Hi all. I am a noob pool owner. We just had an inground pool and spa constructed this past summer. Our pool was shut down for winter this last week. We are keeping the spa open year round. Last night it got down to below freezing here in the Northern suburbs of Chicago. We have a Pentair system (pumps, filters, Intellicenter, etc) and the Freeze Protect kicks on when outside temps hit 32F or below. When that happens the jets and the air blower turn on in the spa and cannot be turned off. The problem is that water spills over the top of the spa and it is quite a mess. This will create an icy hazard once we get into the heart of Winter. I know that we can adjust the Spa pump (IntelliFlo VSF) down but the air blowers are just going at full speed. Is this normal? My pool builder said this is normal and once I have the spa cover installed, the problem should go away. Any insight is appreciated.
Running Spa in Winter
- Thread starter Stoots
- Start date
Hi there Stoots~ welcome to Trouble Free Pools 
I would say that your pool builder is correct. A cover will help. Without a cover the water will splash around.
Any chance the water is a skosh too high? Perhaps lowering it an inch or so (yet still above all the returns) would help?
Maddie
I would say that your pool builder is correct. A cover will help. Without a cover the water will splash around.
Any chance the water is a skosh too high? Perhaps lowering it an inch or so (yet still above all the returns) would help?
Maddie
Hi YippeeSkippy.! My pool guys will be out tomorrow with the spa cover so I can ask them to check the water level. Someone also mentioned that we could simply make sure the blower is not set to go on when Freeze Protect kicks in. I am not sure if that is advisable though. I am not trying to circumvent any safety systems. It just seems odd that the spa jets and blower will be on all winter long.
- Jul 21, 2013
- 52,508
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Welcome to TFP.
Does your spa air pump splash water outside the spa when it is on in the summer? If so your air blower is probably too powerful for the spa design. What HP air blower do you have? They come in 1HP, 2HP and 3 HP models.
The way to throttle the air blower is to install a 3 way valve under the air blower so you can vent some air off and adjust the intensity of the air in the spa.
If you are not going to use the air blower during the winter, and it is on its own CB, you can turn the air blower CB off for the winter.
The spa jets and pump running when the temperature is below freezing is the price you pay for keeping the spa open all winter.
Do you have one pump for the filter and the spa jets?
Does your spa air pump splash water outside the spa when it is on in the summer? If so your air blower is probably too powerful for the spa design. What HP air blower do you have? They come in 1HP, 2HP and 3 HP models.
The way to throttle the air blower is to install a 3 way valve under the air blower so you can vent some air off and adjust the intensity of the air in the spa.
If you are not going to use the air blower during the winter, and it is on its own CB, you can turn the air blower CB off for the winter.
The spa jets and pump running when the temperature is below freezing is the price you pay for keeping the spa open all winter.
Do you have one pump for the filter and the spa jets?
Thanks for the reply. We have separate pumps for the filer and spa jets (both Intelliflo VSF). The spa air blower is 1HP and definitely splashes outside the spa, but if you turn the jets on, it all equalizes out for the most part and is not as bad. I will ask the PB about shutting off the air blower.