Are you worried about maintaining a hot tub even though you desperately want one? Concerned you’ll be spending a lot in service calls even after the initial investment in the hot tub itself? If you’re wondering, if it’s going to be hard to maintain a hot tub, the answer is “no,” as long as you put a little effort into the general care of this luxurious addition to your home.
Know the basics of maintaining a hot tub
Is it going to be hard to maintain my hot tub? Nope. Not if you know how to properly care for it, which is possible to do once you collect your spa’s vitals. These include:
- Your spa’s dimensions
- The water capacity (it should be in gallons)
- Total number of jetpacks
Water capacity is most important since you’ll need to know that when you fill your hot tub.
Prepare for hard water when maintaining a hot tub
Knowing the basics gives you the foundation to properly care for your hot tub, but you should also take note of any unique challenges you may face because of where you live. In New Hampshire, water is considered to be moderate to very hard.. Since you fill your hot tub from the hose, this is the type of water you’ll use, and it makes hot tub care a little different. Hard water can cause scaling, which can reduce efficiency and lead to costly repairs or high operation costs. Knowing about this issue before you begin using your hot tub means you can prepare to handle it. The best way to keep hard water from ruining your fun is to stay on top of build-up with frequent cleanings. You may just have to add in an extra clean, every so often, to your regular schedule to keep things in proper working order.
Regular maintenance
There are three central areas to focus on to ensure the upkeep of your spa — water circulation, general cleaning and the water’s chemical balance. By concentrating on these areas, and remaining pro-active in your spa care, maintenance should remain easy. Don’t wait for something to go wrong before you try to fix it. It’s easier to keep things running well rather than go back and address a repair.
Circulation
The water in your spa stays clean because it passes through special filters. Your spa will either have an automatic circulation feature or require you to manually run a cycle. When it’s on auto, circulation takes place once or twice each day. If you’ve got to manually push the button, set a reminder to yourself to run a cycle twice daily. Cycles typically take 15-20 minutes, but make all the difference in your water quality.
To keep this process working right, in addition to running the cycle, you’ll have to keep the filters clean. If they’re dirty or clogged, your water circulation suffers. Maintenance is easy. You just have to remember to do it. About every week, rinse your filters with a hose to free up any clogs. Every 3-4 months, consider soaking your filters in a chemical cleaner to loosen particulates. Make sure to rinse the filters thoroughly before putting them back in your spa. Any leftover cleaner reside can make your spa water foam.
For an even faster, deep clean, you can spray filters with a special hot tub filter cleaner every few weeks. Just remember to rinse them when you’re done.
Cleaning
While this may feel like a big task at times, just remember that it gets infinitely harder if you aren’t proactive about your care. To start the cleaning process for your spa, remove all the leaves and other debris that blew into the water. Keeping your hot tub covered when not in use makes this a very easy job. On a regular basis, wipe down the spa’s shell and jets with a sponge and white vinegar to keep maintenance low. Use a spray cleaner on the inside of your hot tub cover to minimize mildew accumulation.
The big clean, where you have to drain the hot tub, only needs to happen every 3-4 months, and that’s only really when the spa is in regular use. Once the hot tub is empty, wipe the whole thing down with a cleaner. You can even align this maintenance with a deep clean of your filters, getting it all done at once.
Chemistry
The last area of essential maintenance for your hot tub is water chemistry. It’s less work to balance the chemical levels within your hot tub when it’s regularly cleaned. The sweet spot for your hot tub when doing a chemical test is to have a 7.4-7.6 pH and alkalinity at 125-150 parts per million. Being within these numbers ensures your water won’t get too acidic or cloudy.
Another chemical component to keeping your water balanced is sanitization. This is something you should also do regularly. Follow the directions on the package to add sanitizer. After you’re done, test the water again to make sure it’s still within the sweet spot.
After either a long period of regular use or of inactivity, it’s also a good idea to shock the water in the hot tub. This makes sure it’s completely sanitized as well.
Adding a little time for some chemistry into your routine helps ensure water stays safe and clean.
Maintaining a hot tub to enjoy in any season
It’s not hard to maintain your hot tub if you anticipate issues before they happen by regularly caring for your spa. Any other issues should be addressed as you notice them. The longer you let things go, whether it’s pH balance or a damaged part, the more difficult and costly it is to correct or repair. With a well-maintained hot tub you can focus on actually enjoying a warm soak rather than worrying about the costs of maintenance.
Should something ever occur that requires the evaluation of a professional, Great Bay Spa & Sauna is available to help. Not only do we sell high-quality hot tubs, we also offer an array of services to help keep your spa up and running. If you are in need of a little extra help with your hot tub, contact us today.
