Off-Grid Hot Tub: Luxury in the Wild or Impossible Dream?

If you’re here, then you’ve probably imagined yourself building or using an off-grid hot tub. They’re not my favourite kind of hot tub, but given the number of questions I get on them, I can understand why they’re so popular. 

After all, you get the luxury of a hot tub in a secluded, private space in nature—a dream come true. However, there might be a few caveats to it. 

Before I move on, yes, it is possible to create an off-grid hot tub. I’ll explain all the practicalities below so you know what goes into building one. Whether it’s worth it, is a question you’ll be able to figure out for yourself by the end of this article. 

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What is an Off-Grid Hot Tub?

As the name suggests, an off-grid hot tub is usually built in an area without access to electricity or gas. 

Given that it’s not connected to the main electricity supply, you can’t use a regular spa pack, more than a few jets, or an air blower in an off-grid hot tub. This is because they consume a lot of energy, and there is no portable power source with enough juice to make it work. 

This article won’t go into the nitty gritty of parts and designs. Instead, I’ll give you an overview of all the practicalities you need to look out for. 

How to Build an Off-Grid Hot Tub

Building an off-grid hot tub involves three main parts: heating, filtering, and treating. Let’s examine each of these in more detail. 

Heating

Since you can’t use a spa pack or an external heater, you have three other choices. 

Wood Burning Stove

A wood-burning stove can be a great way to quickly heat your off-grid hot tub. You can choose either the convection method or, as I prefer, use a pump to allow for circulation. This makes the tub feel less like a bath and more like filtered water. 

Solar Heating

The second option is to use solar heating. Yes, it’s going to take a couple of panels and some time, but it is definitely possible! Here’s a video and blog post I made on solar hot tub heating if you’re interested in learning more.

Portable Gas Heater

This is another convenient option. Using a portable gas heater—some people even modify them—is a lot faster for heating your off-grid hot tub. Your hot tub will be up to temperature in no time with this. 

Filtering

Of course, without the filtration, a hot tub is more like a bath. Hence, the filtration system makes a hot tub a hot tub. 

The plumbing for an off-grid hot tub is fairly simple. The diagram below shows a basic one.

You’ve got two intakes at the bottom of your hot tub, a pump that you can run via solar, a filter and two returns for water at the top. 

Now, coming to the complicated part, I recommend you do two turnovers per day. A turnover is when all the water in your hot tub has been filtered once. Two turnovers a day keep the water fresh and flowing. 

You’ll need to calculate the volume of your tub and the capacity of your pump. Accordingly, you’ll need to get a pump rated for the flow you need. You will also want to get a pump that has the lowers current draw you can find. Lower current means that juice in your battery is going to last longer.

Using a pump means that you are going to need some power. It is possible to use a small solar panel to generate enough juice to power a small circulation pump – (more than likely 12-24V) certainy enough to run through a turnover cycle and then charge up inbetwee – as long as you have enough sun, a large enough panel and a battery to store your “free electric”.

As you can begin to see, this is not as straigh forward as you may have thought.

Treating

Lastly, you need to ensure that your water is being treated properly. Treatment cleans the water so that it can be reused. In my mind, single use off grid tubs are not a good idea – i had some expereince with that and reviewed it in this article here.

In terms of chemical options, you can consider chlorine or bromine. If you want to avoid chemicals, you can consider active oxygen or non chlorine shock as it is often called.

To Build or Not to Build?

A DIY hot tub project is such a fun thing to do – you’ll pull your hair out at some point I am sure but regardless the end results are worth it.

Doing it off grid, a little more challenging – but then those that are looking for this kind of tub usually are up for the challenge.

Regarding the practicalities, you’re good to go as long as you take care of the heating, filtering, and water treatment. 

 

Can I Help You?

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Thanks - Andi

 

Hi, Andi here. I own Buildahottub.com and also write all of the articles and info pages on the site. Some years back now, I built my own hot tub but struggled to find the information I needed. So, once my tub was complete, I started this website to help others in their own pursuit of hot tub and plunge pools DIY building information.

Today, I've helped over 1000 DIY customers just like you all over the world build hot tubs and pools. Have a good look around the site, there are lots of resources here. Please do get in touch if I can help you. - Cheers, Andi