KITCHENER -- Hot tubs are one of the hot ticket items as people prepare to spend more time at home this winter.
The Ferrante family said their swim spa -- a mix between a pool and a hot tub -- is one of the best purchases they've ever made.
"I think it is the 104 in the winter, so it's great," Angelo Ferrante said. "Then in the summer, you can cool it to the temperature of a swimming pool."
The family made the purchase early on in the pandemic. Anyone buying one now could face delivery delays.
"The demand is so high it is pushing build dates to March," said Jessica Witty with Arctic Spas in Kitchener.
Witty said the delay is partly because of the availability of some materials.
"There's two companies that specialize in acrylics for hot tubs and those companies also make Plexiglas and if you can image how many places are putting up Plexiglas," she said.
Things are also heating up at Jacuzzi Kitchener.
"We've noticed our sales have more than doubled in the last six months," Liz Kennedy said.
Before the pandemic, there was an eight-week wait for hot tub deliveries. Now, it's about triple that length of time, depending on the model.
"We do have tubs becoming available as soon as the end of October, beginning of November, so there's a lot of options," Kennedy said.
Experts said it's not surprising that people are flooding stores to buy hot tubs. Home renovation items have been a hot commodity since the spring with people spending more time at home.
"A lot of people immunocompromised can't go to the pools or even when they do open up, they're not going to want to," Witty said.
The Ferrantes said it provides them with a staycation in their own backyard.
