Anyone have a Hot Tub?

Chlorine tablets really seem to kill the pH. I need to remember this before I prepare the water for a cycle when I will use them - think I need to keep it a tad alkaline. Don’t really have a choice when back in work, I usually forget to put the chlorine granules in, which ends up being worse.

On the plus side, the water vacuum did a great job getting every last drop out, making the refill much cleaner. Slowly getting the hang of this gig.
 
CaptainRAVE said:
Chlorine tablets really seem to kill the pH. I need to remember this before I prepare the water for a cycle when I will use them - think I need to keep it a tad alkaline. Don’t really have a choice when back in work, I usually forget to put the chlorine granules in, which ends up being worse.

On the plus side, the water vacuum did a great job getting every last drop out, making the refill much cleaner. Slowly getting the hang of this gig.
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Make sure your water is balanced correctly, in particular Total Alkalinity (80-100ppm usually) as that will help buffer against PH changes from using tablets. I use the tablets with an auto-doser in our tub and only use the chlorine granules when changing out the water or after heavy use. Does mean a bit more care to keep the water balanced but it just takes a quick check once a week and means the chlorine levels are consistent.

/Salsa
 
Anyone switched to or use bromine? Looks to be better than Chlorine in many ways for hot tub use.
 
gailjon said:
My wife developed an allergy to chlorine from our pool (old house)and hot tub. For the pool we used Bacquacil and for the tub we now use Aquablanc. https://www.happyhottubs.co.uk/aquablanc-non-chlorine-starter-kit

She doesn't have any issues at all with this. It is pretty much the same regime as chlorine, testing and adding the combination liquid as necessary and adding an O2 tablet when bathing in the tub.
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thank you for the suggestion.

Really enjoying this system, no chlorine smell and the wife is happy. I notice the water is slowly turning a shade green however which I know points at algae, I have tried none chlorine shock and that did not work. How do you manage the colour of the water?
 
It might not necessarily be algae. It could be a mineral build up in the water.
We had this a few times and after a very heavy dose of chlorine and leaving it on for about 3 hours, it cleared up.
We are in a hard water area so it wasn't a surprise, just annoying.

Is there any slimy residue around the sides/waterline? This would point to algae.
 
LiE said:
Drain down today, thought I'd get it done before the weather turns to ****.
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Yup, that’s my plan in a couple of weeks. Will then keep it going until feb/March. The tub has lasted so much better this time since using the vacuum to remove ever last drop of old water. The last chlorine tablet I put in has lasted about 2 weeks (turned down low and not being used).
 
CaptainRAVE said:
Yup, that’s my plan in a couple of weeks. Will then keep it going until feb/March. The tub has lasted so much better this time since using the vacuum to remove ever last drop of old water. The last chlorine tablet I put in has lasted about 2 weeks (turned down low and not being used).
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I'm also filling mine with soft water this time, I feel like the epic amounts of calcium in the water doesn't help with the overall TDS in the water.

Edit:
So reading it's not a good idea to fill with soft water as that can cause issues. Soft water is only really used when doing salt water (which ours can do).
 
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If you're not using a hot tub is it better to sell or to leave at house for a selling point? Due to how difficult it is to move these?
 
413x said:
If you're not using a hot tub is it better to sell or to leave at house for a selling point? Due to how difficult it is to move these?
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Hot tub assist can move a hot tub, not sure how pricey it is. I guess if you find a buyer you can include the cost of moving it.

They are a good selling point of a house, but it depends if you're going to sell soon :p
 
LiE said:
Hot tub assist can move a hot tub, not sure how pricey it is. I guess if you find a buy you can include the cost of moving it.
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I'm guessing you don't get much. Thanks for the info.

Was tentative on selling earlier in year. With price of electricity now it would cost a holiday to run over the year
 
Last house I used it in negotiation with price, sold the house with the tub in the end for more money.

I have also paid professional movers for my current one, £300. Bargain IMO.
 
So heat pumps.....Given the electricty prices i'm giving serious thought to fitting one to the hot tub, anyone else considering this?

Efficiency varies depending on ambient temperature, but should be between 2x and 5x more efficient than the standard Balboa heater with the added benefit of far higher peak heat output 7kW to 9kW depending on model.

Probably around 1.5 to 2k to install myself (which seems simple enough), payback will be a few years at a guess.
 
Firestar_3x said:
So heat pumps.....Given the electricty prices i'm giving serious thought to fitting one to the hot tub, anyone else considering this?

Efficiency varies depending on ambient temperature, but should be between 2x and 5x more efficient than the standard Balboa heater with the added benefit of far higher peak heat output 7kW to 9kW depending on model.

Probably around 1.5 to 2k to install myself (which seems simple enough), payback will be a few years at a guess.
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One thing to be conscious about is the flow rate of your tubs circulation pump and the required flow rate for the heat pump you're looking at installing . A lot of hot tubs have either very small standalone circ pumps, or 2 speed combined circ/boost pumps which can make it tricky to pair it with a suitable heat pump.

Another potential issue is that the controller may go into fault if you disconnect the internal heating element. Some controllers have pre and post heating element thermostats, and if they don't detect a raise in temp across the heating element when the heater is on it can show a heating fault.
 
dale1uk said:
One thing to be conscious about is the flow rate of your tubs circulation pump and the required flow rate for the heat pump you're looking at installing . A lot of hot tubs have either very small standalone circ pumps, or 2 speed combined circ/boost pumps which can make it tricky to pair it with a suitable heat pump.

Another potential issue is that the controller may go into fault if you disconnect the internal heating element. Some controllers have pre and post heating element thermostats, and if they don't detect a raise in temp across the heating element when the heater is on it can show a heating fault.
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Good points, had not given consideration to the potential low flowrate whilst just on a filter cycle, mine has a two speed pump, will check the flowrates via the manufacturers datasheets.

From my understanding with the Balboa system you keep the heating element in place as it has sensors at each end of the heater tube, but you disconnect the heater plug from the PCB, i've seen two configurations, either using the Balboa PCB to power the heat pump, not prefered option imho, or power the heat pump standalone which is probably my prefered option.

Will do some more research and update here if i go ahead.
 
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