Is a Hybrid Hot Tub Right for You?

A hybrid hot tub carries two full heating systems in one tub: a submerged wood firebox and a 240V electric heating and filtration system, run either alone or together. The AlumiTubs Hybrid is for people who want the fire but cannot always be there to tend it. If that is you, this page is short on purpose.

Who the Hybrid is for

Five situations account for almost every Hybrid we build.

• A home you live in year round. The fire on a Saturday night, the electric side holding 102°F through the week so a Tuesday soak needs nothing lit.
• A property you visit every few weeks. Wood heat needs someone present. Freeze protection does not: when the sensor detects cold the electric side heats automatically for as long as there is power, and the fire gets lit when you arrive.
• Anywhere with summer fire bans. A ban takes a wood fired tub out of use for weeks. On a Hybrid the electric side carries it through, and the fire comes back when the ban lifts.
• Guest properties and rentals. The water is hot and filtered on arrival without briefing anyone on lighting a fire, and guests who want the ritual can have it. A host's guide works through that decision.
• Anyone who cannot predict the next ten years. A weekend cabin becomes a home. A property that never saw restrictions now sees them every August. The Hybrid is the option that does not ask you to guess.

If your site has no power at all, the honest answer is a Wood Fired built with the optional compatibility ports, so the electric side can be added later. If you will never light a fire, it is the Electric. The heating options guide compares all three side by side.

It gets used pretty much every weekend at Thetis Island, except when there is a complete fire ban.

Chris Kelsey, Thetis Island BC

What it actually is

Neither side is a reduced version. The Hybrid carries the same submerged firebox as the Wood Fired, the largest of its kind, and the same detachable heating and filtration system as the Electric, housed in weatherproof cedar steps against the tub where every part stays reachable. The two run independently, so they are two tools rather than a primary and a backup.

On wood, heating from cold takes around two hours on the Small, three on the Standard and five on the Large, and with the lid on the water loses only two to three degrees Fahrenheit overnight. On electric, the system holds whatever temperature you set between 50 and 104°F, from the touchpad or the Wi-Fi app, with a 50 micron filter holding a fill for three to four months and no UV or ozone needed. The tub itself is the same in all three models, with 360 degrees of insulation and a 25 year structural warranty.

The word gets used loosely. Some manufacturers call a tub hybrid on the strength of its insulation or electronics alone. A hybrid in the real sense heats water two different ways.

How owners actually run it

Heat with wood, hold with electric. The most common pattern. Heating from cold is the slowest part of an electric system and the fastest part of a fire, so let the fire do it, then let the electric side hold temperature for as long as you want the tub ready.

Both at once. Fire and element together bring the water up faster than either alone. Useful on a Large in midwinter or on a cold lake fill. Keep the fire from taking the water past 106°F, or the touchpad throws an error and the system needs resetting.

Wood all season, filtration running. The filter belongs to the electric side but does not care how the water got hot. Heat entirely with wood and the scheduled circulation still turns a fill that would last a visit into one that lasts months.

Fire as outage cover. A power cut takes the electric side out, and with it freeze protection. On a Hybrid the fire is what keeps the water from freezing until the power returns.

Whenever the fire is lit, one rule: never light it before the tub is filled to the line, or at least 4 inches above the chimney collar, and keep the water there the whole time the firebox is hot. Ten feet of clearance above the chimney cap, and never during a fire ban.

Three things to confirm before choosing one

• Power. The wood side needs none. The electric side needs a dedicated 240V, 30 amp, 4kW circuit with an 18 amp draw, hardwired by a certified electrician. Run it to the site before the tub arrives.
• The base. A flat, fully supported surface carrying the filled weight, 5,000 lbs on the Standard, with 3.5 inches of rigid insulation beneath.
• Access. The tub arrives pre-assembled at 220 lbs empty on the Standard and rolls on its side through a 38 inch gap. Setup on a prepared site takes about an hour.

Where the equipment sits, and how the tub can be built into a deck, is covered in installation basics.

Already own a Wood Fired?

Going Hybrid is not a replacement decision. If the tub was built with the compatibility ports, the electric heating and filtration system is added alongside the firebox, and the two run independently exactly as they do on a Hybrid built new. For an owner whose region has started seeing regular summer restrictions, that is the difference between a tub that sits unused for part of the season and one that works all year.

Sizes, depths, lead times and the deposit are on the Hybrid page. Water care is the same on all three models: aluminum hot tub water chemistry has the routine, and what it costs to run covers the fire side of the bill.