Prepare Your Spa for Winter
If you haven't done so already, it is time to drain and flush your spa for the fast-approaching winter season. This article will outline some tips that will help you enjoy your spa for the upcoming frosty months.
Steps
- Add Whirlpool Rinse 24 hours before you drain the spa. Whirlpool Rinse removes & dissolves accumulated bath and body oils that build up in the plumbing lines, and impair proper jet action.
- Drop in the submersible pump to remove the old water from the spa.
- While the submersible pump is removing the water, reach into your skimmer and remove your filter. Place your cartridge filter in a bucket of water and Filter Clean solution, which will degrease your filter.
- Once your water has been drained, remove the rest of the water with your Shop-Vac (Wet&dry vacuum). A considerable amount of water will remain in the plumbing lines and ideally you would like to remove this also before refilling the spa. Most wet/dry vacuums have a "blow" setting and you can place the hose over various jets and force water out of the lines.
- Wipe down the spa with Spa Polish to give a protective coat to your acrylic.
- Finish cleaning your spa filter with a cartridge cleaner to make sure you remove all debris.
- Return your filter into your skimmer and start to fill your spa. To avoid an air lock try to run the water into the front of the pump directly through the skimmer. Ideally the filter basket will be directly above the pump location and this would be the ideal place to fill the spa
- Turn on your spa and enjoy!
- The Best Hot Tub & Spa Chemical kit available on the web
- If you are closing the spa for the winter open all plugs and unions to ensure your spa is drained. Again ensure that all lines in the tub are completely empty which involves the shop vacuum as well as opening the unions connecting to the pump and the heater to facilitate full draining.
- Turn off all power to your spa.
- Cover your spa with your hard top cover or plywood, and then cover with a protective tarp like our 38" Winter Cover Cap to protect your spa for the winter.
- Hot Tub Winter Cover Caps are a great way to protect your hot tub and hot tub cover from damage.
Tips
- Remember to flush all your lines for optimal spa performance during the winter.
- If you're emptying the spa for the winter, be sure to extract any and all water from the plumbing to prevent it from freezing and damaging the piping. Do this with your shop vac by alternatively sucking, then blowing, all the jets. When you think you have all the water removed, repeat the process one more time.
- Hot Tub Winter Cover Caps are a great way to protect your hot tub and hot tub cover from damage during the winter.
- Here is the best tip of all...don't close down your hot tub in the winter. Winter is the best time of all to go in a hot tub. Nothing beats getting into a hot tub when the temperature is below freezing. (put your spa towel in the dryer on hot for a couple of minutes and then roll it up and put it into a cooler to keep the heat in and bring it out to the hot tub with you. The towel will stay warm in the cooler for twenty minutes or more.)
Warnings
- Remember that sometimes after you drain and clean your spa, air locks in your plumbing may have to be removed. The easiest way to remove an air lock is to open a union by the pump to release the air.
Things You'll Need
- submersible pump
- shopvac
