Is It Worth Repairing a Hot Tub?

If you find yourself in a situation where your hot tub isn’t working properly, the most likely conclusion you’ll come to is that you’re going to need to replace it.  After all, any kind of repair is going to be ridiculously expensive and complicated, so it’s probably easier to just shell out the cash for a brand new damage-free hot tub, right?
    Realistically speaking, the best answer to that question is going to depend on what’s wrong with your hot tub.  What looks like a huge problem that is going to be expensive, could just a hypothetical $5 fix.  On the other hand, what looks like a really simple problem could turn out to be one with an expensive fix.  The only way to know for sure whether your hot tub is worth repairing or not, is to get a feel for what’s going on with it.  Here’s what you should know about repairing your hot tub.

When is your hot tub worth repairing vs replacing?
    There are three main factors to keep in mind when looking at repairing or replacing your hot tub.  These are:

• The age of the hot tub
• The quote for the repair
• How often do you use your hot tub?

Age
    No matter how careful you are in taking care of your hot tub, age does play a role.  One that is 25 years old is going to start showing its age sooner rather than later.  In most cases, a 20-year old hot tub is going to be cheaper to replace than repair.  This is mostly because you’ve gotten a great investment out of it, and als because they are made differently now, and the repairs for your old model will be expensive to source and actually fix.

The repair quote
    When you get a technician in, they'll be able to check pretty easily to see what the problem is.  Once they assess the repair needed and then estimate the cost (and labor), you’ll have the chance to see the numbers.  When you get them, budget to the highest even number and then use that as your  goalpost.  If a new hot tub is significantly higher than that (including installation fees), it is probably worthwhile to do the repair.  If they’re about even, however, a new one may be a good idea, especially when factoring in the energy efficiency of the newer options.

Frequency of use
    The last thing to think about is how you use your hot tub.  Those who use it several times a week are going to find that it is much more worthwhile to them than those who use it sporadically.  This is often a personal choice and the quote can help factor into this, too, as it is still something to budget for, regardless of what choice you make.

    Regardless of what you decide on repairing versus replacing, the most important thing is going to be getting an experienced hot tub repair specialist into your space to see just what’s going on and how bad the damage is.  From there, you can use those criteria to help you decide what the right approach is for you and your hot tub budget needs!