Natural Beauty: The breathtaking beauty of handcrafted natural wood is one of the prime advantages. Relax in harmony with nature surrounded by the enticing natural aroma of the cedar tree.

Deep soaking with freedom of movement: Our tubs are designed to be deep — with the water coming right up to your shoulders — giving you complete immersion and a feeling of buoyancy. There is ample water to move around in, unlike common plastic hot tubs that feel about as spacious as an airplane cockpit. Not with Zen Bathworks hot tubs. Our cedar hot tubs are deep, hot, clean, natural, simple, and amazing!

Health Benefits: Deep soaking in steaming water has long been proven to stimulate circulation, reduce stress, relax sore muscles, help with insomnia, and aid with common joint pain such as arthritis.

Convenience and Simplicity: Your very own private relaxation refuge in your backyard. A relaxation sanctuary that’s never closed or booked, but always a few steps away and ready whenever you are!

Family Fun: Socialize and relax with your family in the outdoors — soaking in a cedar hot tub is good clean fun!

Stress Reduction: Melt away the troubles of your day as you do something soothing for yourself.

On-site assembly: By choosing the “kit” tub configuration your tub can be placed just about anywhere, avoiding problems bringing your new hot tub to sites with access restrictions. All pieces can easily be carried through your home to your backyard if necessary, compared to common plastic tubs that often require a crane to install. No cranes and no broken backs are needed for Zen Bathworks Cedar Hot Tubs! 

Flexible Installation Layout: The “systems” of our gas and electric heated hot tubs are comprised of a controller system with topside keypad, pump(s), sanitation system(s) (e.g. ionizer, Ozonator, filter, etc.), heater(s), etc. These systems can easily be placed up to 50′ away from the tub if this is more suitable for your space and desires. With some prior planning, the systems can be distanced even further. While the pumps are surprisingly quiet, this affords you the opportunity to completely isolate your tub away from the system noise, or place your hot tub near a bedroom window, but the system somewhere more ideal. Common plastic hot tubs do not offer this flexibility. However, you still have the option to place the system near your Zen Bathworks tub if you desire, which is a common choice and affords installation simplicity. Whichever situation you find yourself in, consider our corresponding cedar system and plumbing enclosures for a complete cedar beauty look.

Handmade in Alaska: Our tubs are handmade one at a time by skilled crafters in Haines Alaska, USA — not mass-produced.

Outdoor Activity: You will find yourself immersed in the sights and sounds of nature year-round, from the comfort of your warm and quiet outdoor tub. Experience more of nature with our cedar hot tubs!

Rustic Luxury: Our customers appreciate the unique aesthetic beauty the wood and the simple tub design bring to their relaxation sanctuary space. Coopered wood tubs have been used for many hundreds of years for their simple design and natural primary material of construction. However, our valued customers and partner installers continually comment about how luxuriously beautiful and high-quality Zen Bathworks cedar hot tubs are in particular, holding them uniquely distinct even when compared to competing cedar tubs.

These terms are often mistakenly used interchangeably. The primary definition of the word spa is an establishment such as a destination or resort spa. However, hot tubs are often referred to as spas for some reason. 

Jacuzzi® is a registered brand name of multiple products, though it is often used incorrectly as a generic term referring to hot tubs.

The term we feel is correct for our cedar coopered-design tubs with heating/sanitation systems is “hot tubs”. We use the term “Ofuro” to describe our Japanese-inspired soaking bathtubs.

We recommend sizing your tub for your normal family use, not for the occasional large group or party. The hot tub product pages have diagrams and specifications that show the ranges of how many people fit in each size tub, from a “spacious” fit to a “cozy” fit. Click here to explore hot tub capacity by shape and size.

We do offer custom sizes, however, we feature the most extensive standard size lineup of cedar hot tubs with five sizes, two shapes, and four heights which makes a total of 40 unique size choices. So the odds are that you’ll find a standard size perfect for you. But, if not, please contact us!

We also offer customizations such as alternate woods of Hinoki or Teak. Also, if you have desires for other customizations, feel free to contact us about these. We can help you with design. These services are subject to lead time extensions, especially during our busy season, so start planning with us early. Contact Us!

Just like a wooden boat or wine barrel, the wood swells in the presence of water to form a water-tight seal. However, the correct materials and craftsmanship must be included for this to occur. At Zen Bathworks, we use high-quality clear (i.e. knot-free) cedar, and our tubs are made with care and precision. 

The answer depends on your situation. That is why we offer three types of heating systems:  gas-heated systems (your choice of propane or natural), electric-heated systems, and wood heaters.

• Gas systems are the most powerful and therefore afford the fastest heat-up rates and lower cost of operation than electric heat.
• Electric systems have slightly simpler and lower costs of installation.
• Wood heaters are a great choice for off-grid installations or as a supplemental heating system.
• Note that Gas and Electric, with integrated pumps, offer digital programmable thermostatic control and sanitation automation, while the wood-fired heaters move water through the thermosiphon phenomenon rather than a pump and thus do not have built-in thermostat or sanitation automation, but also do not require any electrical power.
• Wondering if you can have more than just one type? Yes! Opting for two or three of the above is possible.

Still not sure? Find out more about heaters.

Some will like it cooler (98°–101°F) and others will like it hot (102°–104°). Hot tub systems have a manufacturer’s imposed maximum limit of 104 degrees Fahrenheit because according to medical experts, temperatures higher than 104°F can be hazardous to human health. Children should use a tub that is no hotter than 100 degrees. Pregnant women are typically advised by their medical providers to avoid hot tubs. Those with adverse health conditions, questions, or concerns should consult their medical provider. As for how cool the water can be, the gas and electric systems’ thermostat can be set as low as 50°.

When it comes to deciding what the optimal temperature management is, it depends a lot on your usage frequency. It’s very possible that turning down the hot tub too much and too often could end up increasing the energy costs rather than decreasing them. It’s similar to your household heating system — if you drastically turn down your heat prior to leaving for a short trip of say two days, when you return your furnace could spend most of a day heating back up and in the end, it could have been more efficient to only turn your heat down slightly. But for a long trip of say two weeks or more, these inflection points and tradeoffs may lead to the opposite result where drastically decreasing the temperature does lead to an energy savings. 

The other thing to consider with hot tub temperature management, especially if you don’t utilize the economy mode and/or WiFi capabilities to automate, is how long you will have to wait for it to heat back up to use the tub. 

So, it varies based on your tub size, installation, climate, and usage habits. However, for the most part, tub owners use their tubs twice a week or more and hold the temperature in the high 80s or low 90s.

Heat rate depends on factors such as tub size, outdoor temperature, and heater size. The following numbers give a range for each type of heater:

• Electric heaters: 4–12 °F per hour
• Gas heaters: 10–40 °F per hour
• Wood heaters: 5–20 °F per hour

An important note about heat rate: It is easy to get swept up in the heat rate, but note that with gas and electric heat systems, you will not frequently be waiting for your tub to heat up. This is because they are thermostatically controlled and also because there are features such as economy mode and WiFi control that allow you to plan and automate your hot tub temperature management around your hot tubbing schedule. The only time you may have to wait for your tub to heat up is after a water change, but even in that instance connecting your garden hose to your home’s water heating system when filling the tub, could potentially help you to shorten the wait time, if possible, and if necessary. The point is, don’t worry too much about having a high heat rate unless you will be using your tub infrequently, erratically, with little notice, and without WiFi connectivity. All of these factors coexisting is uncommon.

NEW FOR MID-2023, for better circulation, a more clean-looking installation, and better draining, we have moved the suctions from the lower walls to the floors of our tubs. Therefore the drain is a 2″ tee with a valve within the suction line. 

Each of our tubs before then included a floor drain featuring an interior tapered plug with rip cord floor drain. In the drain, assembly fittings to bring a 1″ drain line to the tub’s edge were included. 

With either drain type, you can plumb additional lines if you wish, or with adapter fittings, you can attach a garden hose and dispose of the water into your landscape or other ideal location. If you follow our recommended water sanitation procedure, the water is safe to use for landscape plants, but we don’t recommend using it for your vegetable garden.

Other cedar tub manufacturers do not include the ability to drain and rinse the tub out fully empty. However, at Zen Bathworks, we decided that wasn’t good enough and have remained committed to making sure Zen Bathworks hot tubs will drain out fully and offer an easy way to rinse dirt and sediment out!

There are three factors that affect the cost to operate a tub, all of which vary by individual and/or region: 

• Size of the tub
• Climate
• Cost of energy or fuel
• Installation of the tub (e.g. the distance the system is displaced from the tub if the lines are insulated, etc.)

Our electric and gas-heated tubs run between $1.50 and $3.50 per day to keep hot. Our simple Chofu wood heater is even more economical to operate.

Zen Bathworks hot tubs are professionally packaged in fully enclosed robust wooden crates (no chintzy cardboard here!) for safe transport to your curbside. Your tub is shipped by common carrier LTL trucking service, with liftgate service (if necessary). We ship to most US and Canadian addresses for FREE. 

There are some exceptions to this rule such as addresses with access restrictions (e.g. tight turns, low trees, steep hills, etc.), Hawaii, or Alaska. Our rates to HI and AK are low (roughly $400–$1500) — please contact us for a quote to your specific address.

Click here to view our Shipping Policies for additional details.

Up-to-date standard lead times are displayed on the Hot Tub product pages in the product description. Sometimes, due to popular demand, we are forced to lengthen our lead times, however, we work hard through production and inventory management to prevent this. Our lead times are typically at the best available which is 3–6 weeks from order to curbside delivery within the continental US and Canada. From our location in southeast Alaska, 3–4 of these weeks are ocean and ground in-transit time.

We are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to bring your cedar hot tub soaking dreams to life as soon as possible!

Our tubs are designed to be easily assembled by the owner or by the owner’s contractor. Each tub comes with a detailed step-by-step illustrated instruction manual.

Typical tub assembly time is about 3–5 hours (not including site preparation or system installation) and requires minimal tools (a couple of wrenches, a level, a rubber mallet, etc). 

The gas or electric heating system will take 3–5 hours to install (not including main electrical and gas services). The system does require some electrical and plumbing skills, so you may want to seek help from a plumber and electrician for this part. Either way, we strongly recommend you have the main electrical and gas service connections made by a qualified professional. The wood heater is quite simple to install and should only take about an hour.

If you are not comfortable setting up your hot tub and system, you can hire a general contractor, handyman, plumber, and/or electrician to do all of it or parts of it. They may be hesitant due to unfamiliarity with cedar hot tubs. However, they should not hesitate. There is nothing uniquely complicated about cedar hot tubs for qualified professionals in these lines of work. Be sure to have them review the detailed documents we’ve made available online on our Resource Tool Box page or contained in the printed Info Packet you receive along with your tub. Let them know that Zen Bathworks offers technical installation support by video chat, phone, and/or email!

Zen Bathworks does offer a factory pre-assembly option for the wood tub portion only. When checking out or confirming your order via email, select this option and we will professionally assemble and oil the tub and install the benches. Note that you will not want to choose this option if you have a narrow passageway, such as a doorway that the tub needs to pass through to get from curbside to the install site.

Also, note that this option is not available for the very largest sizes (7′ and 8′ Round and 8′ Elliptical) unless you have a commercial address to receive and offload the shipment to (with a forklift). This is because these larger tubs are too large for the trucking companies’ lift gates. 

Because Zen Bathworks is a small family-owned company with one location in southeast Alaska, at this time we are not able to offer on-site installation. We do know of installers in the Los Angeles and in the Bay Area California regions that are experienced with Zen Bathworks hot tubs. If you are in those regions and looking for an installer, please let us know.

If you require assistance assembling and installing your hot tub system, you will need to locate and hire your own trade professionals to assist you. Be sure to have them review the detailed documents we’ve made available online on our Resource Tool Box page and tell them Zen Bathworks offers technical installation support by video chat, phone, and/or email. 

Also, if you have a great experience with an installer, we would love to hear about them so that we can pass along their information to other customers. Or perhaps you are a trade professional interested in receiving our referrals from clients looking to have a Zen Bathworks tub installed? In either case, please contact us!

Here are a few things to keep in mind when selecting your installation location(s).

Generally outdoors is best. An indoor location will require careful planning to provide humidity control and splash and tub drainage in the enclosing room.

For outdoor installations, consider the following:

1. The closer your tub is to your house, the more prone you might be to use it.
2. Closer proximity to power and gas sources (as applicable) is a cost-saving advantage.
3. The system will generally run automatically for at least a minute, twice an hour. While the pumps are very quiet, especially on low speed, light sleepers may not want the system to end up right next to their bedroom window, for example.
4. Be mindful of watershed during rainstorms from adjacent structures and how they will impact the hot tub.
5. If you’re in a snowy area, consider how snowfall, snow shed, and snow clearing will impact prospective installation spots.
6. Privacy and atmosphere are important. You will likely want to set your hot tub in a secluded spot away from it all.

Indoors is a feasible but tricky place for a hot tub because of the large amount of water vapor they release into the air. You will need a plan to provide humidity control as well as tub splash and drainage water control. Certain types of rooms, such as sunrooms and enclosed porches, can be made into great hot tub rooms with a little less hassle than a traditional room type. Consult your General Contractor for more details.

Our tubs range in size and weight. You can find full details on approximate water capacity and weight on the last page of the Cedar Hot Tub Sizes and Specs document.

The three most common sites for a wooden hot tub are on a patio, on a deck, or on the ground. 

We recommend a concrete pad patio to install the tub onto, if possible. These make installations easier because they are strong, level, and smooth.

Deck installations are also a great choice. Be sure to have a professional check that it is engineered to handle the weight. A tub full of water is very heavy — refer to the tub specifications for the actual weight of each of our tubs. The filled weight for an average tub is over 4000 lbs.

A modification to this approach is to place it on the ground and recess it in a deck. If you have a pre-existing deck, this can be a good choice that adds an entry into your tub as a function of your deck. Keep in mind, the tub still needs to be supported in a proper way. This approach sacrifices the visibility of the beautiful tub, however, it does add sun protection for it.

The hot tub can also be placed on the ground: The site should be level and compact. Use fine gravel or coarse sand to prepare a well-drained, level, and stable soil base.

Click here to view our hot tub installation document for more information.

Cedar hot tubs are easiest to install above ground because the tubs cannot be soil backfilled. Below-ground installations will require concrete retaining walls. If you wish to provide retaining walls, then yes, a Zen Bathworks Wooden Hot Tub can be installed below ground.

The ACC brand gas systems require a 120V, 20A electrical circuit with GFCI. The ACC brand electric heated systems require a 240V, 50A electrical circuit with GFCI.

The gas heater will consume approximately one gallon of propane for each hour it runs. Keep in mind your heater doesn’t run 24/7 just because you have your system on. Like the furnace in your home, it has a thermostat and turns on intermittently to maintain the water temperature you have the system set to. Obviously the higher you have your thermostat set to, the colder it is outside, and the less the water is insulated from heat loss, the more time your heater will spend running.

We recommend having at least a 120-gallon (aka 420 lb) propane tank. These tanks resemble an upright barrel and are about 4″6″ tall and 30″ in diameter. When full these tanks hold 96 gallons of fuel and typically will supply a hot tub’s need for at least a month. Keep in mind this can vary a lot and in extreme cases, this tank might be inadequate. However, for most scenarios, this tank size is adequate. Bigger tanks will simply give you more peace of mind and more time in between fillings.

Overall the 11kW uses the same amount of electrical energy. It just has a heating rate that is twice as fast, therefore it will run half as long and in the end use the same amount of electricity as the 5.5kW heater would have.

It is common for our customers who use their hot tubs relatively frequently to keep their water temperature setting pretty warm. And in such cases, the speed at which the system will heat up the tub is not all that important. Also, with the addition of the optional WiFi remote module, you can turn up your hot tub from anywhere in the world if you have a smartphone or tablet and a data connection! This makes it less imperative to have a fast heat-up rate as well. However, the larger the heater you have, the more flexibility you have. You can still set it however you want and if you find yourself in a situation requiring a faster heat-up time, you’ll have the heater to do it.

Keep in mind, gas heaters far outperform electrical in both efficiency and heat-up rate capabilities.

Hot tub pumps are not very loud, especially on low speed. The single-speed pump and the dual-speed pumps while on low speed are way under 50 dB when measured just a few feet away. The noise level only exceeds 50 dB if the reading is taken less than 12 inches from the running pump. On high speed, the two-speed pumps’ noise levels are quiet enough that even if placed near the tub, they do not inhibit conversation between the tub occupants or cause the need to yell.

In short, it can take up to around two weeks for the tub to fully seal. In general, when you first start filling your new tub, you may experience a range of leaking levels, from no leaks to several spots with running leaks and several more spots with drips. If you followed the assembly procedure correctly, there’s no cause for panic. The biggest changes will occur during the first two days of the tub being full of water and kept full of water. After two days, you should not have any running leaks, only drips.

Click here to view our hot tub assembly manual with additional details under Section 11: Adding Water. For troubleshooting purposes, please refer to our Hot Tub Leak Troubleshooting Guide.

No. Zen Bathworks Cedar Hot Tubs have wood-on-wood interfaces that seal because as the wood absorbs the water, the compression retention bands channel the forces on the staves (wall pieces) and floor toward each other to create water-tight seals. 

As for the fittings, gaskets are supplied to seal their interfaces with the wood of the tub. Therefore, no sealants are needed besides the PVC primer and cement used to join the plumbing fittings and piping.

Our Cedar Hot Tubs are easy to maintain. 

Tub Exterior: To keep your cedar tub looking glorious, we recommend applying an occasional coat of teak oil on the exterior surface and rim. After the oil on the rim is cured, apply furniture wax. We recommend liquid paste-type wax. This should be repeated as necessary and is usually between one and four times per year, depending on how much the tub is exposed to direct sunlight. If the cedar looks slightly dry rather than slick and shiny, that’s a good sign it’s time to oil and wax. It’s a simple and enjoyable hand application process. Knit material rags (T-shirt material) are recommended.

Tub Interior: No finishing products should be applied to the interior of the tub. Clean the inside with mild soapy water and a soft-medium brush between water changes. 

Water Sanitation: Follow the water treatment steps on our Water Sanitation Guidelines to keep your tub water clean and safe. This entails regular filter cleanings/rotations (approx every two weeks), PH checking, and chlorine administration up to once per tub usage, as directed. You can get a more complete summary of the process to keep your hot tub water clean in our next FAQ.

Our recommended hot tub water sanitation method involves three things working together: 

• A filter
• A built-in ozonator and/or ionizer
• Limited use of a special type of chlorine 

When you purchase a tub kit from us we include a “starter kit” that has what you need to get off to a good start. The details are included in these instructions. 

Here’s a summary: Follow the water treatment steps in our Water Sanitation Guidelines to keep your tub water clean and safe. As you will see, this entails regular filter cleanings/rotations (approx every two weeks), PH checking, and chlorine administration up to once per tub usage, as directed. Also if you have the ionizer you will need to monitor copper concentrations. During the first year, your cedar will release tannins into the water. Tannins offer healthful antioxidants but also react with the chlorine. Therefore during the first year, you’ll add a bit more chlorine and change the water a bit more often. After this process is complete, which typically takes about six months, you will be able to change water much less frequently — every 30–40 hot tub uses, or every four months, whichever happens first.

While there are some measures to reduce the need for sanitation chemicals to almost nothing, some amount of sanitizing agent (e.g. chlorine) is necessary. A sanitizing agent plays an important role in every certified hot tub sanitation system. Even saltwater pools use electrical currents to turn the salt into chlorine. Many of the sanitation products that claim to eliminate chlorine expose you to other chemicals that are equally hazardous (if not more) and that are less effective.

The ozone, ion, and AOP systems we offer reduce the amount of chlorine needed to the lowest levels possible with current technology. Good usage habits such as showering before soaking also reduce the need for chemicals.

The recommended doses are detailed in our Water Sanitation Guidelines. For reference, our recommended chlorine dose for one of our bestselling models (6′ Round with ionizer) is merely one tablespoon at a time during break-in, dropping to ¼ tablespoon after the tannins have been released from the wood. These levels are so low that if you hadn’t put it in yourself, you’d never know it was there. You will not notice a persistent odor or feel any effects when using the tub.

Chlorine can be bad for cedar if you add too much or use the wrong kind. Dichlor is the gentlest chlorine product available, and no other form of chlorine should be used on wood tubs. It is possible to damage your tub with dichlor by ignoring the recommended amounts, but when used correctly, the small amounts of dichlor will not harm your tub, or you.

The recommended doses are detailed in our Water Sanitation Guidelines. For reference, our recommended chlorine dose for one of our bestselling models (6′ Round with ionizer) is merely one tablespoon at a time during break-in, dropping to ¼ tablespoon after the tannins have been released from the wood. These levels are so low that if you hadn’t put it in yourself, you’d never know it was there. You will not notice a persistent odor or feel any effects when using the tub.

Some people use bromine for cedar tubs instead of chlorine, thinking it will be better for the tub. It is true that bromine is gentler on wood than some forms of chlorine, but it is still about as harsh as dichlor-type chlorine. We prefer dichlor for one big reason though: excess dichlor evaporates, and excess bromine soaks into the wood. We believe that over time, a cedar tub maintained correctly with dichlor will outlast a tub sanitized with bromine.

Consult a local pest control expert for the best advice, but you can try using deterrents such as diatomaceous earth or copper.

If you need to move your Zen Bathworks Hot Tub, it is best to move it assembled. Although they may not look like it, empty cedar hot tubs can be lifted by three or four strong individuals. You may wonder if you can turn it on its side and roll it. If the bands are tight, this is possible, but probably not practical unless for very short distances. This is because you will likely mar the outside of the tub. Cedar is soft so it dents and scratches easily.

If you must disassemble it, let it dry for at least two weeks before disassembling. When reassembling, all staves must go back in original order and as much as possible, and back in the same orientation with relationship to the floor. It is not unlikely that a stave or two will break during disassembly or reassembly. If this occurs, contact us and we can send you measuring instructions so that we can make you a new stave.

Zen Bathworks Cedar Hot Tubs can realistically offer an average of 20 years of service when properly installed and maintained.

Our cedar hot tubs and accompanying systems have a limited warranty for a full two years against defects in material or workmanship. Our Zen Bathworks insulated Hot Tub Covers have a limited four-year warranty. Click here to view our hot tub product warranty.

We are a small family-owned company committed to customer satisfaction. We realize our products are investments. We work hard and tirelessly exercise all feasible options to keep you enjoying your hot tub for years and years to come. Contact Zen Bathworks with any questions today!