New pool owner in Northern California, so I dont have a lot of knowledge yet. Inground pool/spa with Jandy Aqualink RS8, inline chlorinator and Del AOP. PB configured spa spillover for 2 hours every day at 2PM. That seems pretty excessive amount of time based on what others have said here. But also, I'm wondering if I can just treat the spa somewhat separately from the pool in the wintertime. Right now, we have daytime highs in the mid 70s and nightime lows in the the mid 40s. We do not use our pool in the winter. We do not close our pool in the winter. However, we like to use our spa every night at 102 degrees. At noon the next day, our spa water temperature is still 85 degrees. When the spillover runs, all that 85 degree water is pumped out and replaced with 60 degree water from the pool. In the evening it takes 1 hour to heat from 60 degrees to 102 degrees and uses about 3.5 therms of natural gas. That is about ten dollars/day right now, in the winter I assume probably close to $20/day. Is it possible to just spillover every other day or every third day? The chlorinator and AOP are inline to the pool, not to the spa. Could I manage my spa chemistry separately from my pool chemistry using pucks and a floater in the spa? It seems like a waste of energy/resources to drain that 85 degree water every day into my pool that wont be used in the winter, and then heat it again from 60 degrees. Apologies for being a newbie. If this should be in the "Spas and Hot Tubs" section, I will delete and post there. Ideas, thoughts? Thanks.
Winter time spa use - do I have to spillover every day?
- Thread starter ro345
- Start date
Hey ro and Welcome !!!
So here's the deal about spas. They're nasty and you'll want the water filtered. Well. The spa isn't nasty, you guys are. Residual soaps / shampoos / laundry sauces / sweat / saliva / unmentionables / exfoliating skin to name a few. Yeah. You're making people soup when you enjoy the spa. With 2 people in a 750 gallon spa it's the same as 43 people in a 15k pool. And the pool folks aren't being simmered and stewed as they swim.
You could add your own chlorine to the spa to replenish the lost FC while soaking, but without filtering I imagine you'd be happy to heat new water pretty quickly.
So here's the deal about spas. They're nasty and you'll want the water filtered. Well. The spa isn't nasty, you guys are. Residual soaps / shampoos / laundry sauces / sweat / saliva / unmentionables / exfoliating skin to name a few. Yeah. You're making people soup when you enjoy the spa. With 2 people in a 750 gallon spa it's the same as 43 people in a 15k pool. And the pool folks aren't being simmered and stewed as they swim.
You could add your own chlorine to the spa to replenish the lost FC while soaking, but without filtering I imagine you'd be happy to heat new water pretty quickly.
- Jul 21, 2013
- 64,776
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
You can leave your pool/spa in SPA mode most of the time and delete your SPILLOVER schedule to not dump the spa water. I would change to POOL mode every day for a few hours and run the filter in the pool. Otherwise stay in SPA mode and filter the spa water.
Your issue is chlorination of the pool and spa. If you had a SWG you could have the SWG chlorinating the spa.
Where is your inline tablet chlorinator located in your plumbing? Is it in the pool return only or where it chlorinates water before the pool/spa return valve?
Using tablets in the spa will cause your CYA to rise rapidly in your spa. And I think you will find it difficult to get the right amount of chlorination and not over or under chlorinate with the small body of water.
If you are willing to chlorinate the spa daily with liquid chlorine then you can manage the FC level.
Even if you do all that I would dump the spa water every few weeks and start with fresh pool water.
Your issue is chlorination of the pool and spa. If you had a SWG you could have the SWG chlorinating the spa.
Where is your inline tablet chlorinator located in your plumbing? Is it in the pool return only or where it chlorinates water before the pool/spa return valve?
Using tablets in the spa will cause your CYA to rise rapidly in your spa. And I think you will find it difficult to get the right amount of chlorination and not over or under chlorinate with the small body of water.
If you are willing to chlorinate the spa daily with liquid chlorine then you can manage the FC level.
Even if you do all that I would dump the spa water every few weeks and start with fresh pool water.
@Newdude
Thanks for the response. My chlorinator and AOP are inline with the pool return, so no new chlorine is added if I don't spillover the spa. However, the water in the spa is filtered. The filter is the next connection directly after the shared pump. I can specifically turn on the spa pump and have the water filtered in the spa. I can also specifically turn on the pool filter. I'm thinking that I spillover the water every other day or every third day.
@ajw22 Thanks. My chlorinator and AOP are located at the pool return after the pool/spa valve. I'm thinking that I spillover every two or three days. But even if I turned off spillover completely, and I have my system set to spa mode (and it is filtering), how is that any different than if the spa were just a standalone spa. And certainly many people are able to maintain a standalone spa. People must be able to maintain their standalone spas without CYA going high. I could use non-stabilized chlorine tabs? I'm not arguing I'm just trying to understand.
Are people really spending $600+ a month the heat their spas in the winter? Or do people just not use their spas daily in the winter?
Thanks for the response. My chlorinator and AOP are inline with the pool return, so no new chlorine is added if I don't spillover the spa. However, the water in the spa is filtered. The filter is the next connection directly after the shared pump. I can specifically turn on the spa pump and have the water filtered in the spa. I can also specifically turn on the pool filter. I'm thinking that I spillover the water every other day or every third day.
@ajw22 Thanks. My chlorinator and AOP are located at the pool return after the pool/spa valve. I'm thinking that I spillover every two or three days. But even if I turned off spillover completely, and I have my system set to spa mode (and it is filtering), how is that any different than if the spa were just a standalone spa. And certainly many people are able to maintain a standalone spa. People must be able to maintain their standalone spas without CYA going high. I could use non-stabilized chlorine tabs? I'm not arguing I'm just trying to understand.
Are people really spending $600+ a month the heat their spas in the winter? Or do people just not use their spas daily in the winter?
Some do, some close and others use it only on occasion.
Many people don't like the spa in the cold anyway. I don't get it and I bought mine *for* the cold. I'd be out there in a blizzard LOVING life. (Protip, wear a hat)
Liquid chlorine is your friend. Otherwise the chlorine is stabilized with CYA or Calcium, both unsustainable with regular use.
- Jul 21, 2013
- 64,776
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
You can read here about the recommended care for a standalone spa...
How do I use Chlorine in my Spa or Hot Tub?
If you have a question about any information within this Sticky, please start a new thread for yourself where you will receive very quick responses to your specific questions. Thank you! Introduction There are two main things to consider when maintaining your hot tub water, Water Balance and...
www.troublefreepool.com
Either the spa is manually does with liquid chlorine after using or a SWG is used.
Non-stabilized chlorine is cal-hypo that adds calcium to the water with the chlorine. You will still find it difficult to get the correct amount of FC in the small body of water from tablets dissolving.
Get a SWG and then you can set it to generate the needed amount of chlorine for the length of time you run your spa.
Are you asking about a gunite spillover spa or a standalone spa? Much of the discussion on spa use in the winter is in standalone spas. I would say that most people in Northern climates do not use their spillover spa daily in the winter.