I have a spa but no power. Now what do I do?

www.rickrobinsonhomes.com

Have spa but no power?  

Not to worry... most spas are very well insulated and can retain their heat fairly well for up to 2 weeks.

Not all spas are the same, some of your older spas or smaller ones may not have  full foam insulation within it.

 This could be an issue for you, if this true for your spa go out and get some household insulation and stuff this inside the spa cabinet like you would inside your attic this will give you a barrier from the extreme cold nights.

The biggest mistake people make when they have a spa and the power goes out is to drain it this is NOT a good idea.

If the spa was running and was heated to around 100 degrees just before the power went out then it will take a while for the spa water to cool down on it's own (up to two weeks), but if you drain the spa of water, that safeguard you may have had is gone. 

Now the surface of the spa will get cold and then transfer that coolness to the under side of the spa and the plumbing lines. Then the spa lines can FREEZE and crack. Now this doesn't mean that if you drained your spa it will automatically freeze. The outside temp needs to be below 40 degrees for several days for this to possibly happen. I have seen spas with ice inside them defrost in the spring and run fine with no issues.

Now getting back to my original statement LOL...

Most spas are fully insulated and as long as you do not keep going out there and lifting the cover up to check on it every hour  "you know who I am talking to" the water temp will remain high and you should be fine. I have seen a spa with a temp of 99 degrees when the customer lost power for 2 weeks and when the lights came back on the water temp was only down to 68 degrees.

Once the power comes back on you want to go out to the spa and be sure that the spa has power as well, if not check the breakers.

Run the pumps to be sure all is good then note the temperature on the topside display set it to 100 degrees and monitor it every hour to see that it will go back up to temperature without any problems. If you have made it this far you are golden check the spa chemicals to be sure that it has a good balanced level before going back into it.

I hope everyone is OK and has power back.

Until Next Time...

Spa Draining and Chemical Balance

Hello everyone, it's been a while. I have been busy building my new website, it takes a lot more work than I thought. I just wanted to touch base on the spas out there and remind every spa owner in cold weather that this is the time of year to drain and refill the spa before the really cold weather hits.

Remember to always allow the proper time to drain and refill the spa with no interruptions. If you empty a spa and have to leave for any reason in a very short period of time(hours) the plumbing lines that will still have water will freeze. So that being said, drain and refill your spa add metal remover to the water as it is filling to protect against any copper or iron that may be in the water and once the spa is full turn on the power and verify that all the pumps are working and you have good water flow.

Test the spa water with your test strips or test kit to verify where the Alkalinity and PH are at. Always adjust the Alkalinity first as this is a buffer for the PH, once this is good recheck the PH and make adjustments as necessary. Once these two are good check the Calcium Hardness of the water and adjust as needed. Wait for the water temp to get above 70 degrees before adding and Chlorine or Bromine as they react better in warmer water.

The proper levels are as follows: Alkalinity 90-140 ppm. PH 7.2-7.6 ppm. Calcium Hardness 250-500 ppm and Chlorine/Bromine 1.0-3.0 ppm. Now you can monitor the heat and start enjoying your spa once again.

Until Next Time....