Bought a house with a hot tub.. help!

[d3r]

I am in Norther Michigan. Just bought a house that has a hot tub installed outside in the back deck. We are not familiar at all with hot tubs. It is obviously cold here in the winter and the tub is currently running and filled. We assumed the tub was empty but shortly after moving in we heard it running and lifted the top to find it filled/heated and circulating. We have no idea where to go from here or whether we even want to keep it... so I have a few questions.

1. Is it safe to drain and clean in such low temps (will be 35F tomorrow during the day and 20F at night)
2. How should I go about cleaning it if so
3. Should I just drain it and keep it drained until spring? if so, how do you winterize it?

any other helpful tips or "if I were you.." opinions are welcome. Thanks.:batman:

 

[Jimrahbe]

d3r,

Welcome to TFP.. a great place to find the answers to all your "R2D2" hot tub questions...

I have little experience with hot tubs in your area, but I would just keep it running rather than drain it now...

If you have a break in the weather, where the temperatures will be well above freezing for a couple of days, I would drain it then and purge with Ahh-some a couple of times. Then I would refill it, assuming you plan to use it..

If would not hurt to sample the water that is in there now and see what's up.. What are the following levels..

FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA

I assume it has a cover, so if you are not going to use it now, I would lower the temperature as low as it will go..

Let's see if we can get someone with a little local knowledge to chime in about what they would do...

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[d3r]

Hi, and thank you for the welcome.

yes it has a cover...I believe the temp read 100F when I opened it. It was kinda funny... we assumed it was empty and winterized and we would figure out what to do with it in the spring...then we were outside and heard a bunch of noise..we were like "what the heck was that?!" walked over to the tub and lifted the lid and sure enough it was fully up and running hahah.. both got the "deer in headlights" look on our faces.... kids come running up "oh cool! a hot tub! lets get in!" noooooooot!

can you give me the full names of the tests? I know PH, but im clueless on the rest of those abbreviations. thanks so much

 

[Arobbert]

d3r,

Welcome to TFP.. a great place to find the answers to all your "R2D2" hot tub questions...

I have little experience with hot tubs in your area, but I would just keep it running rather than drain it now...

If you have a break in the weather, where the temperatures will be well above freezing for a couple of days, I would drain it then and purge with Ahh-some a couple of times. Then I would refill it, assuming you plan to use it..

If would not hurt to sample the water that is in there now and see what's up.. What are the following levels..

FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA

I assume it has a cover, so if you are not going to use it now, I would lower the temperature as low as it will go..

Let's see if we can get someone with a little local knowledge to chime in about what they would do...

Thanks,

Jim R.

I'm South of you in Holland. This forum is great and will give you all the info you need.

Definitely keep the tub going. They're hard to drain completly and you don't want any water in the lines to freeze. Besides you're going to want to use it!

You can purge, drain and fill in one day if you get temps above 35. I prefer it above 40 because it's wet cold work. You can probably wait until spring unless you have an issue with water quality. If you don't have a floor drain you can use a sump pump with 1.5 inch hose to speed the drain (compared to siphoning). I use a shop vac to get the last bit and rinse water out. You will want to rinse it a bit after you do a purge. I run a line from my bathroom sink through a window to fill it as it can take some time to get the water up to temp in the winter. I turn the water heater up as high as it will go about an hour before the fill.

Read this thread: https://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/9670-How-do-I-use-Chlorine-in-my-Spa-(or-pool)

Also this tool is great for calculating your chemical doses: https://www.troublefreepool.com/calc.html

Good luck and don't be afraid to ask questions. There's nothing like soaking in a snow storm!