Maintaining Temps On Circ Pump + Heater - Is Higher Much More Expensive?

[pkillur]

I have a 2005 WindRiver Hurricane, that seems to be doing OK on it's heating. I've recently read through about 2 pages of results worth of searches about heat retention, insulation, etc. My current tub + ridiculous house heating + a space heater left on a couple days last month cost about 80 bucks more (including two refills), so figuring all thse into consideration, I'm thinking I'm at about normal costs. I'm going to look at the skirt and see if there is anything leaking out of it if I can borrow a friend's heat camera, and possibly install reflectix. I'm also ordering a floating blanket at the first of the month (budget, budget, budget!)

What I'm curious about is whether or not it's smarter to run the tub at 101 and crank up the heat about 30-45 minutes before usage, or just maintain it at the 104-105 we like. The temps we've been running have been consistently around 102-106 (trying to figure out what we like) and I'm thinking that we're settled at 104 unless it's particularly cold in the house, and ergo feeling slightly colder when we get in.

I would think the cost difference between maintaining 101 to 104 is fairly nominal (a buck or two) since it doesn't appear that we have a heat leaking hot tub. Do you guys know if that seems right or am I totally wrong? I know that it's not true that leaving an AC on all the time takes less electricity rather than to leave the AC off until you get home (http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/myths.html), so I'm wondering if this is slightly true. It might not be because AC + air is not the same as Heat + water.

[Mark]

Heat loss is proportional to the temperature difference in materials, so I would guess that you would lose more heat by keeping the tub at a higher temperature all the time vs heating it up when needed. But then you have to trade off how long it takes to heat it back up.

[ps558]

I have a 2005 WindRiver Hurricane, that seems to be doing OK on it's heating. I've recently read through about 2 pages of results worth of searches about heat retention, insulation, etc. My current tub + ridiculous house heating + a space heater left on a couple days last month cost about 80 bucks more (including two refills), so figuring all thse into consideration, I'm thinking I'm at about normal costs. I'm going to look at the skirt and see if there is anything leaking out of it if I can borrow a friend's heat camera, and possibly install reflectix. I'm also ordering a floating blanket at the first of the month (budget, budget, budget!)

What I'm curious about is whether or not it's smarter to run the tub at 101 and crank up the heat about 30-45 minutes before usage, or just maintain it at the 104-105 we like. The temps we've been running have been consistently around 102-106 (trying to figure out what we like) and I'm thinking that we're settled at 104 unless it's particularly cold in the house, and ergo feeling slightly colder when we get in.

I would think the cost difference between maintaining 101 to 104 is fairly nominal (a buck or two) since it doesn't appear that we have a heat leaking hot tub. Do you guys know if that seems right or am I totally wrong? I know that it's not true that leaving an AC on all the time takes less electricity rather than to leave the AC off until you get home (http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/myths.html), so I'm wondering if this is slightly true. It might not be because AC + air is not the same as Heat + water.

According to windriver's web site. They have a good insulating method. if they really used the hard spray foam as they say there is very little heat loss through the shell. The question is heat loss from the exposed pipes. Now with the air cavity and it sounds like the pump motor exhaust is used to heat that space. The reflective will help but you do not want it too warm it shorten the life of the pumps.

It also says they use Balboa controls. Did you try to use the economy mode were it only heats during a filter cycle. Some balboa packs can be programmed to what time you want the filter cylce to run. That is if the circulator pump doesn't run 24/7. If it does the is a way to program it that is doesn't with the dip switches on the pc board.

[pkillur]

According to windriver's web site, They have a good insulating method. if they really used the hard spray foam as they say there is very little heat loss through the shell. The question is heat loss from the exposed pipes. Now with the air cavity and it sounds like the pump motor exhaust is used to heat that space. The reflective will help but you do not want it too warm it shorten the life of the pumps.

It also says they use Balboa controls. Did you try to use the economy mode were it only heats during a filter cycle. Some balboa packs can be programmed to what time you want the filter cylce to run. That is if the circulator pump doesn't run 24/7. If it does the is a way to program it that is doesn't with the dip switches on the pc board.

There is in fact hard foam on the shell. I think I mainly am just looking for a better way to seal it in. It's got like 4 mil plastic surrounding 3 of the 4 sides, but it's punctured in a few areas, due mainly to moving with a couple ... special... teenagers. That's why I was thinking of using the reflectix. The other thought with the doublesided reflectix is that it will keep heat OUT during the summer if I place it on the spa instead of the 4 mil they have on it. I could also take it off for late spring - early fall, but that is slightly a PITA.

I will look at the controls when I'm under the spa this weekend and see if they are balboa, they certainly don't look like balboa controls, but it could just be some funky enclosure they build themselves...

[Mikey_in_NY]

Like Mark says you will pay more to keep your tub at a higher temp - simple laws of physics, regardless of how well your tub is insulated. However if the difference is only a few dollars then it may not be worth worrying about, plus your tub will always be ready for use.