By their very nature, they will never last as long as a permanent hot tub that is properly cared for.
Inflatables, due to the fact that they only use a 120-volt electrical outlet, have drastically reduced heating power by comparison.
They don’t usually use real water jets but instead use fans to “blow” the air around (also because of the 120-volt outlet), which causes them to cool down much faster than a regular hot tub. This cooling effect is only made worse by the fact that the materials they are made from losing heat much faster than the materials used on a regular hot tub. All in all, you aren’t likely to get more than 15 minutes to a half an hour of good heat out of an inflatable hot tub.
If you do like to move it around regularly, which is the strongest advantage for inflatable hot tubs, you have to deal with draining, deflating, moving, inflating, and refilling your tub every time you want to move it. The deflating and inflating isn’t as big of a deal if you have an air compressor to hook up to it, or if your hot tub came with its own, but it still takes a while (and a good deal of water) to refill that hot tub every time, and longer yet to get the water hot.
If you aren’t expecting to be moving it around a lot, or like the idea of taking longer and more frequent dips in the hot tub, then an inflatable hot tub probably isn’t for you.
