Anyone have a Hot Tub?

SimonR · 24 Mar 2022 at 16:01

Nathan said:
Last house I used it in negotiation with price, sold the house with the tub in the end for more money.
.

Good job it was last year. This year the negotiation would have been 'How much are you knocking off the house price to leave that energy eating albatross?'

dale1uk · 24 Mar 2022 at 16:42

Firestar_3x said:
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.

2 speed pumps can be a pain if you're trying to pair it with a heat pump. The low speed will generally be between 0.25 - 0.75 hp, whereas the high speed will be between 1.5 - 3.0hp. You'll need to source a heat pump that will work happily with either of the 2 different flow rates, but that means neither will be at the optimum rate for your heat pump so it won't be working as efficiently as it could.

Regarding the fault codes and wiring, as far as I can remember, and from a quick look in my Balboa service books, disconnecting the heating element won't throw a fault as it doesn't look for a current draw or a temperature differential across the sensors to confirm the element is working. For the wiring I'd definitely install the heat pump on its own supply. I can't think of a pool heat pump that I've installed that doesn't have a flow switch in it, so it'll only try and heat when the hot tub is circulating.

CapitalOne · 24 Mar 2022 at 16:46

Puzzled said:
Or "Anyone have a cold tub"

or “paddling pool”

Firestar_3x · 24 Mar 2022 at 17:02

dale1uk said:
2 speed pumps can be a pain if you're trying to pair it with a heat pump. The low speed will generally be between 0.25 - 0.75 hp, whereas the high speed will be between 1.5 - 3.0hp. You'll need to source a heat pump that will work happily with either of the 2 different flow rates, but that means neither will be at the optimum rate for your heat pump so it won't be working as efficiently as it could.

Regarding the fault codes and wiring, as far as I can remember, and from a quick look in my Balboa service books, disconnecting the heating element won't throw a fault as it doesn't look for a current draw or a temperature differential across the sensors to confirm the element is working. For the wiring I'd definitely install the heat pump on its own supply. I can't think of a pool heat pump that I've installed that doesn't have a flow switch in it, so it'll only try and heat when the hot tub is circulating.

Thanks, will take this into account when i look around / before buying something, my understanding of what the Balboa system will do is the same as yours, which is reassuring!

Given your experience, any recommendations on invertor heat pumps brands in the ~5 - 9kW output range (ignoring the flow rate requirements)? I'm after something reliable / efficient and low noise!

dale1uk · 24 Mar 2022 at 21:05

Firestar_3x said:
Thanks, will take this into account when i look around / before buying something, my understanding of what the Balboa system will do is the same as yours, which is reassuring!

Given your experience, any recommendations on invertor heat pumps brands in the ~5 - 9kW output range (ignoring the flow rate requirements)? I'm after something reliable / efficient and low noise!

Out of the ones I've installed I think the only brand that offer sub 10kw output options are the Poolstyle Step Inverter heat pumps. I've installed quite a few of these, albeit larger output ones on swimming pools, and they appear to work well and get good feedback from our customers.

arknor · 24 Mar 2022 at 21:14

CapitalOne said:
or “paddling pool”

anyone got a Lido ?

Firestar_3x · 24 Mar 2022 at 21:30

dale1uk said:
Out of the ones I've installed I think the only brand that offer sub 10kw output options are the Poolstyle Step Inverter heat pumps. I've installed quite a few of these, albeit larger output ones on swimming pools, and they appear to work well and get good feedback from our customers.

Thanks actually one i had shortlisted, need to dig deeper but my filter cycle may operate at the pump shifting 330L/min, so looking at the heat pump specs means i'm up towards a 12.5kW system, otherwise i will get a flowrate problem, when the pump runs at the second speed i expect it will be unhappy as it is now shifting too much water, but less of a concern as i can elect not to heat.

Will get the side panels off this weekend, i may have a separate circulation pump.

I think whatever i do i'm going to have to set the heatpump water bypass valves very precisely to get the flowrate i need.

CaptainRAVE · 2 Apr 2022 at 14:31

With rising energy costs anyone considering shutting off their hot tub?

LiE · 2 Apr 2022 at 14:44

CaptainRAVE said:
With rising energy costs anyone considering shutting off their hot tub?

Nah, love using mine. Not worth much to me sat there empty.

^JP^ · 2 Apr 2022 at 15:10

And the cold months have been the best months for using it!

I did buy a floating blanket but hard to know if it's made any difference. Maybe less evaporation.

CaptainRAVE · 2 Apr 2022 at 15:31

Well it looks like the decision has been made for the time being. I went to check the chlorine and it’s not on despite being powered! I suspect the recent storm we had has knocked the internal cable loose. Will consider options in due course.

Firestar_3x · 2 Apr 2022 at 15:57

Drained mine last weekend for a deep clean, not refilled yet but probably will tomorrow.

Purchased an Estelle "automatic" filter cleaner, does a really good job far better than a filter flosser.

Also got a new floating blanket to go ontop, no futher movement on buying a heat pump, decided to wait, i want to put a pool in the next house so need to keep my options open for heating.

chaparral · 2 Apr 2022 at 16:21

CaptainRAVE said:
With rising energy costs anyone considering shutting off their hot tub?

Thinking i may get rid of my intex inflatable hot tub this year

Or maybe run it a few degrees cooler (maybe 36c/37c instead of 38c to 40c)

LiE · 2 Apr 2022 at 16:23

chaparral said:
Thinking i may get rid of my intex inflatable hot tub this year

Yea the inflatable ones must be pricey to run. Mine is insulated so well it sips energy. Using it is another matter with 2 big pumps and the reheat cost.

CaptainRAVE · 2 Apr 2022 at 19:18

Fixed the hot tub. Fuse must have gone when we had that power cut last week.

413x · 3 Apr 2022 at 01:23

I will never turn mine on agaim I don't think with a cost of 22p a kwh.

I doubt its worth much to sell. But seems like a waste to leave it unused

ProStreet · 3 Apr 2022 at 08:41

Jeez

Hot tub / swimming pools must be extremely expensive to run now. Bet a lot of people are regretting buying hot tubs.

bainbridge · 3 Apr 2022 at 09:47

We're going to leave our inflatable one stowed in the garage until high summer. In high summer it only needs a couple of hours to bring it up to temperature and the high overnight temperatures mean it only loses a couple of degrees overnight with the heater off. Using it in spring and autumn is a different story, with the heater chugging away for hours on end.

Last summer we really enjoyed the hot tub and were considering getting a rigid one. The cost of electricity has put the kibosh on that.

Pottsey · 3 Apr 2022 at 09:51

CaptainRAVE said:
With rising energy costs anyone considering shutting off their hot tub?

Not yet the cost to run a hot tub goes down month on month at this point in the year. We don't regret having one at all as the benefits outweigh the cost and its practically free to run over the summer anyway. (Solar Panels)

Pottsey · 3 Apr 2022 at 09:56

bainbridge said:
We're going to leave our inflatable one stowed in the garage until high summer. In high summer it only needs a couple of hours to bring it up to temperature and the high overnight temperatures mean it only loses a couple of degrees overnight with the heater off. Using it in spring and autumn is a different story, with the heater chugging away for hours on end.

Last summer we really enjoyed the hot tub and were considering getting a rigid one. The cost of electricity has put the kibosh on that.

Inflatable hot tubs seem to use up 100% more electricity and lose heat over twice as fast as a proper insulated rigid hot tub. Inflatable seem like a cheap option but if its up all the time, long term they cost more then a insulated rigid hot tub. A couple of degrees overnight with the heater off is a lot to lose in the summer. My rigid hot tub loses less then that in the autumn/spring yet alone the summer.