Anyone use an inflatable spa in winter? (freezing temps)

Jump to latest Follow Reply
I like it!!! Guess I'll have to take mine out of the box. Bought it last year during the Christmas sales, but never actually opened it yet.

As far as the garage, I wold worry about all the extra moisture getting into things and then freezing...or in my case, causing mold issues in the room above the garage.
 
A good and enterprising fellow inflatable spa owner in Sacramento named Mike, was kind enough to to send me some details on his Franken-Spa creation. It is completely independent of the spa's own heat/filter control unit, drawing water from the drain. He does not have the winter challenges/temps that I do in Toronto, but I think the EcoTemp propane shower heater would do the job up here as well. I may just do it, but perhaps next year.

Here is Mike's description of the setup (in addition to the details I provided a link to in post #7);

Thanks Mike! :D


Here’s the pic of my modification. The intex filter/pump was being flakey when sending water to the propane heater. It might be a problem with my pump, or a problem with that type of pump. Other forums suggest a transfer type pump with inline filter. I added a small pump to the water outlet leading to the propane heater, and now it works great.


There are three hoses connected to the heater:

-water line in (black)

-propane line from canister (also black)

-water line out (silver shower head line, nothing connected to it in the hot tub)


I put a cover over the hot water outlet in the tub. The water coming out of the propane heater line can be pretty hot, so best not to come in direct contact with it while in the spa.

Disclaimer: I am not recommending anyone make modifications to their Purespa system, just showing what I’ve done.



Mike



PS – several other pure spa owners have recommended insulation foam boards under the spa, on top of the cover, and or floating thermal blankets to improve efficiency and usability of the spa, especially in colder weather. I added a 6’ diameter R13 foam board to the top (just laid it on the cover and weighted it). It looks like it cut my electricity use in half.



I ended up pulling the inflatable portion of the lid out of its cover, and now cover the spa by putting the inflatable top on first, lay the foam insulation board on second, and then tie the whole thing down with the fabric cover that attaches to the tub. Much better at holding in the heat.

20140920_172150_resized.jpgspa foam cover construction.jpg
 
I'm a little surprised there are no comments about this modification. It's ugly but that's why it's a Franken spa. I bet a more subtle implementation could be accomplished.

Using an Ecotemp portable propane shower to heat an inflatable spa is a really great idea for many reasons, not the least of which is lower cost to run and many more BTU's.
 
banditig said:
I just bought one at Walmart could not resist. And going to get foam board. I miss my pool already
Click to expand...
I ended up with the Rio Grande spa from Walmart. I thought I was buying Canadian but it seems to be a rebranded Avenli (China). *sigh*

Ordered the grand rapids and they sent the RG. $300 diff!

Anyway, great so far but yet to get real cold here. Been down to 3c so far (3 above freezing). If you don't use bubbles the heater keeps up, but they are a killer on the spa temp if you like bubbles. At any outdoor temp.

Walmart said 4 person but I call bs. 1 is luxury, 2 comfy, 3 tight, 4...not even with family.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
 
Is it possible to get the exact products (ecotemp, pump, hoses, and anything else you used)? I live in NYC and definitely want to make this work for the winter...

Cybergy said:
A good and enterprising fellow inflatable spa owner in Sacramento named Mike, was kind enough to to send me some details on his Franken-Spa creation. It is completely independent of the spa's own heat/filter control unit, drawing water from the drain. He does not have the winter challenges/temps that I do in Toronto, but I think the EcoTemp propane shower heater would do the job up here as well. I may just do it, but perhaps next year.

Here is Mike's description of the setup (in addition to the details I provided a link to in post #7);

Thanks Mike! :D


Here’s the pic of my modification. The intex filter/pump was being flakey when sending water to the propane heater. It might be a problem with my pump, or a problem with that type of pump. Other forums suggest a transfer type pump with inline filter. I added a small pump to the water outlet leading to the propane heater, and now it works great.


There are three hoses connected to the heater:

-water line in (black)

-propane line from canister (also black)

-water line out (silver shower head line, nothing connected to it in the hot tub)


I put a cover over the hot water outlet in the tub. The water coming out of the propane heater line can be pretty hot, so best not to come in direct contact with it while in the spa.

Disclaimer: I am not recommending anyone make modifications to their Purespa system, just showing what I’ve done.



Mike



PS – several other pure spa owners have recommended insulation foam boards under the spa, on top of the cover, and or floating thermal blankets to improve efficiency and usability of the spa, especially in colder weather. I added a 6’ diameter R13 foam board to the top (just laid it on the cover and weighted it). It looks like it cut my electricity use in half.



I ended up pulling the inflatable portion of the lid out of its cover, and now cover the spa by putting the inflatable top on first, lay the foam insulation board on second, and then tie the whole thing down with the fabric cover that attaches to the tub. Much better at holding in the heat.

View attachment 42926View attachment 42927
Click to expand...
 
i bought an intex last year, pieced together a shack (improvised bc im not a builder, just a determined single mom who needed it as my meditation space) with various pieces of plywood, cast off doors and such (wasnt pretty)and added (hot water heater) insulation to the 'ceiling'. i kept the ten foot path passable, used a space heater on low only when guests were due and used it all winter here in MA.

i bought a shelter logic shed for it this yr which I plan to reinforce with last year's materials (determined not to give in to snow). bh&g may not have called but it helped me keep my sanity.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Nice! You sound very determined.

No issue with the equipment freezing up I assume? Where's MA; Manitoba, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana?

I have thought of a shelter, but I do like sitting back and looking at the stars. I have not yet been through a winter with my spa, so I may change my mind on that ;-)

But I agree with you, screw winter!

Sent from my Z10 using Tapatalk
 
Cybergy said:
Nice! You sound very determined.

No issue with the equipment freezing up I assume? Where's MA; Manitoba, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana?

I have thought of a shelter, but I do like sitting back and looking at the stars. I have not yet been through a winter with my spa, so I may change my mind on that ;-)

But I agree with you, screw winter!

Sent from my Z10 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing! I joined this forum just so I could learn more about your experience over winter. We are from MA like the previous poster. Looking for an inflatable/portable that we can use in the winter OUTSIDE. Seems we found the same information that you did online (surprised there is not more?) .... We were looking at the Grand Rapids as well and hoping we could somehow insulate it to help it along. I'll be checking back so please do keep us posted! Merry Christmas!
 
persyus said:
Is it possible to get the exact products (ecotemp, pump, hoses, and anything else you used)? I live in NYC and definitely want to make this work for the winter...
Click to expand...

My apologies persyus, I somehow didn't see your post. I wish I could lure Mike into this discussion, but so far no go.

As you are in the US, you have better options than I do in Canada. Mike got his pump from Harbor Freight (HF). The Eccotemp is an L5. Here is some more detail on his setup;

The Eccotemp is still working fine, and I purchased a pump from Harbor Freight that has the right output in pressure. I run the water from the hose outlet in the spa to an Intex 530 pump/filter that came with a kiddie pool, then run the output from the 530 to the HF pump, pump to the eccotemp heater, back to the spa. I’m using the hose that came with the eccotemp to send the hot water back to the spa, and it will jump around and spray everywhere if you don’t put a weight on the end. Makes things exciting! But it does a great job heating, 20 degrees F per hour easy (in Sacramento J). That’s with the ecootemp dials at 25% heat, 50% water volume.

Hope that is of some use to you persyus and please do let us know how you are getting along.
 
IDezine said:
Thanks for sharing! ... Merry Christmas!
Click to expand...

Very happy to hear this interests you IDezine, and Merry Christmas to you too!

Up here in TO, we have barely dipped below 0C so far which is uncommon , but we know it's coming don't we? ... All I can say is that these spas are supposed to be 4 season (including Canada) and I don't see why they wouldn't be, as long as you leave the heater on, right? However, as with any 120v plug and play spa, they can't keep up with the cold air for long. Temp starts to drop, and bubbles are almost never used in my yard.

I can't sit in a tub for much longer than 30 mins so it really isn't an issue for me. By that time it has dropped from 102 to 100F. If I wanted to stay in the tub and watch a 3 hour hockey game, apart from being a prune and possibly hyperthermic - it wouldn't work in winter here. Having said that, so far I don't see any issues with the setup.
 
We have started to see below freezing temps up here in TO and some snow but still way less than normal. A few days of -10C though, and the spa did just fine.

There was a power outage however for about 15 mins, on and off for a while. I did not notice that my spa GFI got tripped during that time and the water temp went from 102F to 48F after a few days. Reset and after a day or so it was back up to temp - no harm done, luckily.

Also, I just received delivery of a $9 submersible multi-coloured LED light puck with a remote. Wow! It looks great! Amazon and Superbrightleds.com sell them. Recommended to add some pizazz to your inflatable! If I can figure out how to post a pic or video I will.


Happy New year all!
 
Ok, This is a short video of the light set on colour change mode so you can see some of the options. Light has a tiny remote that works through the water, but I dropped the remote in the tub - which I do not recommend doing. Dried it out on the heat register and it came back.
User Media - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing Video Hosting

I got a 48" flat-style bungee cord and hang the light puck off it with a rubber band so it points across the tub and not up or down. Altogether the cost is $14 :-D

I don't leave it in the tub, I just hang the bungee on one of the outside cover strap anchors and drop the light in when I need it.
 
Been a few months since I updated this topic. Here's a few things I discovered running this inflatable spa all winter in below freezing temperatures.

- I personally am not consistently excited about putting trunks on and walking out to the tub when it's cold. Some nights I am, and others...meh. Maybe I'll move the spa closer to the door next winter.
- My inflatable is absolutely winter-ready, as advertised. Never had to leave the tub before I was ready to, due to the water cooling off (usually no more than 1/2 hour). Never any issues with freezing. NBA all star weekend here in Toronto was seriously cold (-25C). No issue with the spa.
- When the power goes out even for a moment, the pump and heater must be turned on manually. Get someone to check on it if you are going away.
- The bubbles are a bit too strong for my liking. It's very splashy and loud.
- I love the cheap, submersible LED light with remote. I put the remote in a ziplock bag in case I drop it in the water (which I did).
- I use a simple bromine puck floater and put a single puck inside at a time. No problems with chemistry, or a yellow ring. No problems at all. But bromine makes the water take on a green-ish hue after attacking organics over time. It's not algae or cloudy. A 1/8-1/4 cup of baking soda brings back blue water almost instantly. This goes the same with my pool (but needs a lot more baking soda of course).
- I'm not using a kill-o-watt meter to determine hydro use, but I do notice my electric bill is higher than normal for winter. I guess that is to be expected. In a very mild winter, my use has probably increased 25% over last winter, which was colder.

I think a camp shower heater/franken-spa setup might just pay for itself in a single season...



Anyone else enjoying an inflatable spa, sub-zero this year?
 
Nice job! I have the same spa and I've been looking for similar mods and I surprised there aren't more like this on the net.

I bought mine last year and the pump died after an unsuccessful attempt running throughout the winter last year. I replaced the in-unit pump with an Intex above ground pool pump similar to what's shown above except mine goes directly into the base unit. Now I'm having some trouble with the base unit and I'm looking to try and keep mine running all winter so I'll be stealing some of the ideas in this thread.

Any other advice would be appreciated.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply