Understanding Rental Tubs

There are several different styles and sizes of hot tubs available for rent. We however only rent hard sided, electric heated hot tubs. It's best to know what you want and need before shopping around for prices. Here, we'll try to make your decision easier by explaining the different styles of tubs.

Heat Source
Rental Hot Tubs use electricity or propane has a heating source. There are advantages and disadvantages to both systems.

Most commonly are electric heated tubs. If they are of the portable version, they will run off of a standard 120v household circuit. The nice thing about this is that almost every house had an outlet outside and the tubs are very simple to set up. They are called "Plug and Play" hot tubs. They simply get placed in location, fill with water and plug in. The down side to 120v electric tubs is that they take a long time to heat up and do not maintain the heat as well as gas heated tubs.

Propane heated tubs is another popular system amongst hot tub rental companies. They use large 100,000 BTU furnaces that can heat the water within 2 or 3 hours. The down side is a little more complicated to set up. You will need an electrical source for the pump of the hot tub. Then furnace must be at least 5 feet away from the tub for safety reasons.

Softubs
What you will find most often are Soft Sided Tubs, also known as Softubs. Softubs are made from a high-density foam core that is wrapped in marine grade vinyl. Contrary to popular belief, they are not inflatable.

Softubs heat the water different than most tubs. They have what is called a heat recovery system, which uses the heat created by the pump motor to heat the water. This is an incredibly efficient method of heating the water. This is useful when using a softub for extended periods of time. However for a rental purpose you will not see much of a savings on your electricity bill.

Softubs are probably the most common hot tubs amongst rental companies due to the fact that they are very light, incredibly durable and will fit almost anywhere.

Hard Sided Portable Tubs
An upgrade from Softubs are hard sided tubs. These will come in all shapes and sizes. They are generally larger than soft sided tubs, have more jets and have molded seating. Often times these are the same tubs that you find in someone's backyard that have been converted to be used with 120V electricity rather than 240V.

Hard tubs are usually made from either acrylic or one piece, rotationally molded high density Polyethylene shell.

Acrylic spas are very heavy; anywhere from 400 to 700 lbs. As a result the shell needs to sit inside a structure to support the weight. The outside structure is often times paneled with cedar wood. This makes the tubs appealing to the eye however not very practical when it comes to delivering these tubs. With the immense weight of these tubs makes them difficult to maneuver into someone's backyard. Companies who use this style of tubs generally tip the hot tub on end and place it on a cart with wheels for transporting it. If the tub is round, they will simply roll the tub into place. Because these tubs are so heavy, Rental companies will need several people and may ask you to assist them in moving the tub from their delivery truck to your desired location.

Rotationally Polyethylene tubs are somewhat of a newer concept. They are lighter (approximately 275 lbs) than acrylic and are what is called a free standing hot tub. They do not require additional structure to hold the weight up. They can simply be placed on any surface such as a deck or patio. Unlike acrylic tubs, these are considered true portable hot tubs.

Both of these tubs can be configured to operate on 120V electiricty. Unlike Softubs, the have an actual heater to heat the water. This speads up the heat time slightly.