Hot Tub Filter Cleaning

Most hot tub owners should already know the importance of cleaning their spa filters regularly and thoroughly, however we feel this point needs reinforcing to spa owners across the country. We regularly get calls from new and experienced hot tub owners who are experiencing such messages as "LF", "FLO" and "SNS". These problems are all related to flow issues that are 95% of the time caused by dirty filters.

Some companies are poor at after-sales service, with some even sub-contracting their own servicing and repairs to other companies. This results in customers being misinformed of the key processes involved in owning a hot tub, one of which is the cleaning of cartridge filters. The "grab and run" sales technique is damaging to the lifespan of many hot tubs, as proper maintenance techniques are not suggested. Although filter cleaning may be as simple as soaking the filters once every two weeks, we feel better routines are needed to ensure your hot tub stays in good condition for years to come. Below we have outlined a few cleaning routines/techniques for differing lifestyles.


Routine 1 - The Very Busy Person - Little Time - Low to Medium Hot Tub Usage.

• This routine is simple, quick and effective but suits those who have a busy life schedule. 
• 1 DAY AFTER FILLING THE HOT TUB - Rinse Filters with hose.
• EVERY MONTH (DURING WATER CHANGE) - Soak Filters in filter cleaner.

Routine 2 - The Busy Person - Average Spare Time - Medium Hot Tub Usage.

• This routine is more thorough than the routine suggested above, but less so than the ideal routine below.
• 1 DAY AFTER FILLING THE HOT TUB - Rinse Filters with hose.
• FORTNIGHTLY - Rinse Filters with hose.
• EVERY MONTH - Soak Filters in filter cleaner.

Routine 3 - The Less-Busy Person - Lots of Spare Time - High Hot Tub Usage.

• This routine is the recommended routine for those that have time to clean their filters more thoroughly.
• 1 DAY AFTER FILLING THE HOT TUB - Rinse Filters with hose.
• WEEKLY - Rinse Filters with hose.
• FORTNIGHTLY - Swap Filters with clean ones, then soak the dirty filters, allow to dry and place back in within a fortnight.

These routines are not strictly realistic but they give you an idea of how to organise the maintenance of your hot tub around your lifestyle. You may be wondering why we recommend that your filters are rinsed within one day of filling up your spa? Well this is because tap water is dirty, so by rinsing one day after filling up you can remove any debris or impurities that were in the tap water. The best technique is that suggested in Routine 3. This involves having two or more sets of filters, constantly swapping them and ensuring that they are dry when placing back into the hot tub to add to filtering efficiency.Obviously those of you who love a hot tub party will need to clean them thoroughly after such an event and these routines do not consider such high usage events.

If you have any questions in regards to filter cleaning, e-mail me on eddie@happyhottubs.co.uk.

Eddie, HHT.

Sponsorship 2011/2012 - Billy Sharp (Southampton FC)

Another successful year for Southampton Football Club saw them promoted to the premier league with a second consecutive promotion. 


As a Saints supporting company, we were delighted to be the official player sponsor of Billy Sharp for the 2011/2012 season. Having joined from Doncaster in the January transfer window, Billy scored an extremely helpful 9 goals in 11 league appearances. With two vital goals against 'that lot down the road' being key in ensuring bragging rights were temporarily shared until they were relegated and the saints were promoted to the premier league!


On the evening of Friday 4th May 2012, we attended the Player Awards Dinner at St. Mary's, sitting with Billy for the event and meeting the rest of the squad. This was an excellent occasion and we would like to wish Billy and Southampton Football Club all the best in the top flight. Come on you reds!

Hot Tub Energy Saving Tips

Hot tubs have a key thing in common, the heating of water up to a set temperature and maintaining this temperature with a flow-through heater. A spa heater consumes the most electricity of all the items on a hot tub, and is comparable to a kettle in electricity consumption. Therefore, in order to keep costs down, we must focus on conserving as much heat as possible.

Hot Tub Covers

We repeat this time and time again, a good condition hot tub cover is vital to conserve maximum heat and any slight damage can reduce energy conservation massively. Insulation foam that has snapped can cause a huge loss of heat as the sealed unit of insulation has been broken, to prevent this it is recommended that a hot tub cover lifter is used and it is important to ensure no individuals (specifically children) treat the hot tub cover as a bed! Torn vinyl can also lead to a loss of vital heat, as once again, the sealed unit of the hot tub cover has been perforated. The two above problems cause the biggest issue with hot tub covers, water-logging, see our previous post on this problem (Click Here). A damaged/waterlogged hot tub cover results in no R-value of the hot tub cover, so to conserve pounds, a new hot tub cover is recommended, See the cover section of our website to order a a high quality replacement (Click Here).

Windbreaks

Simple, yet very effective. The panels of a hot tub do not lose as much heat as a damaged hot tub cover however, if the hot tub is in an open area and at constant battle with the elements, windbreaks can help conserve some heat and energy. Specific hot tub gazebos help conserve heat effectively but a simple fence can also do this just as effectively without the high cost.

Hot Tub Control Settings

We get regular calls from customers asking why their hot tub hasn't heater, when we find out that is has simple been put onto an Economy mode without intention. Although this is a regular mistake, users are finding that this can actually become helpful in conserving energy and saving money. In economy mode you can program the hot tub to heat for a certain time, and when the hot tub is not heating for a specific time, it is held at a lower temperature like 21 degree Celsius. Instead of holding the temperature at between 38deg-40deg in standard mode, the lower temperature will help conserve energy.

Air Jets, LED Lights & Air Blowers

All those listed above are great accessories for your hot tub are spa, whether its wowing friends with your LED lights, adding power to jets with air or cooling off with the air blower, these features make your hot tub special. The problem comes when features are left on whilst the hot tub is not in use. LED lights consume unnecessary electricity when left on and by simply turning them off you can save £'s! Air jets allow a slight air intake into the water system, this obviously cools the water, lowering the water temperature over time, all you need to do is ensure that you turn the air jet controllers off when the hot tub is not in use to prevent this cooling from happening. This is the same with air blowers, they cool the water quite rapidly if on unnecessarily, so ensuring the blower is off and not used unnecessarily can also help save energy.

Cartridge Filters

Clogged or worn out filters can reduce circulation to such an extent that pumps can be damaged by dry running. Heater element efficiency is also reduced as water flow is affected on such a scale. Luckily most systems, such as Balboa control systems have "DR" and "LF" warnings to prevent heaters from burning out if water is reduced to such an extent. However the fact is you must ensure that filters are regularly checked, cleaned and if necessary, replaced, and by doing this strain on the pumps and heater will be reduced, making your hot tub much more efficient. For information on our high quality Pleatco filters......Click Here. To see our full range of stocked filters....Click Here.

Floating Thermal Blankets

When these products were simply transferred from the pool cover market into the hot tub industry, people asked...Why did we not sell these before? And rightly so, by placing a thermal blanket on the surface of your hot tub water, you can make a high return for such little investment. Not only does the cover prevent steam from leaving the hot tub surface, saving you money, it also increases your spa cover life by preventing chlorinated moisture from attacking your hot tub cover underside. A highly recommended investment. To see the thermal blankets we offer..Click Here

I hope this post will help save you money whilst being able to fully enjoy your hot tub!

For any questions or information e-mail (eddie@happyhottubs.co.uk)

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Some of this content was based on ideas from SpaDepot.com (link - http://www.spadepot.com/spacyclopedia/energy-conservation.htm)