The Science of Cold Plunge: Why Colder Isn't Always Better

The Science of Cold Plunge: Why Colder Isn't Always Better

The best cold plunge temperature is not the coldest, it is the one you will stick with. Research points to 50°F to 59°F for real benefit without overwhelming stress. The ideal ranges for different goals, and why consistency beats extremes.

Benefits of a Wood Fired Hot Tub

Benefits of a Wood Fired Hot Tub

Why people choose wood fire: no power required anywhere, direct heat from an internally submerged firebox, and a ritual that slows the evening down. Including the honest trade-offs.

Hot Tub After a Workout: A Practical Guide to Soaking for Sore Muscles

Hot Tub After a Workout: A Practical Guide to Soaking for Sore Muscles

How warm water immersion supports muscle repair, how long to soak for meaningful benefit, when to reach for ice instead, and how a hot tub compares to a sauna for recovery.

5 Rituals to Make Your Outdoor Soak More Restorative

5 Rituals to Make Your Outdoor Soak More Restorative

Five small changes that make an outdoor soak more restorative: aromatics beside the tub rather than in it, night soaking for deeper rest, a gentle cool finish, and the onsen habits worth borrowing.

Wood Hot Tub Heating Options: The Complete Guide

Wood Hot Tub Heating Options: The Complete Guide

A practical guide to wood hot tub heating options, covering wood-fired, electric, hybrid, gas, heat pumps, and solar assist. Our guide breaks down the pros, cons, and real-world considerations behind each heating option.

Best Low Maintenance Wood Fired Hot Tubs For A Truly Relaxing Outdoor Soak

Best Low Maintenance Wood Fired Hot Tubs For A Truly Relaxing Outdoor Soak

Choosing a low maintenance wood fired hot tub comes down to the right materials, easy clean surfaces, leak resistance, and efficient heating. This guide breaks down what matters most.

Wood Fired Hot Tubs vs Electric Spas: A practical guide for homes and cabins

Wood Fired Hot Tubs vs Electric Spas: A practical guide for homes and cabins

A practical comparison for homes and cabins: heat-up time, running costs, water care, power requirements and access, and which system suits which kind of property.

Best Firewood Types for Heating Your Wood Fired Hot Tub

Best Firewood Types for Heating Your Wood Fired Hot Tub

The best firewood is dry, seasoned hardwood. Which types burn hottest and longest, when softwood helps, what should never go in the firebox, and how wood quality changes heat-up time.

The Cedar Tub That Stays Hot: Quiet Electric Heat Built for Real Winters

The Cedar Tub That Stays Hot: Quiet Electric Heat Built for Real Winters

Quiet electric heat built for real winters. How the Electric holds temperature through a cold snap, what freeze protection actually does, and why included filtration changes the ownership routine.

Is a Hybrid Hot Tub Right for You?

Is a Hybrid Hot Tub Right for You?

A hybrid hot tub brings together the elemental ritual of wood fired heating with the ease of electric heating and built in filtration. Use wood for the full sensory soak, or let electricity maintain temperature, protect against freezing, and keep water clean between uses all year round. The very best of both worlds!

About the Hot Tub Journal

The Hot Tub Journal is AlumiTubs' guide to outdoor living with a cedar hot tub, whatever heats it. It covers choosing between wood fired, electric and hybrid heating; sizing a tub and what one costs to run; where to put it, from a city deck to an island cabin, and how it gets there; what an electric hot tub needs from a site and how the equipment is housed; how a wood burning hot tub works and how long it takes to heat; onsen rituals, cold plunges and soaking after a workout; and what it is like to own a tub for twenty years, told by the people who do. Most of it is written for anyone weighing up a hot tub, not only an AlumiTub owner.

Every AlumiTub is a riveted 5052 marine-grade aluminum structure clad in Canadian Western Red Cedar, handcrafted on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia since 2001 and backed by a 25 year structural warranty. Three heating systems share the same tub: the Electric, which holds a set temperature on a schedule and needs no fire; the Wood Fired, which needs no power and heats a Standard in about three hours; and the Hybrid, which does both. Water care has its own home in the Water Care Academy.

Start with the guide to heating options, hot tub dimensions and sizes, or the electric cedar hot tub.