On their own hot tubs provide endless hours of relaxation and enjoyment, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be improved upon. Here is our list of essential hot tub accessories that every hot tub owner should own!
Hot Tub Steps
Our first essential hot tub accessory is also the simplest, a set of stairs. Hot tub stairs make it safer and easier to get in and out of your hot tub. Hot tub steps do tend to get wet though so we recommend purchasing steps with textured treads to reduce the chances of slipping and falling when entering or exiting your hot tub.
Cover Lifters
Another essential hot tub accessory is a cover lifter. Cover lifters are devices designed to help you easily remove the cover from your hot tub. Although hot tub cover lifters can differ quite a bit in terms of design, they all share the same advantages:
- They make your cover easier to remove. Cover lifters make removing your cover quicker and easier by removing the need to lift the cover off of the hot tub and onto the ground.
- Your cover will last longer. Cover lifters provide even support across the entire cover, which reduces the wear and tear on the cover that is typical when people manually remove their covers.
Aromatherapy
No matter what you use your hot tub for – relaxation, hydrotherapy, stress relief or catching up with friends and family – aromatherapy can help you relax and de-stress.
When buying aromatherapy oils or crystals, however, it is important to make sure that they are rated for use in hot tubs. Aromatherapy products that haven’t been designed specifically for use in hot tubs can affect the pH of the water, turn the water cloudy or even clog the plumbing lines over time.
Filter Cleaning Tools
Anyone who has owned a hot tub long enough knows that rinsing hot tub filters can be a bit of a pain. Removing dirt and debris that is trapped deep in the pleats of a hot tub filter can be almost impossible with a tap or hose (without damaging the filter at least). Fortunately, there is a great tool designed specifically to help get trapped dirt out of hot tub filters, the Filter Flosser.
The Filter Flosser is an attachment for your garden hose that delivers a powerful, targeted spray designed to get deep within the pleats of your hot tub filter. This allows you to clean your filter better, in less time, and without using as much water.
Extra Filters
We always recommend keeping a spare hot tub filter around. Having a spare hot tub filter not only comes in handy if something happens to your main filter, it also helps to keep your hot tub filters working at maximum capacity.
When it comes time to chemically clean the filter that’s in the hot tub, you can then put your spare in the hot tub. This allows your original filter to fully dry, which resets and tightens its fibres; improving its filtering ability. When it’s time to clean your spare filter, you can then swap in the original filter and let the spare dry.
Oil Absorbing Sponges
Oil absorbing sponges have a simple job; absorbing oils and lotions that build up on the waterline of most hot tubs. The oils and lotions are responsible for foamy water, water line buildup on the shell of the hot tub and can cause changes in pH that make the water harder to keep balanced.
To remove these oils and lotions simply add the sponge to the water when you’re not using it. The unique molecular structure of these sponges will then absorb and trap the oils and lotions on the surface of the water.
Floating Insulating Covers
While most modern hot tubs are fairly well insulated, no hot tub is perfect. One of the biggest sources of heat loss in most hot tubs is through the cover, especially if the cover is more than a couple of years old.
The best way to reduce this heat loss and improve the energy efficiency of your hot tub is with a floating thermal cover. These insulating covers sit on top of the hot tub water to provide an added layer of insulation; greatly reduce the amount of heat that is allowed to escape the water through the cover.
Spa Caps
Spa caps are covers made of a tough woven polyethylene that fit over your standard hot tub cover. They are designed to protect your hot tub covers from the elements; especially snow and ice in the winter. There are two major benefits to using spa caps:
- The added protection they provide will extend the life of your hot tub cover.
- They make removing snow and ice buildup on your hot tub quick and easy.
Mobile App Controls
Our last essential hot tub accessory is also one of the newer ones available; mobile app control systems. Most major hot tub brands now allow for their hot tubs to be fitted with control systems that can be run from a mobile phone app. Hydropool Hot Tubs, for example, are all able to be fitted with the iCommand system. This system allows you to fully control your hot tub from your phone, including:
- Operating the hot tub jets and lights.
- Setting the water temperature for your hot tub.
- Programming your filtration and enable/disable economy mode.
- Displaying alerts if there is a problem with your hot tub.
Wrapping Up
There many great hot tub accessories available that can help improve anyone’s hot tubbing experience. Whether you want to make your hot tub safer, easier to use, easier to maintain, or more energy efficient there are at least a couple of accessories here that can help get you where you want to go!
