The NG heater turns on when it senses water flow which is already controlled by the hot tub. I'm hoping I won't need to add an external thermostat or timer.
My hot tub uses 49% of my electricity per month...lets fix that.
- Thread starter tmprof
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James Getman
New Member
QCA spas are not made to be drained for freezing weather. High spots in the plumbing don't completely drain causing freeze damage. Pay the power company all winter or hire a tech to properly drain it every fall. I added a plug and use a shopvac the get most of the water out.
If your wanting to shut the hot tub down then you just put antifreeze in it. Here's a howto I found that covers it :
Before draining the hot tub, be sure to get these pieces of equipment as they will be needed:
A wet and dry vacuum cleaner to suck out as much excess water in the pipes, jets, and hot tub as possible.
A garden hose to help with draining from the hot tub’s drainage plug.
Towels to assist with absorbing the water from the bottom of the hot tub.
Propylene Glycol Antifreeze/Non-Toxic Antifreeze to keep the hot tub’s pipes from freezing during the winter. This is a very specific type of antifreeze that is sold for hot tubs. Do not use the type that you would use for your vehicle as it is toxic.
A long funnel to assist you in pouring antifreeze into the hot tub’s narrow openings.
The best propylene glycol antifreeze on Amazon is from Engine Ice.
It’s an Amazon’s Choice product, has hundreds of near 5-star reviews, comes with free Prime shipping and is at a great price (especially compared to the others on Amazon).
How to Get a Hot Tub Ready Again after Winter
This is important information to know. After all, you don’t want you, your family members or any guests soaking in antifreeze!
So first, you are going to have to remove all traces of the antifreeze from your hot tub before it is safe to use.
To do this, you need to fill the hot tub with water. Then add 2 times the amount chlorine or bromine that you would normally use to neutralize the antifreeze.
After that is done, you will need to repeat the steps above to drain the hot tub. Then refill it again before placing your clean filter cartridges into their places.
Before draining the hot tub, be sure to get these pieces of equipment as they will be needed:
A wet and dry vacuum cleaner to suck out as much excess water in the pipes, jets, and hot tub as possible.
A garden hose to help with draining from the hot tub’s drainage plug.
Towels to assist with absorbing the water from the bottom of the hot tub.
Propylene Glycol Antifreeze/Non-Toxic Antifreeze to keep the hot tub’s pipes from freezing during the winter. This is a very specific type of antifreeze that is sold for hot tubs. Do not use the type that you would use for your vehicle as it is toxic.
A long funnel to assist you in pouring antifreeze into the hot tub’s narrow openings.
The best propylene glycol antifreeze on Amazon is from Engine Ice.
It’s an Amazon’s Choice product, has hundreds of near 5-star reviews, comes with free Prime shipping and is at a great price (especially compared to the others on Amazon).
How to Get a Hot Tub Ready Again after Winter
This is important information to know. After all, you don’t want you, your family members or any guests soaking in antifreeze!
So first, you are going to have to remove all traces of the antifreeze from your hot tub before it is safe to use.
To do this, you need to fill the hot tub with water. Then add 2 times the amount chlorine or bromine that you would normally use to neutralize the antifreeze.
After that is done, you will need to repeat the steps above to drain the hot tub. Then refill it again before placing your clean filter cartridges into their places.
I live in Houston and we don't get a lot of heavy freezes. I'm hoping that since this runs every 2 hours or so, it won't freeze maybe? Also, I'll insulate the hoses as well as keep the NG tankless heater in a waterproof enclosure
WindWizard
Solar Enthusiast
My wife loves her hot tub. I sometimes join her. It is definitely a electricity consumer. I think I figured it out to be around 3.5 kwh to 4.2 kwh per day. The 240 Volt 6kw heater was brutal so I rewired the hot tub heater to run on just one leg at 120 Volts. This made the heater more manageable at 1.5kw. When she gets in the hot tub and runs the jets it pulls enough power that it kicks on the other 4400 watt Inverter. I have two Inverters with one running all the time and the second turning on when the power load gets above 75%.
I considered all sorts of alternatives such as running a heat line from the wood boilers and such, but this approach works great, and it allows me to run the hot tub on Solar.
I considered all sorts of alternatives such as running a heat line from the wood boilers and such, but this approach works great, and it allows me to run the hot tub on Solar.
I just read that a heat pump is a bad idea since hot tubs usually sit around 98 degrees and in the cold winter, there's no way it can pull enough heat out of the air.
Well, I know some heat pumps have the “hyper heat” function that heats up water heaters.
if you lower the kw of the heater, wouldn't it have to run more often to keep the temp of the water high?
WindWizard
Solar Enthusiast
Yes, that is absolutely true. My wife's Hot Tub is one that has a seperate Circulator Pump that runs 24/7. That is the Pump that is used in the heater loop. The Jet Pump is a seperate 240 Volt pump so with my wife's Hot Tub the answer is no since the Circulator Pump is running all the time anyway.
I work on swimming pools and spas professionally. Proper insulation can make a massive difference in power consumption.
Having no idea what your setup looks like, I would double check to make sure that there is adequate insulation everywhere there needs to be, perhaps even upgraded insulation in places. I've seen a lot of "professional" work done to spas where they just cut out the insulation to fix the problem, and never replace it.
Having no idea what your setup looks like, I would double check to make sure that there is adequate insulation everywhere there needs to be, perhaps even upgraded insulation in places. I've seen a lot of "professional" work done to spas where they just cut out the insulation to fix the problem, and never replace it.
Donny Hucklebuck
New Member
I have a fairly new hot tub it has a small circulation pump that runs 24/7 and it has wifi control so it uses 195 w
without heating element on. I shut I’d down for the winter my electricity bill is down 40 percent.
i was thinking about changing out the small circulation pump that runs on 220v and switch it out with a different pump that’s 120v and run it off my inverter. But with everything running off a computer I think I will leave it alone and only use in the summer when it doesn’t use much heat.
Also that tankless water heater can’t run outside in the winter it would freeze up like others have mentioned
without heating element on. I shut I’d down for the winter my electricity bill is down 40 percent.
i was thinking about changing out the small circulation pump that runs on 220v and switch it out with a different pump that’s 120v and run it off my inverter. But with everything running off a computer I think I will leave it alone and only use in the summer when it doesn’t use much heat.
Also that tankless water heater can’t run outside in the winter it would freeze up like others have mentioned
Been there, doing that...
"Hot tub" is a 100 gal. Rubbermaid cattle trough:
Paloma PH6-DP I already had as I use those in the field to generate hot water to locate cold water slab leaks with an IR camera.
2 small 24VDC pumps from Amazon. The Paloma main burner will ignite at 4.6 PSI, so they are enough. 34W power to run them.
Buncha hoses and other crap. The "bubble wrap Mylar" around the trough keeps temperature loss to a minimum. Drops from 110 to 70 overnight with ambient low cold temp around 17. I can't afford the gas to keep it hot alla time, but if you start at 70, the Paloma has it up to 100+ in less than an hour.
All runs off of an old 80W SOLEC panel.
During warmer weather, I replace the Paloma with passive collectors made out of a 100' length of .7" drip tube coiled up in a frame. From April to September, I don't need the Paloma.
At night, I have to disconnect and empty the Paloma, but that takes < 1 min.
The remote temp sensor reports back to the Oregon Scientific weather station inside.
It's truly incredible how cheap the small demand water heaters are now. That Paloma was several hundred $$ when I bought it in the 90's.
Your setup is nicer, and automated. Cool.
"Hot tub" is a 100 gal. Rubbermaid cattle trough:
Paloma PH6-DP I already had as I use those in the field to generate hot water to locate cold water slab leaks with an IR camera.
2 small 24VDC pumps from Amazon. The Paloma main burner will ignite at 4.6 PSI, so they are enough. 34W power to run them.
Buncha hoses and other crap. The "bubble wrap Mylar" around the trough keeps temperature loss to a minimum. Drops from 110 to 70 overnight with ambient low cold temp around 17. I can't afford the gas to keep it hot alla time, but if you start at 70, the Paloma has it up to 100+ in less than an hour.
All runs off of an old 80W SOLEC panel.
During warmer weather, I replace the Paloma with passive collectors made out of a 100' length of .7" drip tube coiled up in a frame. From April to September, I don't need the Paloma.
At night, I have to disconnect and empty the Paloma, but that takes < 1 min.
The remote temp sensor reports back to the Oregon Scientific weather station inside.
It's truly incredible how cheap the small demand water heaters are now. That Paloma was several hundred $$ when I bought it in the 90's.
Your setup is nicer, and automated. Cool.
Attachments
Ha! I love it
inspiration fuel...OzSolar
Whatever you did, that's what you planned.
I've hacked together at least 4 or 5 hot tubs out of both stock tanks, lamb tanks, redwood slats and Rubbermaid stock tanks. I'm sure there was a few others. Some of them used a standard 40g gas water heater that I removed the burner from and built very rudimentary firebox in. It worked... sorta.
Some used an old school, made in France, AquaStar Tankless water water, one of the first ones imported into the US in fact.
They were all really clumsy and got in the way of what I wanted to do which was sit outside and watch the stars while I soaked the day's stress away.
So nowadays I just pay the piper and enjoy my nightly soaks. Of course for me "paying the piper" only means that I'm burning through excess credits from previous months and still end up with a minimum monthly bill of $27.50.
Some used an old school, made in France, AquaStar Tankless water water, one of the first ones imported into the US in fact.
They were all really clumsy and got in the way of what I wanted to do which was sit outside and watch the stars while I soaked the day's stress away.
So nowadays I just pay the piper and enjoy my nightly soaks. Of course for me "paying the piper" only means that I'm burning through excess credits from previous months and still end up with a minimum monthly bill of $27.50.
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