Stevie Wonder Posted December 8, 2008 Report Share Posted December 8, 2008 Ok,, its actually a little past the time frame to change the water,, but winter came early in the NE.. and We have had 10-20 below normal temps.. We have had a foot of snow before Halloween this year and its hardy been above freezing since.. about 2 inches of blowing snow out there now.. How safe is it to do the water change with temps this low? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickJ Posted December 8, 2008 Report Share Posted December 8, 2008 I did mine last year when it was about 6 below zero outside. I used an electric pump to quickly drain the tub, and then refilled it with my garden hose. No problems, other than it being ridiculously cold for me. And a lot of ice in my back yard. Once I was done, I put the hose in the house so it wouldn't freeze. It sucks, but it can be done. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony Posted December 8, 2008 Report Share Posted December 8, 2008 Try a partial water change rather than a full water change at this time. Not as good as a full change but faster and safer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRom Posted December 8, 2008 Report Share Posted December 8, 2008 Ok,, its actually a little past the time frame to change the water,, but winter came early in the NE.. and We have had 10-20 below normal temps.. We have had a foot of snow before Halloween this year and its hardy been above freezing since.. about 2 inches of blowing snow out there now.. How safe is it to do the water change with temps this low? I usually watch the 15 day forcast on Accuweather.......and look for the warmest day ! Its looking like the 10th will be close to 60 in southern NH, might be your lucky day ! As long as its above 32 I will do it, Christmas week usually gives a warm day or just before New Years....at least in my area ! Sounds like your further north than me though ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChicagoMike Posted December 8, 2008 Report Share Posted December 8, 2008 I have a small 1/4 hp sump pump and 1.5" sump hose to drain it in abut 15 minutes. I did mine a few weeks ago, knowing it would be the last time for a long time. Right after I did the change, the weather got really cold, like 10-15 in the evening. A little too cold, I have only used it once in 2 weeks. The longest dry spell since I got it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r5ran Posted December 9, 2008 Report Share Posted December 9, 2008 Ok,, its actually a little past the time frame to change the water,, but winter came early in the NE.. and We have had 10-20 below normal temps.. We have had a foot of snow before Halloween this year and its hardy been above freezing since.. about 2 inches of blowing snow out there now.. How safe is it to do the water change with temps this low? Hi, one thing I have not heard mentioned, is if your tub is well insulated, it will stay warm inside as you drain, just keep that cover on!. I did my first water change a few weeks ago on my H/S Vanguard. It was about 30 degress out, and lightly snowing, but not bitter cold. I simply attached 2 garden hoses to the drains, and ran them over to the woods nearby. I did keep the cover closed the whole time. A couple hours later, I came out to check on the progress, I opened the cover, I was surprised to find the water almost totally empty, and it was still very hot inside! That same insulation that keeps your water so warm, (assuming you have a well insulated tub) kept the interior shell nice and toasty, too. So keep that cover on as you drain! I then went over to the woods to see how much of an ice pond I made, and you could not tell a thing. The warm water had melted the snow and the ground, allowing it to drain away totally. (we do have sandy soil around here, though). I then just took the nice warm and flexible hoses I just used for draining, hooked them to the faucets and had a full clean tub about 2 hours later... Not a big deal after all! Thanks, Randy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bizdoc Posted December 13, 2008 Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 My portable sump pump drains 250gal in under 10 min, and i warm up the hose in the house to refill (It also a nice thing to have a high capacity pump around the house just in case....) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenz1g Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 The Triton I have on my work truck will flat empty a hot tub within a minute or two. The key is to empty quick, clean even quicker, then fill. As long as you put a cover on while the hose is running, there shouldn't be any problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realDrew Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 When you drain the tub you have to shut the power off, including any pump or heater so you are relying on previous heat generated to stay around for a while. While just a newbie, I would think this would be dependant on insulation of the tub, the slab it sits on, and the cover. Having had an outdoor pool all my life I'd say a couple hours max. without protection if the temp. is under freezing (am i correct?). We had a warm morning in Toronto yesterday (7C) so I drained mine with a 1/4hp pump, and with the bottom drain, in about 15 minutes. Then I had water trucked in as I'm on a well, and filled it in about 10 minutes and turned the system back on. After the tub primed and started up the temp reading was 47F and by evening hit 85F which was good as the outside temp dropped quickly to freezing around 4 PM. This morning it’s a nice 101F (and 15F outside!!!) and crystal clear. I dropped a couple chlorine packs in as well as some PH down, but it was nice clean chlorinated fluoride packed city water to begin with. And, NO FOAMING!!!! I did this water change about a month earlier than normal as we have been using the new tub quite a bit, causing allot of soaps etc. to get into the water making it very sudsy. I expect our next change to be in March sometime, and hope we get some warm weather that early too. Ok,, its actually a little past the time frame to change the water,, but winter came early in the NE.. and We have had 10-20 below normal temps.. We have had a foot of snow before Halloween this year and its hardy been above freezing since.. about 2 inches of blowing snow out there now.. How safe is it to do the water change with temps this low? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realDrew Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 Forgot to mention that if you use a pump to drain the tub make sure you set it on a towel or something inside the tub, as it will scratch like crazy. You will not notice the marks until the sun is just right, but when you do you will be kicking yourself! I watched my brother do this ( i like to watch and learn ;-) ). When you drain the tub you have to shut the power off, including any pump or heater so you are relying on previous heat generated to stay around for a while. While just a newbie, I would think this would be dependant on insulation of the tub, the slab it sits on, and the cover. Having had an outdoor pool all my life I'd say a couple hours max. without protection if the temp. is under freezing (am i correct?). We had a warm morning in Toronto yesterday (7C) so I drained mine with a 1/4hp pump, and with the bottom drain, in about 15 minutes. Then I had water trucked in as I'm on a well, and filled it in about 10 minutes and turned the system back on. After the tub primed and started up the temp reading was 47F and by evening hit 85F which was good as the outside temp dropped quickly to freezing around 4 PM. This morning it’s a nice 101F (and 15F outside!!!) and crystal clear. I dropped a couple chlorine packs in as well as some PH down, but it was nice clean chlorinated fluoride packed city water to begin with. And, NO FOAMING!!!! I did this water change about a month earlier than normal as we have been using the new tub quite a bit, causing allot of soaps etc. to get into the water making it very sudsy. I expect our next change to be in March sometime, and hope we get some warm weather that early too. Ok,, its actually a little past the time frame to change the water,, but winter came early in the NE.. and We have had 10-20 below normal temps.. We have had a foot of snow before Halloween this year and its hardy been above freezing since.. about 2 inches of blowing snow out there now.. How safe is it to do the water change with temps this low? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 How safe is it to do the water change with temps this low? Here in western Alberta, we drained our spa every winter with no problems at all. It was just a gravity drain through a 3/4" garden hose laid out on the snow, with temperatures typically about -15C (about 0F). While it was draining, we cleaned at the waterline with a bucket of hot water and a cleaner from the dealer, then rinsed with a 5 gallon pail of hot water, finally sucked out the bottom with a wet-dry vac (which we immediately took indoors) and refilled right after that. Not a pleasant chore, but no problem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillbilly Hot Tub Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 We have to do it every day here in NH for the rental tubs. It stinks, but no issues besides frozen finger tips yet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glid Posted December 18, 2008 Report Share Posted December 18, 2008 I have not had power for 6 days! Fortunately, my tub is up north and has missed the ice storm. They tell me my electricity will be back on yesterday in Londonderry. Dog is cold, wife is at wits end, I'm coming down with flu... Hillbilly, I didn't know you were in this great state of NH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRom Posted December 30, 2008 Report Share Posted December 30, 2008 Well I got my 60 degree day on Sunday !! Water changed and balanced.........all set to go till Spring ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron W Posted September 9, 2019 Report Share Posted September 9, 2019 It is very cold in Saskatchewan during the winter (-20 to -30 celsius) and we have to blow out our outside water lines so they don't freeze. It is am to drain and then refill our new hot tub the water will have to come from inside the house. Is there a best way to do this? Can I use the washing machine faucets? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cusser Posted September 10, 2019 Report Share Posted September 10, 2019 21 hours ago, Ron W said: time to drain and then refill our new hot tub the water will have to come from inside the house. Is there a best way to do this? Can I use the washing machine faucets? Yes, attach a garden hose to a washing machine faucet. In USA these are simply typical hose thread, don't know about Canada. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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