An Affordable, Durable Hard Sided Portable Hot Tub? We Found it
By Ed
A few years ago we bought a weekend getaway property in the country. It is on a little river that is pretty to look at, catch fish in and enjoy a beverage on the dock, but it isn’t great for swimming.
We’ve been trying to come up with ways to add that ‘swimming’ element that every great vacation property should have. What we needed was a spa – a hard sided portable hot tub to be specific.
Hot tubs are a great addition to most properties. Vacation properties command higher rental rates and position your property near the top of the market. We don’t plan on renting our property out right now, but we want to add value.
Is there anything more relaxing than soaking in a hot tub under the stars?
Oh yeah and HOT TUBS ARE SUPER FUN! How did I almost miss that one?!
We had some very specific criteria for our hot tub search:
1. Affordable.
We obviously wanted to not pay too much money, so all the $10,000+ super-spas were instantly out of the running.
2. Good reputation.
There seem to be more hot tub manufacturers out there now than ever and lots of discount models. We wanted a company/tub that had been around and had positive feedback and warranty support.
3. Portable.
When our vacation property is closed for the winter, we wanted a hot tub at home to enjoy. One that is too cumbersome and heavy to move wouldn’t do that for us. And it would be cool if we didn’t have to hire a team of big dudes to move it for us.
4. Durable.
We have a dog – and while he won’t be using the Hot Tub, he may put his paws on it at some point. The idea of an inflatable hot tub (like many affordable/portable models out there) frightened us a bit a lot. We knew we needed a hard sided portable hot tub.
5. Simple and Self Contained.
We’re clever enough (or at least, we tell ourselves that), but the more straightforward installation and maintenance could be, the better.
6. Energy Efficient.
It needs to be both affordable upfront, but also on an ongoing basis.
Electricity is the way most Hot Tubs run. Electricity rates probably aren’t getting cheaper anytime soon, and it would be foolish to buy a cheap hot tub that ends up costing us in the long run on utility bills.
After hours of research, we narrowed it down to one. It looked like a hard sided portable hot tub from Canadian Spa Company -the Okanagan Portable Spa(US) – could fit our needs perfectly. But would it? (Canadian source here)
Here’s how the Okanagan Spa fits with our criteria:
- Great reviews
The Okanagan gets love everywhere, with many reviews saying things like, “great value for the price”
- It comes ready to ‘plug and play’ and we were able to pick it up in a trailer. Check out the photo!
- The Okanagan has solid, acrylic construction, making it tougher than air.
While more expensive than inflatables, the Okanagan is built like any other high-end spa and it is not going to pop – a blessing for dog owners. While we still won’t let our dog in, we won’t have to freak out if he jumps up on its side. We’ve been testing the hot tub for nearly a month now and it is tough as nails.
- Simple and fast to install/use.
The Okanagan comes ready to plug and play. We rolled it onto our little deck, unwrapped it, installed the filter and started filling it with water. The water was hot and ready to soak in by the next afternoon. And the LCD screen tells you when to check the chemical and pH levels as well as clean the filter! Perfect for those new to spa maintenance.
- Affordable.
The Okanagan costs thousands less than permanently installed, hard-sided spas.
It comes with an insulated, lockable hard-top cover that helps trap the heat in & minimize running time, as well as keep it safe from unsupervised use This should cut our operating costs substantially and make the whole thing more ‘world proof.
So those are the specs before we even tested it, but how did this hard sided portable hot tub perform in the real world?
The answer is: Very, very well.
Oh, you want specifics? Well, here goes.
Pros:
- The size is excellent.
It is the perfect size for a couple to share; Robin and I are both tall and don’t feel cramped in it.
We have actually had both of us and one of our (also tall) teenagers in it. My daughter had 4 of her medium-sized teenager friends in it too. A family of 4 with 2 young kids could easily be accommodated
- Works great.
There are 10 serious jets that work very well to create a massage feeling and circulate the water. They are spread out around the entire spa, which means no fighting over the best spot to sit.
Also – when it says “plug and play” – it really is that simple: you can use the Okanagan Portable Spa with any regular 120V/15A outlet – probably the most common one in your home.
- Tough and well made.
It really is built just like a regular, hard-sided hot tub, but just scaled to be easy to move and energy-efficient enough to run on a standard household outlet.
The filter is incredible and has actually improved the quality of the water in the Okanagan. It has both built-in lighting and an ozone generator.
Basically, all the other features you would expect from a top-end hot tub at half the price.
- Well insulated – so easy on the electricity bill.
We have time-based electricity usage costs, and we have this at our country property so we don’t want it to run all the time. In addition to the foam top and insulated hard sides, the Okanagan has a “Rest Mode” you can use to reduce how much the heater and filter run when you are not using it.
We’ve also found that since it has a smaller volume of water, it heats up really quick too, so we also dial it down a few degrees whenever we are going away.
- Replaceable/Repairable if needed.
I like to know long-term costs to fix stuff if bad things happen. The Okanagan (like all Canadian Spa Company hot tubs) comes with a great warranty to help ease your mind.
And unlike many of the new brands popping up online, Canadian Spa Company has been around for many years and offers both delivery and service options that come to you if you need them.
Cons:
- None really.
The only issue you’re likely to have is actually buying a hot tub with the current high demand in the market. But a huge manufacturer like Canadian Spa Company is almost always your best bet to get inventory to you fast. We picked the Okanagan up ourselves, but they could’ve organized delivery within a week if we needed it.
Update: Check out this post where we show how portable the Okanagan Spa actually is – plus how we made a deck for it for less than $250 and in less than 2 hours!
Any questions?
DISCLAIMER: After deciding that the Okanagan Spa would meet all our needs, we approached the company to see if they’d like to sponsor a review of the product. They agreed! (A nice bonus to being a blogger.) As always, all the opinions written are ours and we are totally honest and upfront. We respect you, our awesome readers, too much to do anything else.
Robin and Ed are a DIY-loving couple with over 25 years of design and build experience. Also, Robin is a Nutritionist and former Registered Dietitian and Ed is an award-winning Business Educator. We share strategies for living a rich life on a DIY budget: creative money-savvy ideas for a stylish home, healthy meals and family fun. Our work has been published in the pages of Do It Yourself, Farmhouse Style and Better Homes & Gardens magazines.
Portable hot tubs have come a long way in design and cost. This one looks awesome!
We used to have a cheap (>$500) inflatable hot tub by Coleman, but it was banned on Buckley Air force base,where we lived at the time, so we sold it. The only downside was that it was "two season" and the heater wouldn't run at the same time as the bubbles, so the temp would drop. Does this keep heating even when the jets are running?
Also would LOVE a protective gazebo we could build around it so it would be more fun to use in the Colorado winters, to cut the wind, and shelter from the rain, and to have patio lights on <3 We're on a shoestring budget though, has to be simple and strong. You seem to have a genius for those qualities though, so…
Just bought this unit on Ebay Canada site. Was $1649 and came with bench seating around tub. Great value, cant wait.
Hi Robin,
Really cool in-depth review. I personally have inflatable hot tub myself… I enjoy it a lot while using it. Does this hot tub is available in US?
Yes, it is. You can buy them online on Home Depot’s website as well as Canadian Spa’s online website
Awesome purchase! I have an inflatable hot tub as well and I'm telling you, it's one of the best things I ever purchased online. It's so easy to setup and very affordable too. In fact, even the most high end model is a fraction of a cost of having a Jacuzzi installed. Who says all good things must be expensive?
Totally!!! 🙂
Wow, looks awesome .. 🙂
Hi again. I left you a post a few weeks ago but I must have missed a link because I don't see it here. But I'm posting again because the purpose was to thank you – I love the spa! I use it nearly every day. While I'm here . . . Do you have any info on replacement filters? I'm hoping to find replacement filters from a different manufacturer but I don't have a model number . . . Thanks for ant help you can offer. P.S. Great website.
Lovely post
Hi i have just purchased the swift current and this is my first ever spa I really don't get if I should leave it on all the time or turn the whole thing off and just heat and filter when I want to use it. Please help I hope this makes sense.
Hi Joanne – thanks for the question.
How much your run/heat it would depend on your usage patterns and the outside temperature.
Last winter/spring when we first tested the Swift Current, we ran it every evening when electricity was cheaper to keep the temperature up. The kids (or us) were also using it practically every day too, so it needed the heat and filtration.
This past summer, it was more of a weekend thing. The outdoor temperature was also warmer, so freezing up wasn't an issue. We would run it Friday night to heat up and by Saturday, it was good to use. We would then usually switch off Sunday night after running all weekend and it was fine the following Friday to heat up again.
If anyone else has a usage pattern that works for them, post and let us know too – always interested to hear ideas.
Hi i have just purchased the swift current and this is my first ever spa I really don't get if I should leave it on all the time or turn the whole thing off and just heat and filter when I want to use it. Please help I hope this makes sense.
Okay, if you are out there Frugal Guy . . . I selected the Swift Current spa based a great deal on this review. It's filling as I type! I have searched but found nothing about the actual operation of the spa – since it's your fault I own one (I'll thank you later) would you please advise: Does the heater run without the filter pump running? How long daily do you run the filter? Thank you! Thank you, Gail
Hi Gail – I'll see if I can help. First off, Canadian Spa Co's Customer service is:1-877-347-7727 and the Swift Current Manual is here: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0709/9855/files/Swift_Current_NEW_Artwork_NA_2016.pdf?10129863873832865066.
If there is no water movement or lights on the heat unit at all – the breaker on the plug may have kicked off. Check the box on the end of power cable and make sure the breaker is reset.
If you have juice to the unit, there are two operating modes. Heat and Filter mode and Bubble jet mode. If water is coming out of the output closest to the unit, then you are both filtering and heating. If you turn the bubbles on, then it bypasses the heater/filter and just pumps air out.
As for how long I run mine – this summer we would run it at our vacation place/mobile home makeover and sometimes leave it unplugged all week. We could arrive and turn it on Friday and it would be hot enough to use by late Friday night. Last spring, I only ran the heat/Filter in the evening/night to take advantage of lower electricity prices, so filter ran a max of 12 hours a day.
Basically if you have it hot enough to use, the filter has been running while the heater is going so it likely is going to be OK. Hope this helps!
Considering leaving mine up for the winter in Ontario. When you had your tub set up in the winter did you have it under any kind of roofing or have the pump/power unit covered at all?
Hi Kristina – nope – we didn't have it covered any more than the lid and the pump/power unit was in the elements. We understand that it is designed for that – worked fine for us!
I also have one of these tubs and have been delighted with it. Didn't want to go cheap and inflatable, but couldn't justify the expense of a hard tub, this is the perfect compromise…
With regards to the 'jets', it has a skirt about 3/4 of the way down the tub which allows the bubble s out – they are not water jets in the sense of a conventional hard tub but do a pretty decent job to be honest. The 3 ports are for water filtration (in/out) and air injection for the bubbles.
I also made my own lighting system – https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9fVdqBj4aeeUzR4NHVWckhWZWs
Sadly the ropelight connector kept corroding, so I've gone with one of these instead (it's not as good, but it should last!):
GAME 4308 pool speaker/light
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/172231277044?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
Thanks commenters for clarifying the jets question – yes they are air bubbles rather than water, but we were in today working out some muscle knots from a wallpapering session yesterday and found them to be pretty good.
And thanks for sharing the DIY Lighting Mark! Our GAME unit is OK, but if you find a corrosion-resistant rope light, post and let us know. Very cool.
The Vacations time when you are with family or friends everyone needs personnel space and good amenities. And these ideas are perfect if you are affordable and needs good valuable time with your family.
Accommodation in Daylesford
You said, it has 88 jets spread out all around so no fighting over the perfect spot. How is that possible when there is no plumbing and the liner has only three ports to allow plumbing in. How do you get jets across? Confused.
It's look great! seems easy to use. I will try one. Nothing better than a hot tub, right? Thanks for sharing! Useful as always, my friend!
OMG! It looks amazing! All members in the family can have a great time together. I love this
Read this review. Purchased one from Costco UK 2 weeks ago. Absolutely fantastic.
Thanks for letting us know! We still love ours too!
How do you empty it? Is it easy to empty without flooding the garden? Hahaha
I was sure we'd drown our garden, Duane! But, we got wise and had good luck using a garden hose and siphoning the water down our driveway.
Karcher Dirty Water Pump – SDP7000
With the hose kit you can stick it down the drain or in your roof gutter, will drain the entire tub in about 30 mins tops – it's VERY impressive and no chance of flooding the garden!
Thanks for the idea – it would be nice to have other options beyond gravity to drain this fall.
Oooh, my husband would LOVE this one! We're really hopeful that we'll get to install one when we buy a new place next year – bookmarking this for our future research!!
We are really happy with it, Jenn! It's so portable – you don't need to wait 😉