The number a showroom quotes is almost always wrong. "About $50 a month" is the standard line. The real answer depends on how the tub is built and how cold it gets where you live. Here's the honest version — including the numbers off our own owner's power meter.
The Short Answer: $10–60 a Month, All-In
An Eco Spa runs $10–$60 per month all-in — that's power, chemicals, and filters together, depending on which model you own. The smaller tubs sit near the bottom of that range; the largest sits near the top. That's not a sticker number we invented to look good. It's what the tubs actually pull, in Prairie winters included.
We run the largest model, the E6, on a power meter. The reading: "Just over a dollar a day in winter, 60–70¢ in summer — about $25 a month." That's the biggest tub we make, in an Alberta winter, on a meter. Not a brochure estimate.
Why an Eco Spa Costs So Little to Heat
Roughly 70% of a hot tub's heat escapes through the top. So the cover is where the cost is won or lost. Most tubs use a foam cover that absorbs water from the day you buy it — once it's waterlogged, it stops sealing and the heater runs harder to keep up.
An Eco Spa is built like a thermos instead. The hard cover is rated R-40 and is compressed down by our patented Power Clamps so the seal holds. The body is wrapped in R-30 insulation, and there's a 2" air-chambered bottom (2.5" on the E5). The heater barely has to work, so the monthly number stays low — and stays low, because the cover doesn't waterlog its way into a bigger bill three winters from now.
Running Cost by Model
All-in monthly cost — power, chemicals and filters together — by model:
| Model | All-In Monthly |
|---|---|
| E1 | $10–$25 |
| E2 | $10–$20 |
| E3 / E4 | Within the $10–$60 range |
| E5 | $15–$25 |
| E6 (largest) | $15–$35 |
The bigger the tub and the colder the winter, the closer you sit to the top of its range. Even the largest model in the dead of an Alberta January is around a dollar a day to heat.
It's Not Just Electricity — Chemicals Count Too
Running cost isn't only power. On a conventional acrylic tub, the chemical bill climbs over time as the porous shell holds bacteria and demands more sanitizer to stay clear.
An Eco Spa's shell is non-porous HDPE, so bacteria struggles to grip in the first place. Paired with 100 feet of filtration across two large filters as standard — and the optional Ecozone ozone upgrade to cut chemicals even further — you're adding only about a tablespoon of chlorine every one to two weeks, with roughly 3 minutes of upkeep a month. We don't pretend it's chemical-free. It's just far less than a conventional tub, and it doesn't creep upward year over year.
Total Cost of Ownership Is the Number That Matters
A low monthly bill is only half the story. The other half is what you don't pay later:
- No cover replacement. A foam cover waterlogs and gets replaced every few years. The R-40 hard cover carries a lifetime warranty, so that recurring cost is off the table.
- No structural failures. The shell is one rotationally-molded HDPE piece — no seams to delaminate — and it carries a lifetime warranty on the entire structure. As we put it: "We're the only company that does that."
- Predictable upkeep. Less chemical demand and minutes-a-month maintenance, not a routine that compounds.
- Moving parts covered. Jets and pumps run on Gecko components with 2-year parts and labour.
Low to heat, low to maintain, and built so the expensive parts don't fail on you. That's why we frame the cost as total cost of ownership rather than a sticker — the monthly is small, and the big repeat costs that get other tubs are designed out.
How to Sanity-Check Any Tub's Running Cost
Ask any manufacturer for the cover's insulation rating and the tub's actual draw, not a vague "about $50 a month." A waterlogged foam cover and a sealed R-40 hard cover are not in the same league once a Prairie winter hits. If a seller can't put a real number behind it, that tells you something.