The best inflatable hot tub for cold weather and winter use

Can you use an inflatable hot tub in winter?

Yes. Every tub we recommend will reach and hold the maximum 40°C even in a cold British garden, so winter use is entirely possible and, for many owners, the whole point. What changes in winter is not whether the tub can heat the water but how hard it has to work to do so. With air temperatures near or below freezing, the tub loses heat far faster, so the heater runs much more often, the water takes longer to reach temperature, and the running cost rises. A good tub used sensibly handles all of this; a poor one struggles and costs a fortune.

The two features that matter most in cold weather are heat retention and a proper freeze-protection mode, and they are exactly the things the cheapest tubs skimp on. The Lay-Z-Spa Paris held heat best on test and includes Lay-Z-Spa's Freeze Shield mode, which makes it our top pick for winter use; the Bestway Lay-Z-Spa Bali shares the same heater and Freeze Shield in a smaller body. If you intend to use your tub through winter, prioritise these over bubble count or LED lighting.

Heat retention in the cold

Heat retention is always important, but in winter it becomes decisive, because the gap between the water and the air is so much larger. We measure heat retention by heating each tub to 40°C, switching the heater off, putting the lid on and logging how fast the temperature falls. The best tub on test, the Lay-Z-Spa Paris, lost only 1.4°C an hour, while a thinner-walled budget tub shed closer to 2.5°C in the same conditions. In a cold garden those losses are larger still, so a tub that holds heat well needs its heater far less, which keeps both the water warm and the bill in check.

Thicker, multi-ply walls and a well-fitting insulating cover are what deliver good cold-weather heat retention, and a rigid frame helps too: the MSpa Comfort Bergen held heat well for its large size thanks to its braced, better-insulated walls. The lesson for winter buyers is the same as ever, only more so: do not buy on jets, buy on how well the tub keeps the warmth it builds. A tub that loses 1.4°C an hour rather than 2.5°C will be dramatically cheaper and more pleasant to run when it is cold outside.

Freeze protection: why it matters

Freeze protection is the feature that keeps a tub safe when you are not using it in icy weather, and it is essential if you keep the tub filled through winter. Lay-Z-Spa calls it Freeze Shield: when the water temperature drops below a set point, the system automatically keeps the pump circulating and the heater ticking over so the water and the pipework do not freeze and split. It activates and runs by itself, protecting the tub down to around 5°C, which is exactly what you want during a cold snap when you might not check the tub for days.

Freeze protection does use some electricity, but it is far cheaper than the alternative: a tub whose pump or pipework cracks from frost damage is often beyond economical repair. If your tub has a freeze-protection mode, leave it on whenever the tub is filled and temperatures may fall near freezing. If it does not, you face a choice in deep winter between draining the tub completely to store it and running the heater periodically yourself to prevent freezing, neither of which is as convenient. This is a big part of why we steer winter users towards tubs with the feature built in.

Insulating your tub for winter

Whatever tub you own, the recipe for happy winter use is insulation, and it is mostly cheap and simple. Keep the insulating lid on whenever you are not in the water, since the surface is where most heat escapes; a tub left uncovered in winter will bleed warmth and money continuously. Stand the tub on a thick insulating ground mat to stop heat draining into the cold ground, and add a foam or thermal blanket layer if your tub's cover is thin. Site the tub out of the wind, tucked against a wall or fence, because wind strips heat from the water far faster than still cold air.

A few habits help too. Heat the tub well ahead of time using the timer rather than expecting a quick warm-up on a freezing day, since cold-start heating takes much longer in winter. Keep the filter clean so the pump and heater run efficiently, top up the water level so the pump is never starved, and check the chemical balance regularly, as cold water can mask problems. Done together, these steps keep the water warm, protect the tub from frost and hold the running cost down. Our running costs guide covers the savings, and our buying guide explains how to pick a tub that copes with the cold in the first place.