How to keep raised spa water warm when not in use?

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J

johntars

Member
Jul 30, 2019
5
Tampa, Florida
We have a raised spa that spills over into the pool. We live in FL and use a solar cover; however when the pump runs during the day the spa water spills over into the pool. The hot water we once had in there from the night before just goes away. Is there a way to have the warm water stay inside the spa without sacrificing water circulation?
 
No.

Your pool and spa water are one unit. So they must be chlorinated and filtered together. You can reduce the spa spillover time if you have automation.

Can you fill out your signature? Really helps us help you.
 
Mine will do it pretty easily.

Typically in pool mode, the pool jets/drains activate + 1 spa jet to spillover. If I am done with using the spa, but dont want to lose the hot water to the pool, I just turn off the spillover valve before I switch back to pool mode. That way what is currently in the spa stays in the spa until I'm ready to switch back to spa mode. We did this several times over Christmas when the kids wanted to get in in the morning, then get out, get back in, etc.
 
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Thanks everyone! Super helpful! And yes I will update my signature. I am literally 3 weeks new to pool ownership so just getting all this started. @JJ_Tex, I tried that and my pool builder advised against it as it may force to much pressure through the pump...or something? But I had that same thought...to simply shut off that one valve that forces the pool water into the spa and over the spillway.
 
You can do what JJ states for a few hours or maybe a day, but, eventually you will want to chlorinate that water. Maintaining the spa water as a separate entity for days at a time will be problematic.
 
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John,

I thought you wanted to keep the water hot.. If you just trap the spa water in the spa, it will not stay very hot for too long. Plus, as Marty points out it will not be long before the spa turns into a petri dish. The entire point of having a spillover is so that the spa water gets replaced with fresh chlorinated water.

That said, you pool builder is just full of Bull Stuff about too much pump pressure.. :mrgreen:

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Right, my suggestion was not meant to be a long term plan, but you should be fine for a day or even a full weekend. Just know that in pool mode, they water that remains in your spa is stagnant until you switch back to spa mode and it can start being filtered and chlorinated (assuming your swcg runs in spa mode).
 
mknauss said:
You can do what JJ states for a few hours or maybe a day, but, eventually you will want to chlorinate that water. Maintaining the spa water as a separate entity for days at a time will be problematic.
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Can’t he have his SWG chlorinate while in spa mode (at a lower %). The water will get filtered and chlorinated. I do have a spillover run for 30 mins a day, but I can also chlorinate while in spa-only mode.
 
If you switch to full spa mode a couple times per day you could. You would have to determine how long based on the SWCG output and the FC demand.
 

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Jim,

While you are in the Spa mode, you are not filter or chlorinating your pool... The only option would be to switch back and forth between the Pool mode and Spa mode.. With your IntelliCenter, you have plenty of programming power to make the switch every hour or less.. If you have an older style of automation I doubt you have that ability. In my case, I have an EasyTouch and can only have a max of 12 schedule/programs.. Just doing normal stuff I use all 12.. Switching every hour would require an additional 12 schedules.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Jimrahbe said:
Jim,

While you are in the Spa mode, you are not filter or chlorinating your pool... The only option would be to switch back and forth between the Pool mode and Spa mode.. With your IntelliCenter, you have plenty of programming power to make the switch every hour or less.. If you have an older style of automation I doubt you have that ability. In my case, I have an EasyTouch and can only have a max of 12 schedule/programs.. Just doing normal stuff I use all 12.. Switching every hour would require an additional 12 schedules.

Thanks,

Jim R.
Click to expand...
Yes I am. I’m filtering and chlorinating. IntelliCenter even allows me to enter different a SWG % for spa and pool modes.
 
jimbethesda said:
Yes I am. I’m filtering and chlorinating. IntelliCenter even allows me to enter different a SWG % for spa and pool modes.
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Sorry, re-read your post. Yes, you’re right, it’s either filtering/chlorinating the pool or spa.
My spa is 5% the volume of my pool. I don’t need to run my IC60 very long to produce enough ppm for the spa.

I’m just suggesting the OP run in SPA mode long enough to produce enough chlorine. Another advantage of an “over sized” SWG.

what I don’t get that you said is the switching back and forth. Can’t you just run it in pool for x hours, then spa for y hours?

I can generate 4.5 ppm in my pool over 9 hours (more than I need). I can then run my spa for an hour.
 
Jim,

I think I have lost track of what we were talking about... :mrgreen:

I thought that the original OP wanted to keep his spa hot for a long period of time. If you left it in the spa mode, the heater could keep the spa hot, but you could not sanitize or circulate water in the pool. That was why I suggest switching back and forth.

I'm going out and soak in my spa and see if I can get my brain to start working again!!

Because I seem to have drifted off from the original intent of this thread, I am going to just shut up now.. :)

Jim R.
 
This is great info everyone! My initial question (and remember I am new and novice to all of this) is that if I run my spa one evening and I plan to also use it the next day, I was trying to see if I need to completely re-heat it all over again or is there a way to keep as much of that warm water in there as I could. I do have a solar blanket (I live in FL) but I am sure that wouldn't do it entirely. Based on this thread it seems like I could maybe keep it spa only mode (no spillway) for a day or so here and there but that would be the extent of it? Thanks again!
 
You got it.

You have even more options if the return that does your spillway has a separate valve on it. That way you can turn off the spillway and easily switch back and forth between pool and spa mode without the water mixing and losing your hot water to the pool. That is perfect for a day or two, but harder to manage for longer.
 
Got it...and I do have a separate valve for the "spa return". So I can easily turn it off and on. And while I have you all...can you recommend a way for me to auto control my spa temperature from my phone? Nothing fancy. Right now I do it manually by going outside to the heater and turn it off/on manually. It would be nice to turn it on from my home and see what the current temp is without having to keep going outside. Thoughts? Thanks again guys!
 
The only way I know of to control temperature from your phone would be through automation. Do you have any sort of automation to control pump speed, valves, etc remotely? If you do not, you can always add automation but it will come with a price tag, and not sure it would fit the bill of "nothing fancy".
 
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