Need a 12x12 deck built.

[matts5.0]

Mmm.. I want a hotub now!

[talisman]

TTT with this thread to ask a couple of questions. Eric, seeing as you had the house a while before the hot tub I was wondering what type of increase you are seeing in electrical consumption. Secondly are you seeing a worthwhile therapeutic benefit that you feel justifies what you spent?

I ask because I have been dealing with degenerative disc symptoms in my lower neck for the last six years if not longer. Both my thumbs and index fingers are numb about half the time and it seems to be getting worse. I'm just doing a little research to see if a tub might provide some relief, but I understand our physical situation as to how/where the injuries happened is different.

Hey man. I'm going to be as thorough as possible here.

I would estimate my electrical bill has gone up about $50-$75 a month. It's hard to keep track of during the summer months with the amount of electricity fluctuating so much, but I should have some better numbers in the next month or two when I'm mostly using gas for heating the house instead of electric to cool it. My electric bills are consistently $35-$40 from November to March. I also keep the tub fairly warm; at about 95 degrees so I can turn it on and hop in within an hour at a moments notice if I decide I need a second daily soak.

Numbness is very severe. If you're not already, you need to be seeing a doctor and getting an MRI. I mean like make an appointment this week for the doctor. I'm deadly serious, you do not want to end up paralyzed, which is what my doctors told me could happen if I started having those symptoms(luckily I haven't yet). You also want to start showing regular doctor visits, so that they can adequately provide you with pain management medication and not get hassled by the DEA.

On to the tub. I have used it every single morning since it was hooked up with one or two exceptions due to having early doctors appointments. I also wasn't able to use it for 3 consecutive days while my power was out after those big storms earlier this month. By the morning of the fourth day without use I was definitely in some substantial pain. This could also be attributed to the weather changes, although that didn't seem to really happen until about a week later. Using the tub at this point is just part of my daily morning routine.

After I've had my coffee and dicked around on here and The Book of Face and let it get up to 104 degrees, I get in. This might sound funny, but the first few seconds where the jets really get into the bad spots is almost downright sexual. I'm so stiff in the mornings I am hobbling all over getting the house "turned on" after getting out of bed. I keep my morning meds next to my bed so I take them before I'm even standing up so they start working. They've usually had about an hour to activate by the time I get in the tub. I spend about ten minutes in there usually then have a hot shower.

The tub definitely helps, but I feel it is a bit of a short term help. On good days I get about 4 "good" hours, and those are in the morning after the tub/med combo platter. By mid afternoon I am definitely fading and by late afternoon depending on if I've tried to run errands or tending to the house that is the "end" of my day and trying to get anything done for the most part.

I've tried pretty much everything you can throw at a back/neck except for acupuncture and surgery. I am very careful about lifting things, and have conceded to the fact that I need help sometimes, which really sucks for a guy who doesn't like asking for help. Everything bundled together provides a small measure of relief, and then they all build on top of each other. Also, while my lower back does have problems, it is usually my neck and shoulders that are really giving me hell. I usually just talk about my back as a sort of short hand meaning from the base of my skull to the crack of my ass and the myriad of damage to the entire area, but the neck and shoulders are the worst chronic offenders.

In short, the tub does help, but it is short term help every single day. After the last 13 years since my wreck, I'll take any measure of relief I can get.

[ceyko]

I would estimate my electrical bill has gone up about $50-$75 a month.

I would say you're spot on here - it would also vary by kw per hour cost. However, I had a 2 pump hot tub at my old place and it also seemed to go up about 50 dollars per month.

I also ran a multimeter on the circuit and took a guesstimate of how much it ran per month. Allowing for a lot of fluctuation it would've been 45-60 dollars a month.

Some people won't run it much (if at all) until use time - but if you're a daily user or having problems keeping the water good - you're pretty much stuck doing the ~50ish a month cost.