Installing a Hot Tub Pw-Spa Classic

Tweet

In July we decided to buy a hot tub with a wood stove. After quite a lot of research we decided to buy a PW-SPA Classic that has a diameter of 180 cm.

2 weeks after we ordered it, the whole thing arrived together with a new greenhouse. First step was to remove our old greenhouse and assemble the new one on a new location in the backyard as we would be placing the hot tub where the old one used to be.

For starters, the ground was leveled and we used concrete slabs to build a level support for the tub.
As the tub is 180 cm in diameter and weighs in at around 200 kg, we had to ask a friend that owns a HUDDIG to move it for us.

And as both my wife and I are not used to doing things half-way only we also decided to build a decking around the hot tub.

Building the decking, photos to tell the story

Building the steps up to the deck

Close fit to the hot tub

Close fit to the hot tub

Connecting the stove to the hot tub

Adding some railings

Side that can be opened for maintenance access

PW-SPA stove chimney with home made DIY spark protection mesh

Chimney

The included chimney was around 2 meters long with rain protection and 3 large holes. I ended up adding some metal mesh for spark protection. (I saw that they sold a separate chimney top with spark protection for 80€, instead I just used material that I already had at home.)

Adding water

Heating time

When the tub is empty, it takes about 1 hour to fill up with enough water to start the stove (regular garden hose). About 1.5 - 2 hours to fill it up to full.. A little depending on how many people will be using it. If its just 2 persons, then you need more water.
The heating takes around 2-3 hours. So a total time of 3 hours to from empty to hot water in the tub. These are summer-time numbers, I'll update with winter-time numbers when we get some snow and below zero temperatures!

The lid

Not really happy about the lid. At first the dealer had misplaced the original lid so they ordered a new from Finland. 6 weeks later when it arrived it had hundreds of scratch marks on it. We complained to the dealer and after countless of mails back and forth they agreed to pay back 100€.... At least it's something. After looking closely at the tub I found similar marks on it as well, nothing that I would have noticed but it seems that the PW-SPA has some quality issues with its plastic components.

The drain

When emptying the tub, be sure to have a good surface that the water can hit as it comes with quite some force from the drain. I ended up placing some concrete slabs strategically to prevent the water from creating a hole in the ground. Also, remember to empty the stove by opening it as well. Not good to have old water standing still in there either, could build up bacteria. So empty both the tub and the stove.

Conclusions

We wanted a hot tub with external wooden stove. And we got it. Nothing wrong with the stove, but the dealers customer service was a real pain....
Really happy with the decking as well, a good decision. I think that just having the tub standing there by itself would have been strange.

Disclaimer
I bought this product myself and this is my opinion on them. I am in no way affiliated with the manufacturer of this product.