Tag: hot tubs

Health and Wellness Benefits of Owning a Swim Spa

swim spa benefits video

Besides the wellness benefits you receive from being immersed in hot water; a swim spa provides other added benefits. Swim spas allow you to strengthen muscle, improve cardiovascular health, lose weight, enjoy a massage, sleep better and spend quality time with family and friends – all in the privacy of your own home! Read below the key benefits of owning a swim spa.

Improve Fitness

Swim spas are multipurpose and can be used by all ages and fitness abilities. Most of our swim spas include free exercise equipment so not only can you swim, but you can also curl, kick, row, jog, stretch, run or walk. Unlike exercising out of water, swim spas provide resistance, which strengthens muscles and boosts cardio intensity.

Swim spas are an excellent solution for those who struggle with mobility issues as the water supports your weight, making workouts easier on joints and reducing the chance for an injury. Swim spas can provide symptom relief for conditions like arthritis and fibromyalgia.

swim spa exercises with exercise equipment

Lose Weight

Exercise, combined with a balanced diet, is crucial for anyone looking to lose weight and maintain good physical and mental health. For many, the solution is running, cycling, going to the gym, etc. But for some, a lack of confidence may hold them back. Swim spas allow you to exercise in the privacy of your own home and achieve your weight loss goals.

Ease Muscle Tension & Joint Stiffness

Swim spas are versatile – they are made for exercising with the additional benefit of seating with jets, so you can sit back and relax, just like a hot tub. Our swim spas are designed to give you a targeted massage to ease muscle tension and improve joint stiffness after your workout.

Boost Your Mood

As you exercise, endorphins are released – a feel good chemical that has been proven to counteract stress and its negative impact on your body.

Sleep Better

When you exercise in a swim spa, your body temperature slowly rises. When you get out of the spa, the cooling process begins. The drop in body temperature causes the brain to release melatonin, the sleep hormone, which helps you to feel relaxed and ready for bed.

Family Fun

A swim spa is a great resource for bringing family and friends together. You can enjoy quality family time all-year round, no matter whether it’s sunny or cold outside.

BHT Swim Spas

Ultimately, owning a swim spa can help you lead a healthier and happier lifestyle. Our BHT Swim Spa range provides for all. Whether you need a rigorous fitness routine, or a place to spend quality time with family, we’re sure we have the swim spa model for you.

Choose from our single chamber swim spas, or dual temperature swim spa & hot tub combination units. The temperature of the swim spa and hot tub can be adjusted independently so that you can exercise in cooler water and enjoy a massage in warmer water.

You can control the counter current speed with our best-selling turbine model, with up to 8 different speed settings enabling you to personalise your swim to suit your ability. This, combined with powerful levitator technology that enables your body to stay afloat when swimming, offers the ultimate swim experience.

We offer everything from wet tests (try before you buy), site surveys, landscaping, decking, crane quotes and after-care to help you every step of the way throughout your spa journey.

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Are Inflatable Hot Tubs Worth It?

Thinking about buying a Hot Tub? Considering starting with an inflatable spa? Read our latest blog post and weigh up the pros and cons to inflatable hot tubs, and whether they’re worth the investment.

Considering starting with an inflatable spa? Not sure where to start? Read our latest blog on whether inflatable hot tubs are worth the investment.

You only have to look at the queues outside Costco, Argos and B&Q on a sunny day to understand that people go mad for a cheap inflatable hot tub. We often get people coming into store asking about them – while we don’t stock them, that’s not to say they’re a good idea for some! Today we’re talking about the pros and cons to investing in an inflatable hot tub.

Pluses and Positives:

  1. The blow-up hot tubs are a great way of finding out if you’re going to use a hot tub. You can usually pick up a cheap inflatable Hot Tub for around £300, which is a much smaller investment than a hard-shell hot tub!
  2. Because they are inexpensive to buy and conveniently plug into a standard U.K. socket, you can literally buy one in a box, pump it up with the air blower supplied and be in hot water on the same day. No lengthy lead times, no electrician, no hassle! You’ll also use way less electricity than a traditional 32 Amp traditional Hot Tub, saving you money in running costs.
  3. If you’re persuaded to splash out on the real deal at some point in the future, you’ll be better prepared for knowing what type of hot tub you prefer. You’ll also have knowledge on water chemistry and all of the other chores and challenges which are associated with hot tub ownership.
  4. Your garden will become a party-zone and you’ll have friends (some which you’d forgotten about) turn up at your house with their bathing costume! It’s a great (and relatively inexpensive) way of reconnecting with family and friends, and of course making use of your garden, which may otherwise have only been used for drying the laundry!
  5. If your garden resembles more of a postage stamp than a country estate, you might not want a hot tub taking up precious space all year-round. Inflatable hot tubs can easily be emptied, deflated and put away until you’re ready to use it again! The bonus to being easily stored is that you can take it with you – whether you’re moving to a new house or fancy a soak at your holiday home, providing you have a water supply and electrical outlet, your inflatable hot tub can deliver!

Downsides and the liabilities:

  1. You’ll have to regularly change the water – every 2 weeks if in daily use! The filter is very, very basic in inflatable hot tubs; not what you want when they’re responsible for collecting everything which comes off our body and keeping the water clear! The filters are disposable and don’t last long (perhaps a month) – although they’re usually only a tenner online.
  2. It can get expensive to run as there’s no insulation to keep the water hot – usually only a lid and perhaps a ground sheet. While in the height of Summer this may not be a problem, but if you use your Hot Tub when the weather is a little cooler (or early morning/late evening), this could become expensive.
  3. There’s no built-in or in-line purification system to keep the water clean and neutralise bacteria and water-borne germs – just a floating dispenser. This must be loaded manually with chlorine or bromine tablets and left bobbing around in the spa, meaning that you’ll use lots of chemicals and without lots of bromine/chlorine the result will be dirty. Chlorine and Bromine are bleaches, meaning that lots of chemicals will deteriorate of the insides of the blow-up spa, which cannot be avoided! The deterioration weakens the material, leaving it prone to rips and tears; these rips and tears won’t be covered under the guarantee and it’s very difficult to repair as the puncture repair material won’t stick to the now chemically-scoured sides of the spa. As an additional bonus (that was sarcasm) the blower and heater will also pack up!
  4. While you usually get a 12-month guarantee, the lifespan of an inflatable spa is around 2 Summers use (if you’re lucky!) after which it will likely need replacing. This is also a major issue, as they are not recyclable – meaning when it inevitably breaks and you throw it out, it will sit just sit in a landfill forever! We are firm believers in environmental sustainability, so while hard shell hot tubs are also hard to recycle, a good quality model will last upwards of 10 years, lessening the need to be replaced and reducing waste!
  5. Inflatable hot tubs only have an air blower to create the bubbles, so there is no hydrotherapy – just air! The trouble with these types of jets is you cannot control the temperature as it will be the same as the ambient surrounding air temperature. So, on a colder day, the air will cool the water dramatically.
  6. You won’t be able to use the spa during the winter. Most blow-up spa manufacturers advise against using their hot tub in temperatures lower than 10 ° Celsius since in the winter, the heater cannot warm the water as fast as the air temperature cools the water. If you’re determined to use an inflatable Hot Tub through the winter, a great idea is to set your blow-up spa in a cabin, which will help to keep it relatively warm.
  7. There’s no seats in the blow-up spas, so when you’re in it, you’re sitting on the floor at garden or deck level. But hey, so is everyone else in your spa and if you’ve all got a drink – who cares?

Inflatable hot tubs merits and can be a great starting point for someone dipping their toe (pun intended) into the world of hot tub ownership. That said, they are not a long-term investment, and while they’re relatively cheap to buy initially, you may pay the price later down the line!

If you want more information on where to start with a hard-shell hot tub, feel free to contact us or download our FREE Buyer’s Guide to start your journey to Hot Tub ownership.