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Small Cabin Forum / Off-Grid Living / Has anyone built a wood fired hot tub?
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SE Ohio
Member
# Posted: 16 Dec 2012 17:07
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http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-build-a-wood-fired-hot-tub/

A regular hot tub shell can often be found on Craigslist for free (just haul away all of the hot tub). Anyone tried this? Could easily fill with rain water (no water rights problem in Ohio) and heat up with metal coil over a good fire. Would love to have one at the cabin, but want to hear from others before going to all the trouble. I don't want to go to the effort if the hot tub never gets warm!

brokeneck
Member
# Posted: 16 Dec 2012 20:50
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I have a hot tueb I got for free from my neighbor -- it's all set up at the cabin -- my plan is to pick up a chofu heater for it --
tub2.jpg
tub2.jpg


TomChum
Member
# Posted: 16 Dec 2012 23:07
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I bought a Snorkel hot tub firebox on craigslist. It's Aluminum. No tub yet but I'm ready!

TheWildMan
Member
# Posted: 17 Dec 2012 11:46
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Had a not bubbling solar powered hot tub.

Got one of those 110 gallon black plastic stock tanks, put it in direct sunlight and filled with water, a couple good hours of sun and man was that hot!

littlesalmon4
Member
# Posted: 17 Dec 2012 11:59 - Edited by: littlesalmon4
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I am as cheap as the next guy. We have tried to build our cabin as cost effective as possible. Sometimes it is just easier to bite the bullet and pick your spot. We picked our spot and purchased our woodfired tub. There is almost zero maintenance to this system and far superior to a completely wood tub that in most locations will leak if it does not have constant water and is almost impossible to clean. If I had the choice to buy my tub again I would do it in a heatbeat.
http://alumitubs.com/
hot_tub.jpg
hot_tub.jpg


optimistic
Member
# Posted: 17 Dec 2012 20:00 - Edited by: optimistic
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I love hot tubs and looked into this. It is very easy to build it yourself. You can get a metal/plastic stock tank, enclose it in wood for looks, and make your own wood burning heater.

There is a website of this guy who explains the in & outs of how to make it yourself and he actually really knows he's stuff although he calls himself a redneck... (he has a degree in engineering)
A very nice guy btw - I emailed him before.
http://www.redneckpoolheater.com/

EvoQ
Member
# Posted: 18 Dec 2012 06:19
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Kevin McCloud recently built a wood fired Hot Tub he made on his Tv show "Man Made Home". He used a heat ex-changer plumbed to the Tub to heat the water up, that would take little time involved rather than some of the other ways. He used a 737 Jet Engine Cover for the upper part of the tub, and for the heat ex-changer he used various odd large size pipe. Everything was Re-Purposed from total scrap that were destined for the junk yard to be melted down.

cabingal3
Member
# Posted: 18 Dec 2012 09:20
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no but we want too.eventually we shall.

nicalisa
Member
# Posted: 18 Dec 2012 13:32
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I will post the link when I get home tonight. It can be done for under 1000.00 dollars with a chofu heater ordered from Japan and a farm feed tub with cedar boards. We are doing one this next year and I will post pics when we are done

Our neighbors have a beautiful one that was built locally. about 5k all in....of couse they saved $$ when they built their 3000 sq. foot "cabin" out of wood they milled with a chain saw mill (ALL of IT!!!) from logs from their land, that diverted a stream for hydro power, and have a hand made water fall (showoffs!) with the bolders pulled out of their lot while doing the pier foundation...themselves! All this before they were 25 years old. Almost had to give my hubby CPR when the 22 year old gal jumped down from the excavator to meet us when we drove down the logging road.....he still smiles when he tells THAT story. Her nickname is now bush babe as apparently a woman mixed with heavy machinery is hot...

Keeping up with the jones in the bush in BC is pretty hard let me tell you!

nicalisa
Member
# Posted: 19 Dec 2012 00:46
Reply 


http://www.islandhottub.com/index.html

here is the promised link

bhebby
Member
# Posted: 19 Dec 2012 08:22
Reply 


Google Dutch tub to sure about domestic distribution.

tverga
Member
# Posted: 20 Dec 2012 16:04
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I was thinking about taking an old house radiator (hot water not steam) and building into the back of a outside fireplace. Little pipe, a few bricks and a craigslist hotub. You can find the the tub for cheap, once the pumps and heaters die people will pay you to haul the tub away. Just make sure you put in a pressure valve so you don't join the Darwin club, Redneck edition.

oldgringo
Member
# Posted: 20 Dec 2012 19:30
Reply 


Yes. I bought a Snorkel Stove, and had a builder of concrete septic tanks make a tub. It was about 6x3, iirc.

I prepped a pad next to a pond, and had the tub placed there. Pumped pond water in, built a fire, and watched the stars.

What surprised me the most was stratification. The water would be too hot to touch at the surface, and stone cold at the bottom.It required frequent stirring with a canoe paddle.

littlesalmon4
Member
# Posted: 21 Dec 2012 11:17
Reply 


It does take a little practice for sure. Stir it with a paddle, once you are close to the proper temperature ( about 100 F), damper you stove right down.
The water will hold that temp for quite a while. Once it starts to cool down a bit open up the draft.
We have used ours at -45C and have been plenty happy. Pumping 550 gallons of water at that temp can be interesting but well worth it.

cedartubs
Member
# Posted: 29 Apr 2013 22:13 - Edited by: cedartubs
Reply 


We use TimberLine www.woodwaterstoves.com on our wood hot tubs. They are similar to the Chofu wood stoves but they come in larger sizes and the heating time can be much faster. They have added safety features such as temperature guage and a pressure release valve. The advantage to this kind of stove is it sits out side the hot tub so it does not take up room in the tub. The chimney is away from the bather so no smoke in face or hot chimney pipe and you can now use a full hot tub cover so the heat loss is minimal and you can have a tub in the evening and again in the morning with out having to start the fire again.

wood fired hot tub heater

Kudzu
Member
# Posted: 30 Sep 2013 08:02
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Quoting: nicalisa
All this before they were 25 years old. Almost had to give my hubby CPR when the 22 year old gal jumped down from the excavator to meet us when we drove down the logging road.....he still smiles when he tells THAT story. Her nickname is now bush babe as apparently a woman mixed with heavy machinery is hot...


Pics, we need pictures.

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