How to Prepare Your Hot Tub for the Winter
Homeowners have to do a lot more than simply drain the water while preparing their hot tubs for winter. Allow yourself plenty of time before temperatures drop below freezing in New Haven County, CT to winterize your hot tub. If you’re new to spa maintenance, here are some tips that will help you along the way.
Circulate drain cleaner through the pipes
Before shutting down your spa for the winter, flush out the plumbing system with a cleaner designed for hot tubs. Drain cleaners remove bacteria and mineral deposits that have built up inside the pipes. When the hot tub stops circulating water for months on end, any bacteria left in the pipes will multiply and potentially leave you with costly damage next summer.
Drain cleaners are simple to use and only take a few minutes to flush out the pipes. Make sure the hot tub is filled with water and still running like normal. Then, remove the filter and pour in the recommended amount of drain cleaner. Rinse off filters and store them in a warm, dry place. After the cleaner circulates through the pipes, you’ll be ready to drain the hot tub water.
Drain and clean the hot tub shell
The most obvious part of winterizing hot tubs is to drain water out of the shell. Once you power down the hot tub, any water remaining inside will freeze and cause damage thanks to the frigid temperatures of New Haven County, CT winters. To prepare your hot tub for winter, attach a garden hose to the drain valve and wait until all the water is gone. Remove any leftover puddles with a shop vacuum, then wipe down the shell with a towel.
Next you’ll want to apply an all-purpose spa cleaner to the hot tub shell. This will clear away the grime and oil that got left behind from previous uses. Wiping the shell with spa cleaner ensures your hot tub is ready to go when you refill it with water in the summer.
Flush jets and prevent freeze damage
Water can hide in hard-to-reach spaces and lead to freeze damage while the hot tub is shut down. That’s why an important step for winterizing hot tubs is to blow air through the jets and pour in some antifreeze. Use a nontoxic antifreeze that contains propylene glycol, because any other kind isn’t safe for hot tub use.
Cover the hot tub
The final part of preparing your hot tub for winter is to lay down a spa cover. They provide a tight seal so melted snow and ice can’t make its way into the hot tub shell. Top the spa cover with wooden planks to support the weight of accumulated snow and finish the job with a waterproof tarp.
Winterizing your hot tub involves many complicated steps that must be done the correct way. If the whole process intimidates you, call on your local hot tub specialists at A-1 Pools & Spas in New Haven County, CT. We’ll do all the work so you can sit back and relax. Send a quick message to get started!
Categorised in: Hot Tubs