jeeper

Hi All Ive recently inherited a spa which has added a significant amount to my electricity bill (4x up). Im from New Zealand and the spa controller is a spaquip 500 (see link) http://www.spa-quip.co.nz/shop/Controllers/Spa+Power+500/Spa+Power+500+Touch+Pad.html So the controller is basic and the whole system will not run without both the heater and the motor going at the same time. We are using a slow release silver compound to keep the pool clear which is working great but means we have to keep the spa on 24/7 in what can only be described as a temp maintenance mode ie the spa flicks on for what seems like a 45 min period every couple of hours to keep the temp steady. The silver requires 75,000 litres of water over it per day to be effective. My Question is two fold. A - Is the more costly of the two system pieces the heater element to run? And if so are there any products that I can run inline in the ribbon cable to bypass the thermostat and keep the element off while the pump goes? Reason being is that I can then just run an old school timer on the plug limiting the pump operation to the min hours per day required to keep the silver working. B - Is there any truth to the fact that shutting the power off at the wall on a spa will decrease the heater elements life? By the way its a 2KW heater and a 0.75kw (280l/min) pump... if it makes a difference.