Hot tub Wi-Fi and app controls

Every modern hot tub runs on a control board, the box that switches the pumps, heater and lights and reads the temperature sensors. A Wi-Fi module plugs into that board and joins your home network, and the maker's app relays your settings to the tub and its alarms to your phone. Most boards come from two suppliers: of the 193 spec sheets that name a control maker, 102 say Gecko and 64 say Balboa, and the apps often come from them too, such as Balboa's ControlMySpa and Gecko's in.touch. A few makers build their own: 27 spec sheets name an in-house system, such as Hot Spring's IQ 2020 and Caldera's Advent, each with its own app that needs an add-on kit. Jacuzzi goes further: its SmartTub connects over its own cellular link, so alerts reach you and the dealer without home Wi-Fi.

Balboa lists changing the temperature, running pumps and lights, scheduling filter cycles and getting push alerts about problems while you are away. The alerts are the part that can save money. A tub that stops heating in January can freeze its plumbing before anyone notices; Hot Spring's own manual warns that a clogged filter can trip the circulation pump and risk exactly that. For a cabin, a rental or a tub at the back of a big yard, an alert is worth having. For a tub outside the kitchen window, the app mostly saves a walk.

Some do. Jacuzzi includes six months of SmartTub cellular service and then charges about $50 a year. Artesian says its app's cloud access is free for 12 months, then $24 a year. Ask whether the module is included in the price, what happens when the free period ends, and whether the alerts go to you, to the dealer, or both.

Often for less time than the pumps. One spa seller's published warranty covers Balboa Wi-Fi and Bluetooth audio for 12 months, against 2 years for the pumps and heater. Add-on electronics are cheap to replace compared with a pump, but read the warranty card before you pay extra for one.