Hot Tub Specifications: Your Complete Guide to the Size, Shape and Weight of Hot Tubs

If you’ve made the decision to purchase a hot tub, now comes the planning phase. You’ll need to choose a location for your new spa, think about the type of foundation you’ll need to support the tub and its occupants while keeping in mind other factors such as an electrical source and environmental conditions.  

That means size, weight and shape matter a lot. We can’t tell you how many times someone has said to us at our Hydropool retail outlets: “I have to go home to measure.” Proper sizing and fit is a crucial part of any hot tub purchase: We entirely understand that.

Here’s our quick guide to size, shapes and weights:

• Hot tubs are an incredibly heavy item and need proper support. As an example, a 450 gallon, 6-8 seater hot tub can easily reach over 5,500 pounds once filled with water and bathers. 
• Hot tubs are not very big, especially when compared to swim spas or swimming pools. 80x80 inches is a popular size, for example and around 37” is a common hot tub height. Since they are made for lounging and not movement, hot tubs are small and fit into backyards.
• Hot tubs come mostly in one shape: The rectangle. The rectangle include squares (you may remember from school that all squares are rectangles but all rectangles are not squares). There are some triangles and some round models left and you may even find a heart or two. But for the most part you’re looking at rectangular variations.  

In this article we will go over hot tub specifications. That will include:

• Hot tub weight
• Hot tub sizes
• Hot tub shapes
• A few tips and tricks on sizes that come in handy, such as how much space you need to deliver a hot tub and how much space you need to leave around it for a successful installation

By the end, you’ll know exactly you’re dealing with when it comes to buying a hot tub.

 

 

 

How Much Do Hot Tubs Weigh?

Here’s a weight range for Hydropool hot tubs, filled with water:

• Our smallest: About 2400 lbs for our Signature 379 Gold, a three-person unit.  
• Our midpoint: About 3000 lbs for our Signature 579 Gold, one of our five-person units.
• Our largest: About 4100 lbs for our Signature 799 Platinum, one of our eight-person units.

But that isn’t the whole story. You need to add a little bit more to any calculation: Yourself and your family, for example.

To calculate the weight of the hot tub you should add the tub’s dry weight to the amount of water it can hold, (1 litre of water weighs 1 kilogram or 2.2 pounds) and add an average weight of 185 pounds per occupant.  

This will give you the total weight of the tub which you can divide by the size of the tub in square feet giving you a number in pounds per square feet (you can calculate the metric as well for kilograms per square meter: for metric measurements of each Hydropool hot tub, just follow the links, above).

Either way, this is the load that your surface must support. A structural engineer can help with deck or concrete pad designs to ensure they can withstand the load (a local retailer can put you in touch with one).

No matter what, you’ll need a stable, level surface for your hot tub. A concrete slab would be ideal, although a lot of people like to place their hot tub on a deck. You might want to consider locating the hot tub on a concrete slab and building a deck around the tub itself.  

What Are Standard Hot Tub Sizes?

The most popular hot tub that we sell at Hydropool is the Signature 579 Gold. It is an 80” x 80” square. You can grow bigger or smaller than that though:

• Smaller is 65” x 85”, for our smallest three-person model.
• Larger goes up to 90” x 90”, for our largest eight-person model.
• Other models at other companies follow a similar range, although you can find hot tubs for as small as one person and for as many as ten.
• Anything bigger than that though and you’re into the swim spa market.

Hot tubs range in heights as well. The popular Signature 579 is 37” high. Anything from 30”- 40” is the normal range for hot tub heights. Shorter hot tubs are meant to get in hard-to-access areas like basements or condos. You want to make sure any tub is deep enough that your body soaks, but not so deep that your nose or mouth is under the water.

What Are Standard Hot Tub Shapes?

Rectangles, including squares, with a few circles and triangles thrown in are standard hot tub shapes. Oh and there are a few diehards out there still building heart-shaped models for the romantics (Hydropool, with its heart of stone, does not: People just don’t buy them anymore)!

How Much Space Do I Need for My Hot Tub?

One factor you’ll need to consider before all others is whether you’ll be able to get the hot tub from the curb to the area you want to set the hot tub.  

You don’t want to have to dismantle your house in a fit of panic when the hot tub arrives in your driveway. Knowing beforehand that there’s a clear path to your ideal location will prevent frustration and rash decisions.  

You need at least 40” of width and eight feet of height to get most hot tubs in place. 

Other factors to consider when choosing a location would be having enough space to uncover the hot tub, ease of access from the house, room for furniture and accessories and having enough space for foot traffic around the tub. You’ll also want to think about privacy issues, weather conditions such as access to sun or shade, the location of leaf shedding trees and the tub’s orientation to take in the best view.

Leaving Sufficient Space for Hot Tub Servicing

Building a deck around your hot tub is a way to cover up a concrete base. That gives you the best possible base and the best possible landscaping. This Hydropool Serenity showcases this approach.

You’ll need to make sure the hot tub’s motor and pump are easily accessible for servicing and maintenance. If you’re planning on building a deck around the hot tub, this is something to keep in mind. A simple access door or hatch can solve this problem or you may want to keep an open area to allow for any maintenance to be performed. You’ll need to leave two to three feet around the entire hot tub so that any side can be accessed down the road for servicing.

What Are the Key Hot Tub Specifications?

The key elements are height, weight and shape.

• Your hot tub needs to be properly supported.
• It needs to be deep enough for you to sit in and get a good soak but not so deep that it’s over your face.
• It needs to be in a shape that fits where you want to install it.

Measuring properly and ensuring you have a strong enough base to support your hot tub is key to any purchase. You also need to allow sufficient room for your hot tub, and if you have an oddly-shaped space, you’re going to have to look for an unusually sized model.

Most hot tubs are on either side of 80x80 inches and when full they weigh thousands of pounds. They are also about 37” high.

We hope we have answered all your questions about hot tub specifications in this article, but there’s a chance you have more! If so, don’t hesitate to reach out to a local retailer.