The Travelin Tub

Published : 23/04/2009 | Author: Verity Sewart | HOMEMAKERSonline

Karen Oosthyse owns a farm situated on the Van der Stel Pass near Botrivier, in which Kol Kol Mountain lodge lies tucked away beneath the fynbos. With a couple of luxury tents and lodges situated among such beauty, you can understand why she would preserve the natural environment by not using cement or any electricity in any of the buildings – even during the wet winter months. This brought about the idea of a hot tub. But not just any hot tub, the eco-friendly Travelin Tub!

What’s all the fuss about?

This light weight, portable, wood-fired hot tub is great for the outdoors, even cosier for the indoors and the ultimate relaxation and stress reliever.

It is made out of light weight, durable polyethylene, manufactured in a variety of colours and can accommodate between 4-6 people. Because Marine grade Aluminium is an efficient heat conductor and is known for its corrosion-resistant properties, it would make perfect sense to use this in the manufacturing of the Travelin Tub. Heating the tub takes less than an hour and can reach temperatures of between 18-38 degrees Celsius. Caring for and operating the tub is as simple as building a fire.

Benefits

Apart from the Travelin Tub being a fun and leisure item, there are many benefits to both the environment and your health from this innovation. The means of burning the wood heats up the tub so no electricity is needed. Only non-indigenous trees are utilised for the burning process such as Port Jackson, Black Wattle, Bloekom and Pine Cones. These give off the best heat and by using only one and a half bags of wood to heat your tub it is far more cost efficient than tubs using electricity to heat them. The Travelin Tub fits on the back of a bakkie so it is portable and light weight making it easy to be moved and transported to your ideal destination. No electrical wires, piping or built in structures makes insulation a breeze.

Knowing that you have saved on those electricity bills and are not emitting harmful gasses into the environment, you can now also reap the health benefits that come along with hot tubbin’. Hot water has amazing results on muscles. It increases the range of muscle movement which allows for better stretching. Because warm blood reaches deeper into the muscles, this allows the muscles to relax and rid themselves of toxins and metabolic waste. The warm water also helps relax the central nervous system which assists in pinched nerves, tense muscles and temporary relief of pain which will inevitably help with insomnia.