Pools and Hot Tubs anyone?

[Pullstart 62,884]

We’re pretty big on spa therapy, massage, chiropractic care, etc.  Mrs. P has begged me for a hot tub for about 16 years.  We’re coming up on that anniversary, that’s how I know!  She found a “deal” on one of those inflatable Coleman 4 person hot tubs.  We cleaned a spot off the little deck last night and set it up.  We filled it, set the temp, and hit the sack for the night, looking forward to tonight.  
 

Things I’ve learned in the first 12 hours of being a spa owner:

 

1. Empty, the wife and kids are all kids again, playing in their new fort.
2. When you fill it with a hose, make sure to remove said hose before you call it a night.  You’ll be pleasantly surprised that all your hot water is gone in the morning!
3. Though I didn’t have any issue with this, it’s wise to give your appliance such as this (or a water heater, furnace, etc) a dedicated breaker.  It’s a 15 amp heater, I gave it a 20 amp circuit.  If you blow a breaker with your toys, you best make sure it doesn’t take out something you need like a fridge or freezer!
4. I’ll check back with the time it takes to heat a spa again.

 

 

[Pullstart 62,884]

Additionally, we have our pool.  It’s sort of the reason we live here.  The in-laws were planning to fill it in and build a house garage, because the kids never used it anymore.  Our first year here, chemicals were $800 alone, plus countless hours of maintenance and electric bills.  Our second year, we converted it to salt water.  Though it needs a vacuum job, the water is crystal clear all the time and we haven’t checked the water in 5 years.  The salt chlorine generator cell tells us when salt is low (or high), and otherwise is maintenance free within reason.  Salt is about the only maintenance fee for the year, around 6 bags at about $60.  The salt never leaves the water, unless it follows a dripping body or gets pumped down.
 

 

[Racinbob 11,081]

Love the salt water pool. Folks, don't think you're swimming in salt. The salinity is 1/10 that of a teardrop. It simply feels like soft water. When we had the pool installed in Florida they had a 'special' going. A 'free' salt system or $700.00 off. Now how does that relate to 'free'? For a few weeks with a new pool you can't use salt so I told them to skip the salt system. I purchased the system and when it was OK to use it I installed a bypass so I had the option of salt or chlorine tabs. Worked great, We also had a cleaning system that had zoned pop-up jets in the floor that alternated as the pump ran. We never had to sweep it. The only maintenance was cleaning the filter once a week and keeping the water balanced which was mainly the ph. Every couple of months or so I would have to add a gallon of acid. 

[ri702bill 8,322]

Up here, salt water for pools is catching on - it is easier on the lining and clothing than chlorine.

Liquid chlorine (12% bleach) is the world's second best "fabric softener" with battery acid the first. I've ruined a few cotton sweatshirts and jeans over the years with ours.....

Edited August 29, 2023 by ri702bill

[ri702bill 8,322]

54 minutes ago, Pullstart said:

Though I didn’t have any issue with this, it’s wise to give your appliance such as this (or a water heater, furnace, etc) a dedicated breaker.  It’s a 15 amp heater, I gave it a 20 amp circuit.  If you blow a breaker with your toys, you best make sure it doesn’t take out something you need like a fridge or freezer!

Here, by code - you need 3 things. A dedicated GFI circuit, a 3 prong twist-lock connector on the pump cord, and a lockable enclosure around the water to prevent accidental drowning. My used above ground pool has the perimiter fence that is the required 6 foot height. Picture from 2005, we had owned it for 10 years then.....

Edited August 29, 2023 by ri702bill

[ri702bill 8,322]

57 minutes ago, Pullstart said:

you best make sure it doesn’t take out something you need like a fridge or freezer!

 

About 30 years ago, I helped my Godson's Dad move an upright freezed into their basement. He had already run the wiring for a plug next to where it was going, as there was none on that wall.

Get it in place, plug it in, it starts up, and begins to get cold - sweet..? Not so - he wired it into the cellar light circuit - shut off the light and the freezer shuts off too...

[JoeM 7,874]

Salt in both hot tub and pool. Works well.

Another nice helpful item was the automatic pool cover. keeps the heat in and dirt out when not in use. I heat it up when I start it and just once in a while during the summer. Seem like when you get the ground warmed up it will stay pretty nice. 

[Pullstart 62,884]

5 minutes ago, Joey Small Block said:

Salt in both hot tub and pool. Works well.

Another nice helpful item was the automatic pool cover. keeps the heat in and dirt out when not in use. I heat it up when I start it and just once in a while during the summer. Seem like when you get the ground warmed up it will stay pretty nice. 

Do you have a salt chlorine cell on the hot tub, or just salt in the water?

[JoeM 7,874]

Just now, Pullstart said:

Do you have a salt chlorine cell on the hot tub, or just salt in the water?

I used a salt cell. Used it for several years and the tub went last year and now my neighbor has it. 

[rmaynard 15,461]

Tips?

Here's one. A four person inflatable hot tub can weight as much as 2800 pounds, without people in it. Most decks are not built to support that much weight in one spot. Maryland code requires that decks be constructed with 2 x 12 joists 12" on center. 

Just a thought on safety. 

[Racinbob 11,081]

26 minutes ago, Pullstart said:

Do you have a salt chlorine cell on the hot tub, or just salt in the water?

 

Oh no Kevin. Salt in the water makes saltwater. The systems are often incorrectly called salt generators. What they are is actually chlorine generators. What I call the heart of the system is the cell. Salt is sodium chloride. The cell separates the chloride from the salt and that is what your pool actually uses. The process just keeps redoing itself. The system is sized based on the number of gallons of water. We had a Jandy system. The downside is that the cells have a 5-7 year lifespan. Maybe some are better or maybe not. Replacement cells ran us about $350. We had replaced it once right at 5 years. Unfortunately it died again 5 years later while we were waiting to close on the house and come back up here. I suppose I could have switched over to chlorine tablets but I couldn't do that to the new owner so she got a brand new cell. 

 

[Pullstart 62,884]

17 minutes ago, Racinbob said:

 

Oh no Kevin. Salt in the water makes saltwater. The systems are often incorrectly called salt generators. What they are is actually chlorine generators. What I call the heart of the system is the cell. Salt is sodium chloride. The cell separates the chloride from the salt and that is what your pool actually uses. The process just keeps redoing itself. The system is sized based on the number of gallons of water. We had a Jandy system. The downside is that the cells have a 5-7 year lifespan. Maybe some are better or maybe not. Replacement cells ran us about $350. We had replaced it once right at 5 years. Unfortunately it died again 5 years later while we were waiting to close on the house and come back up here. I suppose I could have switched over to chlorine tablets but I couldn't do that to the new owner so she got a brand new cell. 

 

I just wasn’t aware of the small hot tub based cells Bob, that thing @Joey Small Block showed is new to me but the cell technology isn’t 

 

Our cell required a new flow switch last year.  It was fairly cheap and easy to install.  However, if I needed a new $500 cell every 5 years, we’d still be WAY further ahead than the pool chemical road, of $800/year.

Edited August 29, 2023 by Pullstart

[JoeM 7,874]

In the beginning the hot tub was really hard to regulate with chemicals.

After I switched to the salt generator it became almost maintenance free other than adding some salt when we added water and I would use a little bit of salt water magic. 

Because it was not that much water, I would drain it in the spring and clean it. 

[Pullstart 62,884]

33 minutes ago, rmaynard said:

Tips?

Here's one. A four person inflatable hot tub can weight as much as 2800 pounds, without people in it. Most decks are not built to support that much weight in one spot. Maryland code requires that decks be constructed with 2 x 12 joists 12" on center. 

Just a thought on safety. 

Very good point.  We are on 2x12’s 16” on center and the deck height is 24” off the ground.

 

Our internal water dimensions (volume) is 5’ diameter and 20” deep.  We’ll say 2’ for safety sake.  Pi*2.5(squared)*2 = 39.27 cu.ft.  That’s about 294 gallons, multiplied by 8 lbs per gallon and we’re at 2344 lbs spanning 6 joists.

I found that a 10’ 2x12 can support 180 lbs per foot, or 1800 lbs.  I know decking, railing, people, etc are added, plus the weight of the spa iteslf, but I think I have proven by math that it’ll be good.  Right?

 

[Racinbob 11,081]

7 minutes ago, Pullstart said:

I just wasn’t aware of the small hot tub based cells Bob, that thing @Joey Small Block showed is new to me but the cell technology isn’t 

 

Our cell required a new flow switch last year.  It was fairly cheap and easy to install.  However, if I needed a new $500 cell every 5 years, we’d still be WAY further ahead than the pool chemical road, of $800/year.

 

Oops, sorry about that. For some reason it sounded like you were thinking just add salt with no system. I should have known better. We did have a similar system on our hot tub. Operates just like your pool system on a small scale. 

 

I always wondered what it would cost us annually to use the tabs vs the salt but I figured we still saved. Even if it wasn't saving the other advantages made it worth it.  

[rmaynard 15,461]

1 minute ago, Pullstart said:

Very good point.  We are on 2x12’s 16” on center and the deck height is 24” off the ground.

 

Our internal water dimensions (volume) is 5’ diameter and 20” deep.  We’ll say 2’ for safety sake.  Pi*2.5(squared)*2 = 39.27 cu.ft.  That’s about 294 gallons, multiplied by 8 lbs per gallon and we’re at 2344 lbs spanning 6 joists.

I found that a 10’ 2x12 can support 180 lbs per foot, or 1800 lbs.  I know decking, railing, people, etc are added, plus the weight of the spa iteslf, but I think I have proven by math that it’ll be good.  Right?

 

Right? Maybe. A lot also depends on where the support beams are located, and how it is connected to the rim joist of your house. If the tub is over a beam, you may be okay. If you are on the outside of a cantilever, that can throw the whole equation off. 

[Pullstart 62,884]

Just now, rmaynard said:

Right? Maybe. A lot also depends on where the support beams are located, and how it is connected to the rim joist of your house. If the tub is over a beam, you may be okay. If you are on the outside of a cantilever, that can throw the whole equation off. 

It’s a 10’ deck, posts on edges (no cantilever) and it’s also hugging the outside edge and is centered on the deck lengthwise.  

[JoeM 7,874]

4 hours ago, Racinbob said:

Even if it wasn't saving the other advantages made it worth it.

[squonk 41,118]

7 hours ago, ri702bill said:

 

About 30 years ago, I helped my Godson's Dad move an upright freezed into their basement. He had already run the wiring for a plug next to where it was going, as there was none on that wall.

Get it in place, plug it in, it starts up, and begins to get cold - sweet..? Not so - he wired it into the cellar light circuit - shut off the light and the freezer shuts off too...

Don't wire fire dampers into a 3 way switch circuit in a hallway of a hospital either! 

 

7 hours ago, ri702bill said:

Up here, salt water for pools is catching on - it is easier on the lining and clothing than chlorine.

Liquid chlorine (12% bleach) is the world's second best "fabric softener" with battery acid the first. I've ruined a few cotton sweatshirts and jeans over the years with ours.....

Used to sell 5 gal. pails of chlorine at the Auto parts store. We had a customer who weighed like 150 lbs. soaking wet. He had a big pool and would by a pail every week. One day he came in pleading for us to sell it in 1 gal bottles because he was running out of jeans! 

[Horse Newbie 7,069]

Had a little pool fun at one of my biker friend’s house this past weekend…