How much does it cost to run a hot tub?
About $49.75 a month on the typical usage below, at the U.S. average $0.1816/kWh. Set your own rate and usage and the figure updates instantly.
A hot tub's heater (1.5–6kW) cycles to hold temperature; cost depends on the cover and climate.
Running a hot tub at 1,500W running 25% of 24 h costs about
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A hot tub costs money even when nobody's in it. The heater cycles on around the clock to keep 300+ gallons at temperature, and the pump runs for filtration — so the bill is driven by standby heat loss far more than by how often you actually soak.
That makes the cover, the climate and the setpoint the real cost levers. A well-covered tub in a mild climate is reasonable; an open tub in winter can be brutal.
What drives the cost of running a hot tub
- Holding temperature 24/7 against heat loss is most of the cost, soaks or not.
- Cold weather and wind make the heater work much harder.
- A worn, ill-fitting or waterlogged cover lets heat escape constantly.
How to cut it
- Keep a good, tight-fitting insulated cover on it — the highest-impact change by far.
- Lower the setpoint a few degrees, or drop it further when you'll be away for a while.
- Run filtration on a timer rather than constantly.
- Shelter it from wind and consider a floating thermal blanket under the cover.
Data basis
- Electricity price
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.B, June 2026 year to date, released 2026-08-26. Retrieved 2026-09-11. Average residential revenue per kWh. A benchmark average, not a utility tariff — it excludes the fixed charges, tiers, time-of-use windows, taxes and fuel adjustments on a real bill.
- Appliance energy
- A representative running power for a hot tub, compiled from published manufacturer specifications and public appliance-energy guidance, and presented as a typical figure with the usual range shown above. It is not a measurement of your unit, and we do not claim a single primary source for it — the nameplate on your appliance, or an hour with a plug-in energy meter, beats any typical figure we can publish.
- Usage model
- Cycling load — 1,500W running 25% of 24 h
- International prices
- rounded typical household tariffs for each market, in that market's own currency unless the row says US$ equivalent. These are planning benchmarks with no single primary source; enter the per-kWh price from your own bill for an accurate figure.
- Last reviewed
- 20 August 2026. Next scheduled review 20 February 2027.
- Corrections
- Think a figure is wrong? Tell us at corrections@watt-dollar.com and see our corrections policy.
Common questions
How much does it cost to run a hot tub per month?
On the assumption shown above — 1,500W running 25% of 24 h — a hot tub costs about $49.75 a month, or $597 a year, at $0.1816/kWh. That price is the U.S. average; set your own rate and usage above and the figure updates.
How is that worked out?
Running power x hours connected x the share of that time the motor actually runs. At 1,500W running 25% of 24 h that is 9.00 kWh a day, which at $0.1816/kWh costs $1.63 a day.
How can I cut the cost of running a hot tub?
Keep a good, tight-fitting insulated cover on it — the highest-impact change by far. As a worked example: getting the run share down from 25% to 20% takes it from $597 to $477 a year, about $119 less.