We never really considered getting a hot tub until we discovered this one on vacation in Northern Wisconsin. A bunch of my friends and I rented a house and we were able to keep the hot tub running for 4 straight days in the middle of winter. We have never liked the thought of having to pay for electricity to heat something that cannot be used while we are at work, or during the summer months. This hot tub is from the Snorkel company out of Seattle, Washington. The people there have been very helpful in discussing with us the best size to get and different options for cleaning and using our tub. Here are some things we have discovered along the way: These tubs cost a fraction of what an electric hot tub costs. The only added cost is that of wood to burn to heat the water. We have several resources for free wood so this was a good option for us. When you first put the tub together it is ok if it leaks. It took our tub about a week to stop leaking, or until the wood swelled enough to close all gaps. The tub smells absolutely wonderful because it is made of cedar. We actually prefer a hot tub with no jets because it is much more peaceful and quiet and easier to hear the birds and coyotes around us. There is, however, an option to get jets for this type of tub. Learning how to control the temperature takes time. My husband loves to build fires, so he got a little over zealous and we got the temperature higher then the thermometer reading at 120 degrees F. In the winter this would be no big deal because we could throw in a little snow. There have been several times we were ready to go in and we had to wait until it cooled. The tub retains the temperature well with the cover on. We have been able to throw in a couple of logs at night and it is perfect at 105 degrees by morning. We have found that if we use it the night before, we need to just put in a few logs after work around 6 and it will be ready by 8 or 9 with an outside temperature of 30 degrees at night at 55 degrees in the day. This is all variable, but all in all does not take too much planning. We have not used any chlorine yet because we have emptied and refilled it after a week of tubing. In the winter we plan to either start a fire at least 2 days a week to prevent it from freezing, or if we will be gone for a while, either drain it to a few inches of water on the bottom or use a stock tank heater.
We plan to use it as a cool soaking tub in the summer months so there will be little maintenance, only adding a little chlorine and checking the levels once a week.
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