Those folks who are interested in saving the environment by using less electricity could be interested in buying a solar powered hot tub instead of a regular type. The first thing they would want to know is what is the electricity consumption of a regular tub and what will the heating bills be? A solar hut tub sounds like a great idea but is it really going to work and save energy like you want it to?
Hot tubs typically don’t completely turn off and maintain the temperature at a high level so the unit is always using power to some degree. This is actually cheaper than turning off the power and letting the water cool between uses. One thing any hot tub needs to keep in the heat and use the least power is a cover that traps the heat. If you have a cover that does not do the job, you will have costly heat loss that will use unnecessary energy.
You can find hot tub covers that have solar cells on them that assist with maintaining the heat but of course you need a lot of sun for this type of cover to make a difference. If you dont live somewhere that gets a lot of sunny days, any sort of solar accessories you buy for your hot tub will probably end up being a waste. The reason why you can’t go out and by a solar hot tub is that there is not enough demand for them and the manufacturers don’t make them.
If you live in a place that gets a lot of sun, is it worth the extra price you might pay to outfit your hot tub with solar panels? Will you end up saving money and how long will it take for you to recoup the exrta cost you might have to spend to get one? These are some of the questions you might look into before you spend too much time and money equiping your hot tub with solar cells. Solar cells are usually on the expensive side so you have to know it is a good economic decision first.
Anyone who is just trying to save energy and go green will probably not care about the possible money savings or whether it is truly a good economic decision. However, trying to heat your hot tub by investing in solar panels is sort of like the hybrid car in that they might not be worth it in the end. With gasoline prices having gone back down, sales of hybrid cars have gone donw as well because they are more expensive and perhaps not worth the extra investment. Solar hot tubs are much the same in that you may never get your money back in energy savings.
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August 2nd, 2009 at 12:15 pm
I really hope that more research on solar technology is being done because it contributes lots of benefits to people. And when more solar products come out, the price can become more affordable to everyone.