Inflatable hot tubs have become increasingly popular in recent years, with loads of people discovering the therapeutic joys of a relaxing soak after a long day. Still, not everybody has a massive garden or the appropriate facilities to install a hot tub properly outside.
If you’re dead set on picking up your own inflatable spa, but your garden isn’t up to scratch, or you haven’t got any outdoor space, you may have asked the question; can inflatable hot tubs be used indoors?
You’ll be pleased to know that the answer is, for the most part, yes!
But there are a few considerations that you’ll have to make and you should always follow the inflatable hot tub instructions for safety.
Can You Put An Inflatable Hot Tub Indoors?
First, let’s talk about why you might consider having a hot tub installed inside your home. Though it’s not the most obvious place to set these things up, there are actually many benefits to doing so!
More private
Most of us live in built-up areas, which is great for fostering a sense of community or borrowing some milk when the shops are shut, but it can be a pain when we want a little privacy in our backyards!
Even if it’s unintentional, your garden can probably be seen from the upper floors of neighbouring properties, and you just don’t know who might be overseeing your daily dips. Still, with your hot tub indoors, you can be confident that your soaks will be completely private.
You don’t need to worry about the weather.
Outdoor hot tubs are great during those perfect days when the air is still, the sun is out, and the temperature is just right, but it only takes the rain clouds rolling in or a cold front on the horizon for your relaxing afternoon to take a nosedive!
With your inflatable hot tub indoors, none of this will be an issue, so you won’t be playing catch up with your spa’s heater or constantly checking the weather forecast to book a slot for a little bubble action.
Convenience
In our opinion, the best reason to set up your inflatable hot tub inside is simply that it’s far more convenient to make use of your spa if you do!
Drinks and snacks will always just be a room or two away; you can be in the shower within a minute after your dips, you’re always going to have a power source nearby and, provided you have good ventilation, you can enjoy your dips year-round.
Using your inflatable hot tub indoors is also much safer at night as your house lights can be switched on to see where you’re walking, and you won’t risk catching a cold when you leave the tub as you’re protected from the chilly nighttime air.
Indoor Hot Tub Ideas
Living Room
Your living room might be the most obvious space to set up an indoor hot tub. Chances are you’ll spend most of your relaxation time here anyway, so you’ll have access to a TV, stereo, enough space, and a power source and you’ll be in the heart of your home.
The problem here is if your living room has carpeted floors, or is filled with fabric materials like curtains and sofas, as the increased humidity brought about by the evaporating water and pool chemicals can quickly cause mould and mildew to take hold, even with good ventilation.
Garage
The garage might be a better shout! It’s safe to assume your garage floor will be sturdy enough to hold the weight of a filled hot tub, which can easily reach over 2000kg, and will have enough ventilation to ensure the steam and chemical vapours from your spa can safely dissipate.
You’ll need to make sure that your garage floor is on a level surface, though, and that it’s free from any sharp objects that could puncture your inflatable hot tub.
Putting inflatable hot tubs in summerhouses and large sheds are good options and are also popular for indoor spas, even sometimes housing permanent acrylic hot tub models.
Can you put a hot tub in the basement?
Similarly to garages, most basements will likely have a strong enough floor to hold a full inflatable hot tub safely, but again you’ll need to make sure that the floor surface is level and free from any sharp objects that may cause a puncture!
Basements are notorious for having mould and damp issues, so you should check for adequate ventilation and remove any fabric furnishings that could become a breeding ground for harmful organisms and nasty smells.
You’ll also want to consider how you’ll empty your spa if your basement doesn’t have its own floor drain.
Conservatory
If you’re lucky enough to have a conservatory, this might be an ideal space to set up an inflatable hot tub indoors.
Conservatories warm up fast thanks to their glass windows, helping to reduce how much you spend heating the water. It will be next to the garden, so you’ll have adequate drainage capabilities when it comes to emptying and refilling your inflatable hot tub!
Provided that your conservatory has a floor that can support a heavy load and windows or ventilation ports to help with the condensation caused by the warm water, we reckon it’s a pretty good halfway point between an indoor and outdoor spa set-up!
Top tip (put some old towels under the unit to absorb any excess water from wet bathers and stop the surrounding area from becoming slippery)
Apartment
If you live in an apartment complex or any rented property, it can be trickier to set up an inflatable spa indoors. Not only will you need to find a room with a sturdy floor, good ventilation and minimal carpeted or fabric furnishings, but you’ll also need to get permission from your landlord before setting your hot tub up as it may affect his insurance cover!
Even if you do manage to persuade your landlord to let you pop an inflatable hot tub indoors, you’ll need to think about how to safely drain the dirty water with no access to an outdoor drain, which is doable using your bathroom or kitchen sink, but isn’t ideal and maybe more effort than it’s worth!
Problems with Hot Tubs Indoors
So, can inflatable hot tubs be used indoors? Yes!
How do we safely run indoor hot tubs? Let’s find out!
1 – Indoor hot tub ventilation
The number one consideration has to be good ventilation. Without an extractor fan or strong airflow to the outside world, the humid air rising from your inflatable spa will quickly turn into condensation and, in turn, cause dampness, mould and mildew to take hold of your home!
The steam rising from your hot tub will also carry excess chemicals from the hot tub water into the air, which can be harmful to your health if inhaled. If you are popping a hot tub indoors, make sure to provide adequate ventilation in the form of an extractor fan, ventilation shafts, or large open windows.
2 – A room able to handle moisture
Even with decent ventilation and good airflow, the room where you place your inflatable hot tub will likely catch some moisture in the air as it evaporates from your spa.
Room Ideas
The best way to avoid this becoming an issue is to choose a room with a hard floor, no carpeted or fabric-covered surfaces and moisture-proof drywall. However, installing a powerful dehumidifier can also help, working together with a decent ventilation system to prevent excess moisture from becoming a big issue!
3 – Flooring able to take a heavyweight
Even smaller inflatable hot tubs can be surprisingly heavy when filled with water, reaching upwards of 2000Kg! This isn’t a problem outside, where there’s nothing to give way beneath your spa, but with your hot tub indoors, you’ll need to check that the floor can safely hold such a heavyweight.
We recommend that you avoid installing a portable hot tub on the second floor of your house, as it’s unlikely that the structure is designed to hold such a heavy load.
Instead, pop your spa in a ground floor room, preferably on a non-slip hard wooden floor or a concrete surface. Remember, you can always consult a building inspector or licensed contractor if you’re unsure whether your floor is sturdy enough!
4 – A water supply
It shouldn’t come as a surprise, but your inflatable hot tub must be filled with water before you can get any use out of it! This isn’t just a one-and-done job, either. You’ll need to replace the water once every three months to ensure it’s clean, free from debris and not over-saturated with cleaning chemicals.
You don’t want to be ferrying jugs of water around your home whenever you need to refill your inflatable tub. You can easily damage your floors or create a slipping hazard, so installing the thing as close to a water supply makes sense.
Suppose you’ve got an outdoor tap that can be connected to a hose and run through to your inflatable tub. In that case, this will be ideal for you to easily fill the unit, or you could try using your kitchen or bathroom water supplies if you have a hose attachment to pop onto the tap!
5 – Suitable drainage
Similarly, to fill up your inflatable hot tub, you’ll need to have installed it in a room with access to proper drainage so you can empty it every 3-6 months without causing a flood of dirty water inside your home!
Most inflatable hot tubs will have an outlet valve or drain plug towards the shell’s base. From here, you can attach a regular garden hose which can be directed towards an appropriate drain.
It’s best to use an outdoor drain for this, as the chemicals in the water should be kept away from any food preparation areas or indoor plumbing that isn’t designed to accommodate the chemically saturated hot tub water.
6 – Power supply and electrics
Of course, you’ll need to hook your indoor inflatable hot tub up to a power supply to make use of the heater, the bubble jets and any other features that require electricity to work.
Most manufacturers recommend avoiding using an extension cord with portable hot tubs, as they can cause voltage drops (A voltage drop happens when the current meets resistance) and overheating. Both of which can damage the hot tub’s pump and internal components and increase the risk of electrocution or fire!
With this in mind, check how long the supplied power cable for your hot tub is, and make sure that the space you’re setting up the spa in has an outlet that’s within reach of the cable, though far enough away to be shielded from any water spillage or water dripping outside of the hot tub!
7 – Odourless hot tub chemicals
Most hot tubs rely on Chlorine as a sanitiser to keep the water quality on point and free from nasty bacteria and other organic contaminants. Though a properly sanitised hot tub isn’t overly smelly, a distinct chlorine odour will be amplified when your hot tub is installed indoors.
To avoid the build-up of a strong chlorine smell, many people choose to use Bromine or other relatively odourless sanitisers instead, as these chemicals do not produce such a distinct pong and work just as well as Chlorine when treating hot tub water. This page lists the best chlorine granules for a hot tub.
If you do decide to use Bromine or any other odourless chemical in your inflatable hot tub, and you’d previously used chlorine, be sure to fully drain and clean the spa before adding your first batch to the water to avoid the chemicals mixing!
Where Is The Best Place To Put A Hot Tub?
So, now we know that it’s more than possible to set up an inflatable hot tub inside the house. Are there any better locations we could consider?
Garden
Most inflatable hot tubs and many permanent fixed spas will commonly be installed in the garden. There’s ample ventilation so that you won’t notice any smelly excess sanitiser, and it’s easy to drain and refill using your home’s outside tap.
You won’t need to worry about water splashing around outside the hot tub causing a slip hazard, and there’s no risk of damaging the floor as there’s nothing to give way beneath the solid ground.
The only problem with an outdoor hot tub is that it’s weather dependent, with some inflatable hot tubs being rendered useless once the temperatures start to plummet towards 0 degrees! Even in warmer months, the water temperature may take a few hours to reach its maximum of 40 degrees.
Decking
You should be very careful when choosing deck support the for hot tub. Not only can the weight of a full inflatable hot tub be far greater than what the average wooden deck can hold, but the vibrations from the pump will also be amplified massively by the raised surface, making an absolute racket that your neighbours won’t be fans of!
Grass
It’s possible to place an inflatable hot tub on a large enough patch of grass, but you should ensure that the area is level and use an overhead shelter to protect the pump from rainfall and adverse weather.
If you are popping your inflatable hot tub on a grassy area, just be aware that the blades beneath the hot tub will die. You will be trailing debris into the water every time you step in, meaning more maintenance and the area surrounding the tub will become muddy, so this is a temporary solution at best.
Many people ask us, can you put an inflatable hot tub on artificial grass? The answer is yes and although it’s better than normal grass, there are still far many better options out there that offer greater stability.
Patio
A level and solid patio is probably the best place to put an inflatable hot tub, especially if you have a sheltered canopy above the spa and the patio is near to your house. This guide walks through the key points of installing inflatable hot tubs on pavers.
In a spot like this, you’ll have direct access to your home’s water and power supplies, your hot tub will be sheltered from the wind, you won’t risk a long and chilly walk back indoors during the winter and the surface will be sturdy enough to hold the weight of a hot tub full of water.
The only real problem with this setup is that the noise of the tub pump will likely be heard throughout your house, so it’s not ideal if your bedrooms are facing the garden!
Last Word
So, can inflatable hot tubs be used indoors? Yes, they absolutely can!
To use an indoor tub safely, you’ll just have to ensure that the space you’ve chosen has sturdy floors that can hold the weight of a filled hot tub, has ample ventilation, and is close enough to a power supply, water and an appropriate drain.
You can also view all the other safety precautions you should follow when using a hot tub. These include correct temperature, showering before use and testing the water just to name a few.
You’ll need to consider whether the space is suited to a humid environment, with limited carpets and fabric furnishings to avoid mould and mildew problems, and you’ll want to look into odourless hot tub chemicals if you don’t want to stink out your home!
Provided that you’ve all these covered, it’s more than possible to start enjoying your inflatable hot tub in the home. You might even find that you get more use out of it now that the cold weather and rain can’t ruin your fun, just stick to the checklists in our guides and you should be enjoying your indoor hot tub in no time!
