What's the Best Hot Tub

Author Topic: Best Floor Mats For Inflatable Hot Tub Insulation  (Read 9268 times)

rallyhottubs

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Best Floor Mats For Inflatable Hot Tub Insulation
« on: January 16, 2017, 09:17:32 pm »
Hi everyone!

My name is Mike, and I have, within the last 1 week, started a hot tub rental business and this is my first post. I actually work in web development, but I was recently researching niches to target for website upgrades and SEO and came across Hot Tubs, which turned out to be an interesting market.

I discovered that people were renting the Lay Z Spa hot tubs for about a quarter of their value per weekend! I thought that warranted a closer look. Anyway, so did the numbers and thought I may as well. I could do it in my spare time, deliveries and collections on an evening; and for marketing, with my background, I can see it looking fairly straightforward to reach good rankings on Google.

I just thought I would introduce myself and give a little background as I expect to be around this forum quite a lot over the coming months.

I understand these forums are for providing helpful advice as well as receiving, unfortunately my hot tub knowledge is somewhat lacking at the moment! So I apologise for that. However, I am very willing to offer any advice I can, related to web design and online marketing. If you have any questions, just let me know.

On to my question finally...

What are the best floor mats to use for insulation under Inflatable Hot Tubs? I understand losing water temperature is an issue for these tubs, so any experience with certain materials or composition, as well as actual products would be great!

Thanks a lot!
Mike

If you are interested at all in having a look at the website, here it is - https://rallyhottubs.com/hire-middlesbrough (not quite finished, but only a few more days and it will be good to go)

Hot Tub Forum

Best Floor Mats For Inflatable Hot Tub Insulation
« on: January 16, 2017, 09:17:32 pm »

BullFrogSpasMN

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Re: Best Floor Mats For Inflatable Hot Tub Insulation
« Reply #1 on: January 17, 2017, 12:42:28 pm »
Wow, hot tub rentals bring back memories, I man handled soft sided tubs along with a big insulated water tank on a flat-bed truck all over the state about 15 years ago as one of my first jobs in the industry...good times!

anyways as far as a portable base is concerned you could check out: http://ezpads.com/ which is a portable hot tub base that breaks down into 4 sections when utilizing the 8' x 8' size.  As far as I know that is the closest thing to what you are describing that can be purchased "off the shelf" (not sure if they ship to Europe or not) without building something custom or simply using a heavy duty rug or other type of mat....maybe someone else has other ideas?

 

Dr. Spa™ Ret.

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Re: Best Floor Mats For Inflatable Hot Tub Insulation
« Reply #2 on: January 18, 2017, 03:17:41 pm »
I've been contemplating a hot tub rental business for years. Problem is, liability. Talked to a number of attorneys and they all say the same thing. "Carry a liability policy of AT LEAST five million dollars.....and good luck trying to find an insurance company that will write a policy".

FYI, this is a very different business, liability wise,  than a brick & mortar rental business.
If you can't sell it on eBay, it may not even qualify as landfill.

Retired (mostly) from the industry after 33 years...but still putzing around with a consumer information website, and trying to sell obsolete owners manuals

Tman122

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Re: Best Floor Mats For Inflatable Hot Tub Insulation
« Reply #3 on: January 19, 2017, 06:24:56 am »
Why do you care that it is insulated under the tub? Your not paying the electric bill. And that's the problem we have. Most people don't have the power requirement available where the tub is in the driveway/garage/back yard. Leaving it on a trailer solves your problem.
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rallyhottubs

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Re: Best Floor Mats For Inflatable Hot Tub Insulation
« Reply #4 on: January 19, 2017, 06:41:40 am »
I forgot to say that I am based in the UK so I think the problems we run into might be a little different to those in the US.

Thanks Bull Frog! They look pretty good. Maybe a little expensive, with the tubs costing about the same but it's what I'm looking for. They don't mention delivery overseas but could probably be arranged.

Dr Spa - that's a good point, however I think things are a little different in the UK. We can pick up comprehensive public liability (accident/injury for the user including death!) for around £190 for the year. Which is pretty good! This might be due to our free health care.

Tman - I've heard that these lose quite a lot of heat through the base, so it's good to have a thick floor mat to keep the water temperature at a comfortable level. Trust me we need it over here! Especially in the north. And we have power sockets everywhere in homes in the UK so can easily use an extension lead to get power anywhere.

BullFrogSpasMN

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Re: Best Floor Mats For Inflatable Hot Tub Insulation
« Reply #5 on: January 19, 2017, 12:31:20 pm »
I forgot to say that I am based in the UK so I think the problems we run into might be a little different to those in the US.

Thanks Bull Frog! They look pretty good. Maybe a little expensive, with the tubs costing about the same but it's what I'm looking for. They don't mention delivery overseas but could probably be arranged.

Dr Spa - that's a good point, however I think things are a little different in the UK. We can pick up comprehensive public liability (accident/injury for the user including death!) for around £190 for the year. Which is pretty good! This might be due to our free health care.

Tman - I've heard that these lose quite a lot of heat through the base, so it's good to have a thick floor mat to keep the water temperature at a comfortable level. Trust me we need it over here! Especially in the north. And we have power sockets everywhere in homes in the UK so can easily use an extension lead to get power anywhere.

it's good your insurance is cheap.....rental hot tub, water, booze/liquor & extension cords..what could go wrong? lol

mpkelley20

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Re: Best Floor Mats For Inflatable Hot Tub Insulation
« Reply #6 on: January 19, 2017, 03:45:44 pm »
Curious how the maintenance works on these tubs when they are being moved around so much.  I had a Lay-Z-Boy inflatable before I bought my Marquis and I found that anytime I moved the pump (put away for the season or cleaning tub) I would have to take the darn thing apart to fix something that shifted.  Was not well made but thankfully the setup under the hood was fairly basic.  I know my issue was not a one off as I read many complaints about people having issues with pumps where the heater went or some other issue that would cause the circuit to constantly trip.  Hopefully they have improved.

With that said, for the price of these things, they aren't half bad when using in warmer climates.  Not so great in winter months here in the Northeast!

Tman122

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Re: Best Floor Mats For Inflatable Hot Tub Insulation
« Reply #7 on: January 19, 2017, 06:18:35 pm »
I'm only saying leave it on a trailer because that's what I have seen. Back a trailer in with the tub on it, complete with railing all the way around, made of steel. Set the steps. Even bring it partialy full, finish filling and start heating. Collect from the rental and dump the water right there and on the way back to the shop the next day or 2. Clean, partially refill before you leave for the next one. 3-4 hundred a night, 40-60 nights a year. Bingo Bango 17,500 bucks. Make it last for a few years. Buy a big ole 110V Calspa. It is self sustaining for a low overhead out of the garage kinda guy.

That was the business plan. Problem came when a dedicated 20 amp circuit was required. Limiting the market. Guys started putting gen sets on them and using 220V tubs for faster heating and better maintaining heat. Had a buddy who had 2 of them with generators. He used big Tiger River tubs. Helped him set up a few times. Then theres other issues. And the insurance thing. But the insurance wasn't that bad. Homeowners policies can do riders also if I remember correctly. Thats likely a state by state insurance company by insurance company deal. My buddy required the homeowners to get insurance and sign an anti indemnify deal. Which likely meant nothing.
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Hot Tub Forum

Re: Best Floor Mats For Inflatable Hot Tub Insulation
« Reply #7 on: January 19, 2017, 06:18:35 pm »

 

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