Pool and Spa Combined System in Colorado

[wdk11]

Hello Everyone, I'm hoping someone can help provide some insight. I am in the planning and bidding phase for a 22x50 rectangular pool and 8x8 spa that is set off to the side of it. I'm located in Colorado and would like the ability to winterize and shut down my pool in the winter so I don't have to pay to heat it all winter long. Originally I thought I would be able to share equipment between the two ultimately having 1 Filter, 1 Heater, and 2 pumps. Now I'm being told that I need to put in two completely separate systems if I want to be able to keep the spa open all winter and close the pool. Anyway I can still get away without putting in two complete systems?

Thanks for any and all help!

 

[cowboycasey]

Welcome to TFP

We just went through this with another person a couple weeks ago.... The short answer is yes...

Build your equipment pad in a heated shed/building
using valves you need to have it where you can completely cut your pool off and no way possible to send water to the pool while it is closed... build your spa just like a small pool with its own skimmer and returns completely separate from the pool

You really need to set up your spa just like a normal hot tub, so an electric heater to keep the temp at 104 at all times and use a custom cover for your spa...

heat pumps and gas heaters really do not work with water below 50 degrees, if you were to run one of those you would need to keep them running all the time and that will get VERY expensive...

The easiest and cheapest way is to buy a normal hot tub and use it but they do not look as nice..

 

[ajw22]

Welcome to TFP.

Not easily, and not without risks. Some people manage to keep their spa open while closing their pool but it creates various issues that they show up here with their problems. The clean solution is to have them as two bodies of water with dedicated pumps, filters, and heaters.

A typical pool/spa is treated as a single body of water. The spa is designed to spillover into the pool and the pool water chemistry and the spa water chemistry are the same. This spillover causes you problems when looking to isolate the spa from the pool for the winter. A different type of design needs to be used so the connection can be closed for the winter.

In addition the valves used to switch equipment between the pool and spa do not always close off all water without any seepage. That is not a problem during warmer weather but in freezing conditions you don't want water seeping into winterized pipes.

Even if you setup separate equipment for the spa make sure it can operate properly in freezing conditions. Here is one Colorado member whose heat pump could not operate as he expected...

Pentair ETI Hybrid: First Winter Season

Hi All, I'm now into my first winter temperatures in the first season of my new pool. I had the builder install the Pentair ETI Hybrid Heater for energy efficiency here in Denver, Colorado, but in our first day below freezing and I'm getting a message of 'Condensate Block'. I've had the heater...

www.troublefreepool.com

A standalone spa engineered to operate in freezing conditions is an simpler alternative.