Portable vs Inground Spas

In-ground spas are more difficult, more involved and more costly to install than portable spas.

You will need to have plans drawn up and approval from council to proceed. You will also need to use a licensed pool installer to do the job in order for the installation to be legal (a licensed installer may be hard to come by).

This is because an in-ground spa is actually a mini swimming pool built into the ground or your deck - a “permanent fixture” to your home and part of your storm water plumbing system.

You will need have the site prepared and the spa bedded properly, the spa plumbed to the equipment and waste water, and a timber or brick frame or other type of support and/or coping built.

As gas heaters are recommended, you will also need to arrange a site for this equipment as well as a gas and electricity supply. Often gas bottles will need to be arranged and set up near the equipment as many houses do not have gas to their homes.

All you need for a portable spa is a flat solid base and a power supply.  

Waiting Times To Use The Spa  

You can affordably keep a portable spa permanently heated so it’s always ready for use – just lift the lid and jump in. Due to the running costs involved, most in-ground spas are run on gas and are not kept permanently heated.

This means that when you want a hot spa you’ll have half an hour or so to wait before you can get in.

The only drawback with portables is that if you turn the temperature down or turn your spa off and then want to re-heat it, it will take 4-8 hours (depending on the spa size and how much you want the temperature to rise). 
 

Noise & Equipment

Because in-ground spas have external equipment they can be very loud and there is no two-speed pump option. The outdoor equipment pack really needs to be set up in a special box with proper ventilation for the noise level to be acceptable and to ensure the equipment is not damaged by the elements. Unfortunately the pump and heater need to be relatively close to the spa which may look unsightly or create a noise problem.    

Portable spas have all the equipment contained within an insulated cabinet, making the pump/s and blower much quieter. Two-speed pumps or Circulation pumps are a popular option on portables, making them almost silent during their regular heating and filtration cycles (most of the time that the spa runs).

Heating Costs

Good brands of portable spas are very well insulated and use an electric heater and thermostat to keep your spa permanently heated for a reasonable cost (around $1 per day).  In-ground spas, however, are positioned against the cold ground and in-deck spa shells are usually open to the cold air from underneath. Therefore, neither type is thermally efficient, making them much more expensive (and generally not viable) to keep permanently heated. A gas heater is really the only choice here and this will be cheaper with infrequent use, but will become expensive when permanently heating your spa.

Repairs

If the plumbing or jets in an in-ground spa require repairs the whole spa will usually need to be removed and re-installed. Tree roots are a big problem as they wrap around the plumbing and pipe-work causing leaks. Another costly occurrence with in-ground spas is where the spa “shell” pops out of the ground due to underground water turning your spa into a boat that wants to float.

Portable spas experience less problems than in-ground spas. When repairs are required they are much quicker and easier to access and fix - just unscrew the side panels and everything is accessible.  

Portability 

If you were to move homes it would not be economically viable to remove and re-install an in-ground spa at a new site. Therefore it would need to be left behind and you would have to hope that the new buyers are willing to give you something for it.

By having your spa and all of its equipment in one unit (a portable spa), it can easily be moved to a different site inside or outside your home. More importantly, you can relocate your spa to another house if you move in the future, retaining your valuable investment.

With spas now designed to last well over 10 years and with most people moving homes more regularly, this factor must be taken into consideration. 

Fully Automatic Controls   

The super reliable, state-of-the-art automatic controllers used on modern portable spas are the ultimate in efficiency and user-friendly spa care. Just set the temperature and your spa will always be filtered and at your required heat. These control panels have a temperature readout (some with an LED screen). Many also have self-diagnostics and some even have a time clock, “sleep cycle” setting, lights, and “lock-out” functions.

In-ground spas use basic push (air) buttons and a timer system to provide semi-automatic filtration and heating.

Summary 

There are hundreds of thousands of happy in-ground spa owners around the world and there is no doubt that in-ground spas can look great - especially when installed as part of a landscaped outdoor entertaining area. If you feel that the drawbacks relating to in-ground spas are not relevant or important to you, please do not feel that an in-ground spa is a bad choice.

However, for the compelling reasons listed, around 95% of spas sold today are portable.