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You can help the environment and save money both at the same time, just by using some common sense. Save energy as best you can with your hot tub or spa. Hot tubs are among the bigger consumers of electricity in your home, because they keep a fair amount of water quite warm 24 hours a day. Fortunately, there are several ways to save energy and reduce both your environmental footprint and the strain on your budget at the same time.

1) Cover up - no need to keep the hot tub open to the air. Put the hot tub cover on right away, when not in use. This is the same principal as keep your door closed in winter to keep the heat in, or in summer to keep the air conditioning in. Remember when your mother used to admonish you to "Keep the door closed. Are you trying to heat the whole neighbourhood?" Well, the same goes for your hot tub - keep the spa covered, or you'll heat the whole neighbourhood.

2) You don't need heat while you're not there...so turn off the heat. Or at least turn it down. That goes for vacations, long weekends, weeks when you know your schedule will be too busy to use the spa - any time when there will be more than two or three days in a row when you know you won't need your hot tub...turn off the heat. (NOTE: In winter weather, keep some heat going so that pipes don't freeze and equipment is not damaged. But you can still turn it way down while you are away for a week or more.

3) You might want also to buy a floating thermal blanket. Very cheap. Very light-weight. Very easy to put on your hot tub. You might consider buying a floating thermal blanket. They are lightweight. They are cheap They are easy to put on your hot tub. It will keep both heat and moisture in the tub and away from your cover. It saves energy and helps your hot tub last longer.

4) Buy a new spa. OK, so that sounds like it will cost a bit more than a used spa...but not when you consider how much more efficient newer hot tubs are than those of even just 10 or 15 years ago. A newer, more efficient spa might cost more up front, but over the course of the next decade, you will save much more with the efficiency of modern engineering. (NOTE: Don't overbuy horsepower. Get what you need for your size of tub, not for one much bigger.)

5) Are you a night time spa-user? Do you light up the are at night? Have you considered replacing electric lights with mood lighting - candlelight? Candles don't consume as much energy as electric lights do, and they offer the benefits of soothing ambiance, as well.

6) Keep your filters working well, and replace them as they show their age. Clogged filters slow down the circulation of water, straining the equipment, and making your motors work harder - and consuming more power. An overworked motor will also have a shorter life and need to be replaced sooner.

7) Keep your temperature at 102 degrees instead of the typical factory set 104 degrees. It might seem like a small difference, but there is actually quite a lot more energy that goes into each incremental degree of heat at this level than at lower temperatures.

We all love our hot tubs but we also know how much energy they require to keep warm. Keep the fun, let go of (some of) the energy. Make sure the hot tub you choose actually reduce energy rather than increasing it. These are some common-sense steps you can take to avoid digging too deep into your pockets and scarring too deeply the environment with your hot tub.