Who doesn’t love a spa day? You enter full of stress and tension, enjoy a few hours of rest, relaxation and pampering and leave revitalised and without a worry in the world. Having a hot tub (or lay z spa) installed at your house means you can enjoy that feeling, every day, from the comfort of your own home. So, the question is, what kind of hot tub will you choose, and where will you choose to put it?
Benefits of adding a hot tub to your home
Stargazing whilst enjoying a late night dip. Unwinding after a long day at work. Incorporating your hot tub into your exercise regime. There are so many ways to enjoy your hot tub, and, we’re pleased to say, so many benefits, so there’s no need to feel guilty about treating yourself!
Rest and recovery
The warm water in your hot tub is an excellent aid in the rest and recovery process, whether it be post exercise, post injury or simply part of your daily routine. Hydrotherapy is a recognised form of alternative medicine, occupational therapy and physiotherapy and can be used for the treatment and relief of conditions including arthritis, fibromyalgia and other rheumatic complaints.*
Just like a hot bath, a dip in your hot tub can also help to relieve muscular tension and pain, improve circulation and clean out the lactic acid build up through anaerobic respiration (when not enough oxygen reaches the muscles during vigorous exercise).
*If your intention is to use your hot tub for medicinal purposes we would recommend speaking to your Doctor before beginning any treatment plan.
Stress relief
Everyday life can be stressful. Work, kids, bills, the list goes on…and on. All this stress can build up, and over time lead to physical health problems including headaches, high blood pressure, heart problems, diabetes, skin conditions, asthma as well as mental health problems such as depression and anxiety.
Studies have shown that warm water immersion can help to balance the body’s sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, essentially promoting calm in much the same way as meditation does.
The increased blood flow and elevated levels of relaxation resulting from hot tub usage also leads to an increase of serotonin and dopamine – your bodies ‘happy hormones’.
Improved sleep
We all know how awful it can feel waking up having not had enough sleep. Prolonged periods of insufficient sleep can actually have serious health consequences, significantly increasing your risk of high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attack, heart failure or stroke. Thankfully, the aforementioned stress relief benefits are directly linked to your quality of sleep – reduced stress + improved mood = better sleep.
Enjoy with family, friends, or alone!
In addition to all of the above mentioned health and wellbeing benefits, hot tubs are a great place to socialise with friends or family, or relax alone. We discussed in our last post how to create a sense of luxury for your swimming pool [LINK], installing underwater speakers, creative lighting and even projector screens so you can sit back and watch your favourite film or TV show.
You can incorporate all of these things and more into your hot tub design to create your own little garden (or indoor) oasis. Our design team are more than happy to discuss any hot tub surround ideas that you may have, however extravagant they may be!
How to find the best location for your hot tub
Choosing where to put your hot tub will of course directly affect how you design and you use it, so it’s an important consideration. We’d recommend thinking about the following points before taking the plunge:
Will it be indoor or outdoor?
It goes without saying that whether you choose to have your hot tub installed inside or outside, both will have limitations (potentially). Stargazing and sunbathing are significantly more difficult when you have a roof over your head, and unfortunately our British weather isn’t any close to as warm as your home during the winter months. Of course, you could compromise and enjoy all of the benefits of both by choosing to have a purpose built structure installed.
Will you want to create privacy?
If you’re leaning towards having your hot tub installed in your garden, you should consider the level of privacy you’re going to want.
You might already have a hidden corner in which you could place your hot tub to achieve your preferred level of isolation, but if not you can always create a level of privacy by creating a barrier, whether it be a wall, fence, planted screen, awning, sail or parasol etc.
How easy will it be to install and maintain?
Logistics are perhaps not the most exciting things to have to consider, but consider them we must! Is your preferred space going to be accessible and suitable for the installation, and in the future the ongoing maintenance of your hot tub? Hot tubs do require maintenance and typically weekly water tests. The water will typically need completely changing every 3 months, and pumps and other mechanics will at some point require servicing or replacing.
Add a hot tub to your home
If you’re considering installing a hot tub at your home, and would like to speak to a reputable and highly experienced local business about your ideas we’d love to hear from you. You call us on 01444 236578, or complete our online contact form and we’ll be in touch at a time convenient to you.
