How To Keep A Hot Tub From Freezing (6 Easy Steps)

Hot tubs are great for relaxing after a long hard day at work. They can also be beneficial for fibromyalgia, low back pain, and arthritis. But the damage that can be caused by your hot tub freezing in the winter is not so good. Because water expands to around 10% of its volume when it freezes, pipes and other equipment can crack or break due to the expansion. But there are many ways you can keep your hot tub from freezing.

To keep your hot tub from freezing, you can cover it with a thermal blanket, putting it on “freeze protect” mode if available, or winterizing it. To winterize your tub, turn off the circuit breaker, drain out any water, and fill it with hot tub antifreeze. Do not drain any water under freezing temperatures.

First, you have to decide whether or not you are going to want to use your hot tub during the winter. If not, you can just winterize it and not worry about it until the winter is gone. But if you may want to use it, you can take a few steps to keep it from freezing up on you.

A good insulated cover will keep the heat in and the cold out. Do not just get the cheapest one you can find. After all, you spent a chunk of change on that hot tub, make sure you spend a bit more to protect it. Unless you want to have to replace it, which will cost you more. Insulated hot tub covers come in many materials and thicknesses.

They have some that cover the entire tub, which is recommended. You should also get one with the thickest and densest foam to keep it protected from the elements. They also come in all sorts of shapes including round, oval, square, rectangle, octagon, and elliptical. You can even have them custom made to fit your spa perfectly.

Actually, if you live in a really cold area, it is best to have both a floating thermal blanket and an insulated cover. The cover will keep the warmth in, but the blanket can help your tub retain 95% of that heat that would evaporate without it. You do not want all that heat from your insulated cover to be wasted.

A floating thermal blanket (or spa blanket) is a thick plastic sheet that is custom cut to cover the entire surface of the water. It is a form of insulation similar to the insulation in your home that keeps cold air out and the warm air in. It also saves you on your heating bill because you do not have to use as much energy to heat up the tub when you want to get in.

Most hot tubs have a timer or automatic thermostat that will run the heater when it gets too cold. The best kind is the one that can automatically monitor the temperature of the water and kicks on when needed. It reads the temperature of the water at all times and is set to turn on the heaters when it drops below a certain temperature.

The other kind is just a timer that you can set to turn on to circulate at certain times to keep the water from freezing. Because moving water is less likely to freeze than standing water, setting it to turn on for 15 minutes every hour will prevent it from freezing.