DIY hot tub

September 7, 2009 1:20 PM

Can a hot tub/ soaking tub be made from one of these?

I was interested in a portable Softub for my yard but thought a DIY plan might be a lot less expensive. Using the Rubbermaid tank with the Softub filter/heater would seem to work.

posted by boby to home & garden (8 comments total)

Yes. Apparently, it is the "unofficial soaking tub of the NFL."

Here's an account of an installation using the 100 gallon model. (PDF)
posted by beagle at 1:33 PM on September 7

I was curious to know what a "stock tank" was, so I googled and found this helpful guide on using them as soaking tubs.
posted by orme at 1:57 PM on September 7

Yes, we've got one hooked up to a Chofu wood-fired hot tub heater. We burn scrap lumber in it, so it's very cheap to operate. Works great.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 2:30 PM on September 7

Yes! I can attest to the awesomeness of rabbitrabbits cowboy hot tub!
posted by vespabelle at 3:05 PM on September 7

not to derail the original question, but would rabbitrabbit's tub be able to withstand Canadian winters? I wouldn't mind having something like that at my cottage but am not sure if it could handle being used during the winter (especially when only being fired up on weekends).
posted by smcniven at 3:15 PM on September 7

Well, I will say that orme's link is a very, very rough estimate of how long it will take to heat. I just popped out of the tub to come back to mention that.

We have the 300-gallon version of this stock tank. Friday it took two hours to heat -- we had tubbed the night before, and Friday was mild here in Oregon, so the water temp before we started the fire was around 75F or so.

Yesterday we drained and re-filled the tub, so we started with water that was 60 degrees F. It took four hours to get to 105F last night. (Though Mr. Rabbit also discovered this morning that the chimney cap was clogged, so that may have had something to do with it.)

I think it would work fine in cold winters --those tanks are made to withstand pretty extreme temperatures -- but it might take a while to heat up.

But! Once it does heat up: bliss.

Going back outside to soak some more...
posted by rabbitrabbit at 3:41 PM on September 7

Hot tubs are a very common thing for people to sell cheap or give away, at least around here. They're rather difficult to get rid of. You may consider trolling Craigslist for a while, and then renting a truck and a few friends. Less work, more time.
posted by RikiTikiTavi at 10:15 AM on September 8

This is what I was looking for! Thanks orme.
I was searching Google for DIY hot tub.
Filling a 220 gallon tank with fresh tap water is cheaper and easier than balancing chemicals all the time.
Thanks for all the information.
posted by boby at 1:31 PM on September 8