As we approach the winter months, many customers reach out to us to ask for advice on what to do with their hot tubs or swim spas. Some customers have always preferred seasonal use, whether this is summer or winter only, it's very much down to personal preference. Ultimately, the question is how much use are you expecting to get out of the hot tub over the coming months? As a long term hot tub owner, you may find this changes from week to week, depending on just how busy life is! Now there are factors to consider such as the increase cost to energy bills, especially over the winter period, this is forcing more customers to ask the question, 'what to do with my hot tub?'.
So here are some scenarios to help you figure out what might be best for you...
Using your hot tub in the winter - then keep doing what you are doing! You may want to crank the water temp up by a degree or so, to allow for that bit of heat loss when using the spa in colder outdoor temperatures, especially if you are in an open spot, where the wind can help take a bit of heat away when the lid's open.
Using your hot tub less in the winter - The key is for the hot tub to be ready, when you want to use it, but you might try and find a cost benefit to the running of the hot tub. If you have the benefit of using an Air Source Heat Pump for your heating, then this should allow your hot tub to heat up faster and cheaper, than a conventional in-line heater. This means you could try to change the mode on the hot tub, allowing the spa to rest more in the week when you are not using it, and program it to run in normal mode for the weekend when you plan to use the hot tub, as an example. If you are unsure on how to change the modes, then you could try manually lowering the temp, and lower your filter cycles for periods of no use. This method may be more beneficial for customers who either have Air Source Heat Pumps or who have a very well insulated hot tub that retains the heat well. If neither apply to you, then you can reduce your filter cycles to a minimum at the very least and maybe consider methods of improving the efficiency of your hot tub, either by extra insulation, a new spa cover, an additional waterline floating cover or the installation of an air source heat pump.
Maybe use your hot tub in the winter - If you have decided that you wont be using the hot tub for the interim, but you would like to keep the option should you change your mind, or if you would like to use it over the festive period for example, then the answer is turn it down to the lowest temperature. You can also change the mode if possible, to the most economic mode like SLEEP or REST mode. If your hot tub only goes down to 26c but has a SLEEP mode, then this should drop down another 11 degrees below this temp. Also change the filter cycles to run at a minimum but not off completely, so the water gets a chance to move, avoiding stagnation or risk in freezing in extreme cases of cold. The benefits in doing this over draining the hot tub is the running parts such as the pumps, will still function within a 24 hour period, which should prevent the risk of these parts seizing. Seals remain wet, so there is less risk of drying out or shrinking, resulting in leaks. You don't have to make as much effort emptying all the water out of the hot tub and you don't need to check on chemicals as often in cooler water. Then when you are ready to use the hot tub again, it makes the whole process much easier.
Not using your hot tub in the winter - In this circumstance, you have 2 options. Either you can set your hot tub to run at a minimum like the above, or you can fully drain and de-commission it for the winter. Now when it comes to closing the hot tub for an extended period, or Winterising as its known, you have to make sure you are thorough. There is risk attached to not shutting a hot tub down properly such as contamination on refill, if you fail to get a sufficient amount of water out of the tub itself and the pipework. Water that remains in the pipework can also freeze and expand in extreme cases, potentially causing damage to pipework. Parts which are prone to running frequently like pumps can seize, causing issues on turn-on resulting in parts needing to be replaced. Seals can dry out resulting in leaks in some cases, especially heater o-rings for example. There is upside as well.... if you are concerned with energy costs at home or you are looking to manage them as best you possibly can, then this will result in no cost in running your hot tub, which can be considerable and more noticeable over the winter months when bills at home are naturally higher. Our words of advice is learn the Winterising procedure if you want to carry it out yourself or hire a professional to do it, and recognise the risks. If the motivation is purely to save money on your energy bills, then putting the hot tub into a SLEEP mode may be enough.
Should you wish to know more on any of the above services, products or methods discussed, then contact us today at service@spasimple.co.uk, WhatsApp us on 07508199945 or call us on 01275 401140. We are more than happy to talk you through this.
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