heater temp overide

[TulsaKevin]

Looking at having a spa with our pool, talking to one of my friends he states his pool heater, pentair made therm 400, would automatically shut down when water temp is below forty. He thought it had to do with condensation.

Is this only for that specific heater , I only like the hot tub when it is 40 or colder. I'm sure that you should be able to great the spa in much colder temperatures other than keeping it continuously to keep the pool temp above the cutoff

 

[Ryno98]

I know it gets cold in Tulsa, but in North East Texas my water rarely (if at all) gets below 40 for any length of time. You might not have to run the heater that much to keep it above 40, which would eliminate your potential problem. I don't think my Hayward 400k BTU heater has that cut off, but I'm not completely sure. Perhaps someone from closer to your area can advise you of their normal winter pool water temp.

 

[JasonLion]

Not all heaters have an automatic shutoff for cold water, but essentially all heaters are at risk from corrosion due to condensation at low water temperatures. Typically, if you want to run the spa in the winter you need to keep it heated to roughly 50 degrees all the time, and warmer when in actual use.

 

[TulsaKevin]

Could you plumb it so you could have a pump for the pool and a separate pump for the spa, have the heater running to both, but in the winter time close of a valve and separate the pool to heater circuit so you only had a spa to heater circuit. Essentially make the spa function as a stand alone spa would, so the cost of heating the spa would be marginal, vs heating the entire pool. The pool would function just like it would if it never had a heater. Seems like the cost of a small separate spa pump and plumbing would be relatively minimal.

 

[Twolabs]

Not all heaters have an automatic shutoff for cold water, but essentially all heaters are at risk from corrosion due to condensation at low water temperatures. Typically, if you want to run the spa in the winter you need to keep it heated to roughly 50 degrees all the time, and warmer when in actual use.

So for example, my water temp right now is about 39 degrees. So I should either a) Not use the spa until the water temp is 50? or b) Go ahead and heat all water to at least 50 degrees if we want to use it?

I'm a little confused because my PB made no mention of that and I just read through my entire manual from Hayward and it made no mention of water temp restrictions? I don't want to damage it for sure.

 

[JasonLion]

The issue has to do with condensation from cold water flowing through the heater causing corrosion over time. Each heating cycle there will be some water that condenses on the outside, and then the heater will get hotter and the water will evaporate. I takes many cycles of this happening to cause a problem.

If you want to do this once, there shouldn't be a problem. If you use the spa weekly, or more often, you should keep it heated to at least 50.