Going through the mail bag (admittedly, I got behind this summer) and found this very legitimate question. Fortunately,the answer is simple. Unfortunately, the actual installation is a bit tricker.

Why would someone do this? Well, most home tanning beds don’t have hour meters and judging how many hours are on your lamps is usually guesswork. Honestly, for home tanning beds, an hour meter isn’t that important but if you have the time, a little money, and an electrician or technician in the family, it is a relatively simple task. In theory.

The key is to find one that has the same voltage as your tanning bed, sort of. If your tanning bed plugs in the wall, you need a 120V hour meter. If your tanning bed is 230V, 3 WIRE, and plugs in, you need a 230VAC hour meter. If your bed is a 240VAC 4 wire system, it probably already has an hour meter, but would require a 120V one if not. Cost for an hour meter is about $20 to $25, so it isn’t a very expensive upgrade to make yourself.

You need to be fairly handly with electricity, and know stuff like disconnecting the power, etc. to do this but it is actually pretty easy. Hour meters only have two wires, hot and neutral (or hot/hot for 240V). The key is to connect them on the BED side of the timer or relay/contactor. The hardest part is finding a place to mount, which will require you cut into your tanning bed. If your bed is steel, this is tricky. If it is plastic shelled, no problem.

First you want to get inside the bed, and find a mounting place that is near the timer, or the relay if it has one. You need easy clearance to connect the two wires, which are not included when you buy the hour meter. You will need to use the mounting bezel as a guide to the size of the hole to cut, then cut and mount. The wires you use to connect the hour meter to the power do not need to be heavy since the meter draws very little power. Make sure you have it wired so that the meter only runs when the bed is on.

If all this confuses you or the person doing the install, then it may be above their current comfort level and shouldn’t be attempted. If you are comfortable doing this, you can buy an hour meter from any company that sells tanning bed parts or other electrical parts, since hour meters are used on lots of equipment. Many nicer boat motors, tractors and generators have hour meters, so service centers are a decent source. Just take your time and do it right the first time.