Urgent question regarding spa

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Lpge40

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Nov 4, 2012
8
Hi there,
Just started the installation of a fiberglass pool 16x40 and tomorrow they are starting the plumbing and electrical. Pool will be delivered tomorrow too. The pool hold 21000 gallons and we have the Pentair intelliflo pump, pentair 320 clear and easy, intellichlor IC40 and pentair 125000 heat pump.

We had not budgeted for a spa but yesterday I mentioned it and the pool builder said he would give us a good price as he already has dug up the area and is about to start the plumbing, electrical etc.

He mentioned he would include the light, the pump, add as many jets as we'd like (?) and obviously the plumbing. The spa hold 500 gallons.

The question I had is what should we be looking for as far specifications are concerned. Pump size? Seperate plumbing? I'm clueless as this is last minute and haven't really researched this.

Or would it just be better purchasing an above ground spa later?

Thanks!!!
 
Do you actually close the pool? Or just reduce the pump run time and not use it?

Most pool/spa combos share the water and equipment, so if you have to winterize the pool by emptying and plugging the lines, then you would not be able to use the spa in winter since the equipment would be emptied. So you would need a completely separate hot tub to continue use in the winter. Although, that then means you have 2 different bodies of water to balance and maintain.

But if you are like we are here in AZ, we do not winterize our pools and just reduce the pump run time and maintain the chemistry as normal. So if you had the pool/spa combo you would just switch the valves to spa mode and turn the heater on.

Of course you could get the in-ground spa and have that water be completely separate from the pool and add another pump/filter/etc, but then you loose the advantage of only maintaining the chemistry in 1 body of water.

One nice thing about the stand alone above ground hot tubs is that they typically have a lot more jets/etc.

Sorry, this kind of rambled, but it really depends on your climate, how you think you will use it, and whether you want to deal with chemistry in 2 bodies of water.
 
The pool builder states that we would be able to maintain the spa and pool at separate temps and be able to run the spa even when the pool is not in use. The spa would have a separate pump, would have an air blower, but run on the same filter and be plumbed at the same equipment pad. He also stated that if we wanted we could heat the spa and pump that water into the pool to speed up the pool heating process. So does this mean that I'd only be maintaining one body of water if it's interchangeable?
 
Sounds like a typical pool/spa combo ... which would not allow use in the winter if you have yup do a true winterization of the equipment and pool.

Unless you decide to run the pump whenever the weather was below freezing to avoid damage to the equipment.

Posted from my Droid with Tapatalk ... sorry if my response is short ;)
 
I don't believe we will ever winterize our pool here in central Texas.
I was just thinking whether or not the heat pump would keep the spa warm if the outside temperature drops to 45-50 degrees or lower. Don't heat pumps use the ambient temp outside to heat the water? If so wouldn't we be stuck with a cold spa during the coldest periods?
 
Oh, well if you are not closing the pool, then that setup is fine. BUT, a heat pump will not do anything to warm the water when the outside temp is that warm. In fact I don't think a heat pump is ever adequate for a spa ... too slow at actually heating.

If you want a hot tub in the winter, you need a gas/propane (or inefficient electric resistance) heater.
 
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