Opening Spa ONLY question

[Kebabian]

I have an inground 36k gallon pool/spa combo with a spillway between the two. Am thinking of opening the spa only for a month or so. A couple of questions though:

1. There is a single custom cover, would I simply uncover the spa and flip it over onto the pool?
2. What about an insulated cover? Do I need it or just keep the temp at 55 or so until we use it?
3. Should the spillway be blocked in some way?
4. I haven't checked, but I imagine the pool water won't smell great after the winter..... what does everyone do in this case?

Thanks!

 

[ajw22]

If you want to open I would open both. The hassles of trying to run your spa with the pool closed isn't worth it. You just need to let the pump run in the pool for a few hours a day.

 

[mmcwhorter]

I always open my Spa early (see my thread on rough surfaces). Yes, I flip the cover over as I have same type as you.
I pull the spa plugs at the returns. Get the filter/heater up and running with the valves in all the correct positions....and off we go. It's a breeze. I have never seen any down side. I just make sure there is no freezing weather in the future and if for some reason it does freeze, I'll just run the pump all night. No worries.

One other thing that opening the spa early does for me: It allows me to check and easily alter / correct the chemical balance of the main pool water early....Here is the Process: I draw pool water in to the spa from the deep end suction (valves allow suction or return at the deep end of my pool). I measure the "100% pool water in the spa using my TFT-100 kit. I'll add Baking Soda for the TA....just today I added 12 pounds slowly to get it up to about 75 from 40 (per Pool Math, and don't forget to mix it in ot a slurry before pouring in to the spa!!!)) and let ALL the spa water drain back in to the pool (change a valve or two) , circulate some more....in this way my TA in the pool is good. Use the same process for pH......and Calcium.....I usually wait for CYA because the water temps are so low and CL in the pool is a "don't care as of this time". And my pool never seems to need calcium. Then, close the spa back off and It's easy to keep the spa only at FC=3.0, just a splash of bleach is all it needs. Same for muriatic, pH = 7.4, easy to over shoot so be careful there.

So, have at it and use your spa early. We always enjoyed the outdoor Jacuzzi at night at Skiing Resorts on vacations....so we thought, what the heck....lets do it at home in the cold weather (+40F and higher) too.