Preparing Your Hot Tub For Summer

on May 27, 2014 in Care & Maintenance

Summer is coming up quickly, which means sunny days, backyard barbecues, relaxation and lots of spa time. Before you begin using your hot tub daily, it’s important to make sure that you prepare it for heavy usage, especially if you haven’t checked up on in a while. You don’t want to have to be hassling with maintenance problems throughout the summer, so it’s best to make sure everything is working the way it should beforehand.

Although you should always follow your manufacturer’s instructions for maintaining your hot tub, we’ve got a few tips to help you maintain the longevity of your spa and keep it running smoothly throughout the summer.

Drain and Clean Your Tub

Whether you’ve been using your hot tub regularly through the winter and spring season or not, it’s important that you thoroughly clean your tub to create a safe environment for all of the fun you’ll be having in it over the summer months. If you haven’t drained your hot tub in four months or longer, now is the time to do it.

While your tub is drained, make sure to check the jets, pumps, valves, pipes and filter casings for damage and built up dirt. If you find that any of these parts are damaged, you should replace them or call a technician.

After you’ve sufficiently dried the tub after draining, use an all purpose cleaner to clean the shell’s surface. To get your tub looking as good as possible in the summer sun, use ThermoGloss to polish the surface. ThermoGloss also creates great protection for the spa’s surface. Once this is completed, fill up your tub up with fresh water.

Time for Inspection

You don’t want to have people over to enjoy the hot tub on a sunny day only to have it stop working. Make sure you thoroughly check your hot tub for any cracks, leaks or other damage. Unfortunately, these problems do arise, and it’s important to locate them when they first occur so that they don’t get worse. If you notice any damage or leaks, make sure to do some research, inspect further and call a technician if necessary.

Check your spa’s filters and the mechanics behind the panels of your tub. After this, fire up the hot tub up and make sure the components and buttons on your control panel and each of the jets are working. If a jet doesn’t work right away, try to open it by twisting on the front face. Also check to make sure that the ozonator, pumps and filters are working properly. It’s important that these work because they help to reduce the amount of maintenance needed in the future. If your filter is dirty, make sure to sufficiently clean or replace it.

Check Your Chemical Balance

If you did some spring-cleaning and already drained your spa, cleaned it and refilled it, then it’s a good idea to use testing strips to analyze the chemical balance in your water to make sure that they are at safe levels. You should continue to do this every few days over the summer, as you will probably be using your hot tub often.

The goal of using chemical strips is to make sure that the alkaline and acid levels are even. If they aren’t, then you can balance them by adding the appropriate chemicals. You may not be able to balance your chemicals perfectly, but as long as you are checking your levels every week and adding chemicals accordingly, you should be fine.

Cool Down

Normal hot tub temperatures are perfect for cool summer nights, but you may want to lower the temperature during the day if you live in an extremely warm climate. If you want a relaxing experience in your hot tub during the day, try turning the temperature down to 95 degrees Fahrenheit or lower. Anything lower than your average body temperature, which is 98.6 degrees, will feel relaxing, even during the hottest of days.

If you really want to cool down and transform your hot tub into a “cool tub,” turn the temperature down to 85 degrees or lower. Test the water’s temperature to find the perfect heat for a daytime dip to prepare for backyard parties with friends. Also, try setting up a colorful umbrella next to the hot tub to improve ambience and allow for a break from the sun.

If you follow these tips, you are sure to have a fun and relaxing summer with your hot tub. Take advantage of the sunny days by spending time in your backyard with friends and family, and spending as much time in the hot tub as possible. If you would like any more maintenance tips or are interested in a check up by one of our ThermoSpas technicians, feel free to contact us.

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