It’s the most wonderful time of the year! If your family is lucky enough to be able to escape for the holidays, your time away should be about enjoy time off work and relaxing with your family, not worrying about your hot tub. So we’ve listed out some foolproof ways to ensure your hot tub is safe and sound when you and your family hit the road!

Check the Local Weather

Being aware of the weather will greatly depend on how to you prepare your hot tub before you leave.

Warm Weather

When it’s warm out, your tub is at risk of growing algae. To combat this, adding shock will often do the trick. So just before you head out on vacation, add a bit extra shock in your hot tub while the jets are running. After 30 minutes, turn off the jets. One trick the BC Home Leisure team does with our own tubs are the floaters. We’ll typically load the floaters up with pucks, and dial the opening slightly less than what’s typical. As your tub won’t have any bodies in it, the Chlorine and Bromine amounts can dispense less, and keep that water sanitized and crystal clear. Those extra long vacations, can be solved with adding another floater to the mix, and dial the opening back even more, allowing the sanitizer to simple trickle out, and last the 2-3 weeks you may be gone.

Cold Weather

Depending on the time of year, your daytime temperatures could be rather pleasant while the nights can still be cold. This largely depends on where you live. No matter when it happens, if the outside temperatures drop below freezing, the water in your hot tub and the plumbing for your hot tub is at risk for freezing.

Before you head out of town, add water to your hot tub if necessary and be sure it is properly heated. Remember, the colder it is, the faster the heat will escape. Once you have it heated properly, go ahead and turn the thermostat down about ten degrees. This will save you on your heating bills while still keeping the water warm enough so it won’t freeze.

Depending on the time of year, your daytime temperatures could be rather pleasant while the nights can still be cold. This largely depends on where you live. No matter when it happens, if the outside temperatures drop below freezing, the water in your hot tub and the plumbing for your hot tub is at risk for freezing.

Before you head out of town, add water to your hot tub if necessary and be sure it is properly heated. Remember, the colder it is, the faster the heat will escape. Once you have it heated properly, go ahead and turn the thermostat down about ten degrees. This will save you on your heating bills while still keeping the water warm enough so it won’t freeze.

1. Test the Water

Before you go out of town, always test the water to be sure you have the proper water balance. If you don’t, go ahead and add the appropriate chemicals to either increase the acidity or the alkalinity of your water chemistry. This will help you maintain the hot tub and keep your plumbing in the best possible shape while you are away.

2. Lock the Cover

Never go out of town without closing and locking your hot tub cover. Keep in mind that no one will be at home while you are away and that means that kids could wander onto your property and go for a dip without you ever knowing. So close that cover and lock those hurricane straps tight before you set one foot out of your front door.

Final Thoughts

Owning a hot tub should never be a tether keeping you home when you could be off enjoying life. Never be afraid to take a vacation that takes you out of town away from your hot tub.

Just remember to perform a little extra maintenance on it before you go and be sure you set the hot tub for the temperature that it is in your area, and you shouldn’t have anything to worry about. So get out there and enjoy life and quit worrying about your hot tub.

Trust us, as long as you perform the proper maintenance before you leave and check it when you get home, your hot tub should be just fine while you are away.