How much does a spa pool cost to run?

Most of the cost is electricity to keep the water hot, which depends on the spa's insulation, your climate and how often you use it, plus chemicals and water. A typical spa might cost a few hundred to over a thousand dollars a year to run.

What is the biggest spa cost?

Heating. Keeping the water hot around the clock, or reheating it for each use, is the main electricity cost. A good cover and insulation, and turning the temperature down between uses, cut this significantly.

How can I run a spa more cheaply?

Use a well-fitting insulated cover, keep the spa at a lower temperature when not in use, run the pump only as needed, and consider an off-peak power plan. Heating is where the savings are largest.

Spa Pool Running Cost Calculator

This New Zealand calculator estimates the annual cost of running a spa pool, where heating the water is usually the biggest expense, alongside pump power, chemicals and water top-ups. People budget for buying a spa but underestimate the year-after-year running cost. You enter your figures, and the tool shows the yearly total and the cost per week, so you can plan, and see where a cover and lower temperatures would save.

Heating energy per day (kWh)

Power price (per kWh)

Chemicals per year

Water and other per year

to run the spa per year

Heating per year$0

Per week$0

Heating is the main cost and varies hugely with insulation, climate and use. A good cover and lower idle temperature can cut it markedly. Estimate only.

How it works

The calculator costs the daily heating energy at your power price across the year, then adds chemicals and water and other costs for the annual total, shown per week too. Heating dominates, so the daily kWh figure is the key input; a well-insulated spa with a good cover uses far less than a poorly insulated one left hot all the time.

Worked example

At 6 kWh a day for heating and 28 cents, heating is about $613 a year. Add $250 chemicals and $150 water and other, and the spa costs around $1,013 a year, roughly $19 a week.

Related calculators

Pool Running Cost Calculator: swimming pool.
Electricity Cost Calculator: power costs.
Appliance Running Cost Calculator: appliances.
Home Running Cost Calculator: running a home.

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