Hot Tubs

Seven tubs, $3,790 to $9,320, median $5,990 — and four of them run hot or cold, which is the decision this page is really about.

Hot only, or both

Three are wood-burning hot tubs: you light a stove, it heats the water, and that is what it does. The other four are immersion tubs with temperature control that will hold cold as readily as hot, so one tub covers both a soak and a plunge. Those four also appear on cold plunge, because they genuinely belong in both.

What each one asks of you

A wood-burning tub needs no electricity and no plumbing, but it needs fuel, a flue and forty minutes of lead time before you get in. A temperature-controlled tub needs a circuit and gives you the water at the temperature you set, on demand. Neither is better; they are different routines, and the running cost sits in different places.

Delivery

These ship freight and need clear access and a base that carries the filled weight — water is roughly eight and a third pounds a gallon and these hold hundreds. Free shipping to the lower 48, no minimum, and it stops at the curb — the crate is left at the end of your driveway. Getting it inside is a $600 white-glove upgrade. Getting it inside and assembled is $1,800, which covers everything except electrical work: we recommend you hire a local electrician for that, because the wiring has to meet your local code and pass local inspection. Service fees are non-refundable: if the sauna goes back, the installation does not.