Question on new attached spa design

[Drew80]

My wife and I are building a new house, and we're putting in a pool with an attached spillover spa. We have one in our current house, and I love it except for one thing. -- I would love to be able to heat up the spa and keep it heated without having to run the jets. So basically the way detached hot tubs work.

Is there any setup that accomplishes that?

 

[jblizzle]

Are you saying that you want to keep the spa hot all the time? Or do you just want to be able to heat it up occasionally and not have the jets on?

For the latter, it is not uncommon to have a plumbing loop for circulation and filtration that runs on the main pump/filter/heater. And then have a second plumbing loop for the jets with a second pump that is only turned on when you want the jet action.

 

[cbink]

Are you saying that you want to keep the spa hot all the time? Or do you just want to be able to heat it up occasionally and not have the jets on?

For the latter, it is not uncommon to have a plumbing loop for circulation and filtration that runs on the main pump/filter/heater. And then have a second plumbing loop for the jets with a second pump that is only turned on when you want the jet action.

This is how ours is plumbed. We have a separate function that activates a blower to turn the jets on otherwise the hot tub just heats up when in spa mode and stays at whatever temperature it's set to.

 

[Drew80]

I don't want the spa to stay hot all the time (that would cost a fortune). I want to be able to heat up the spa separate from the jet function, as cbink mentioned.

Cbink, can you explain in more detail how yours is plumbed? I've never seen that type of setup before, so I'm in the dark about how it would work.

 

[Richard320]

Mine is set up that way as well. I have two drains and something like 8 returns. Two of the returns and one of the drains go to the 3-way valves to the filter and heater. The others are plumbed to a dedicated pump that I never run. There are air holes in the floor of the spa that go to a blower that is on a separate switch. It seldom gets rum, either. Why heat a spa to blow cold air through it?

When we use the spa alone, I move the valves around so I draw from the spa and return to the pool and suck it down a few inches to allow for what we'll displace. Why heat it to let it spill into the pool? Then I set the valves to 100% spa in and out and turn on the heater. Twenty minutes later, it's usually ready to go. The two return jets churn the water up plenty and it feels great to sit in front of them and let the hot water pound your stiff back.

 

[mas985]

This is the way most dual pump spas are plumbed:

 

[Drew80]

Richard, are you saying that there are 8 return jets, two of which are used to heat and 6 are just jets? So is there no way to sit in a still hot tub?

My wife and I spent the weekend at a resort in New Mexico, and we were amazed by how nice it was sitting under the stars in a still hot tub, without the noise of the jets running constantly. That's what I'm trying to recreate.

Mark, thanks for the diagram. Very helpful.

 

[jblizzle]

The 2 filtration/heater returns do not have the jets, they just circulate water like normal pool returns.

 

[Richard320]

Richard, are you saying that there are 8 return jets, two of which are used to heat and 6 are just jets? So is there no way to sit in a still hot tub?

My wife and I spent the weekend at a resort in New Mexico, and we were amazed by how nice it was sitting under the stars in a still hot tub, without the noise of the jets running constantly. That's what I'm trying to recreate.

Mark, thanks for the diagram. Very helpful.

Two are hooked to the main pump/filter/heater, the other six to the dedicated spa pump. So when only the filter and heater are on, only two returns are flowing, and they don't churn it up too bad. Once the water's hot, you can shut the heater and pump off if you want to just soak. I personally like the backmassage effect.

 

[Drew80]

Got it. Thanks for the help.