Turn Temperature Down?

[hottubsam]

I just bought a new Hot Springs Vanguard last week. My question is. Is it worth it to turn the temperature down overnight in an attempt to save on the utility bill. We usually run the tub at 100-101 degrees. We have been turning it down(95-96 deg.) after getting out in the PM, then turning it up in the morning. We live in the northast where it will be cold at night until August. Is this a waste of time? Thanks ahead of time for any thoughts on this subject.......................

[r5ran]

I just bought a new Hot Springs Vanguard last week. My question is. Is it worth it to turn the temperature down overnight in an attempt to save on the utility bill. We usually run the tub at 100-101 degrees. We have been turning it down(95-96 deg.) after getting out in the PM, then turning it up in the morning. We live in the northast where it will be cold at night until August. Is this a waste of time? Thanks ahead of time for any thoughts on this subject.......................

I think you're just wasting your time. While your heater wont be running overnight, when you turn it up, it will be running non stop to reheat the water. If you are saving anything, it is just pennies. I have a Vanguard and live in a very cold climate and never turn my down unless I will be gone for at least a week. Also, if you decide for a quick soak you don't have to wait for the tub to heat up. If you had a cheapie poorly insulated tub, this may be a thought, but not with a well insulated tub like this.

Enjoy, Randy

[Itchy and Scratchy]

I too like to conserve on the electric bill$$$. I have a well insulated tub in CA. When I got it I would soak at 104 and then turn the heat down to 99 at 11:00 in the evening after my soak. Then when I got home from work the next evening I would crank it up to 104. I wondered if it was worth the trouble so I bought a kill-a-watt as my tub is 110 volt.

To keep my tub at 104 it uses 5 KWH a day. Made no difference if I turned the heat down to return the within 24 hours to heat it up, still needed the same amount of energy. If I set the temp at 99 it will use less than 2 KWH a day.

This is what i concluded from my kill a watt experiments. In general as you raise the temp you use exponentially more energy. Also if you are using the tub daily there is no need to lower the temp. If you only use it 3 to 4 days a week there would be savings by lowering the temp. If the savings would be worth the hassle would depend upon your KWH rates. I pay 0.30 KWH. It worth my time to lower the temp.

[THE SPA GUY]

i would leave it,, yes rates are depending were you are at... but the costs for lowering and raising not worth it,, i leave mine in the same temp, by the time the temp drops, then to reheat, for 3 or 4 degrees i just do not see the value in it.

[PreservedSwine]

It might save a buck or two... literally.

To save yourself the trouble, try putting it in "summer mode" after you get out next time. This way, the heater (and circ pump) turn off for the next 8 hours. You save yourself the trouble of having to turn it up and down like a Yo-Yo, and it will still save you... something

[hot_water]

It might save a buck or two... literally.

To save yourself the trouble, try putting it in "summer mode" after you get out next time. This way, the heater (and circ pump) turn off for the next 8 hours. You save yourself the trouble of having to turn it up and down like a Yo-Yo, and it will still save you... something

I'm not familiar with HotSpring's "summer mode". Balboa has "economy" and "sleep" modes that can be used to advantage, so I imagine the "summer mode" is in similar.

If you use your tub daily, you are unlikely to see a lot of savings by dropping the temp 2 degrees overnight. Energy loss is almost linearly proportional (not exponential, as posted above) with the difference between the water temperature and the ambient temperature. This assumes a cover that is in good shape... you can do worse overnight if your cover has lost it's insulating effectiveness. So if your average overnight temp is, say, 30F and you're looking at 101F v. 99F water, the energy loss would be the ratio of the temp differences... namely, (99-30)/(101-30) or 97% of the loss at 99 compared to 101.

Since you heat the spa up in the morning, your daytime loss will be unchanged. So, as "PreservedSwine" says, maybe a buck or two.

You would certainly save more if you used your spa every other day - due to being able to keep the water temp lower for longer periods and also because the energy loss from a spa is far more when you are actually using it than when it's covered. But of course you bought the thing to use it... so limiting your use isn't a good solution except that if you ever do find yourself using it less, it will make that much more sense to turn it down.

The thing to keep in mind about energy use is that there is no silver bullet. The strategy is, a few cents here, a few cents there. It can add up. I use mine 3-4 times per week, and keep it in sleep mode in the off hours. My schedule is predictable so that works well for me. I also shut the air valves, coordinate the filter running with my usage times so that I get max benefit, and try not to let the heater come while I'm actually in the tub (that's like running your house's furnace with all the windows open - so I start off with it a degree or two hotter and just let it sag over the time I'm in). Not all these things work for everyone in every climate, and none will save you half your spa electricity. But taken all together I imagine they're worth 5-10 bucks.

[spatech (the unreal one)]

I just bought a new Hot Springs Vanguard last week. My question is. Is it worth it to turn the temperature down overnight in an attempt to save on the utility bill. We usually run the tub at 100-101 degrees. We have been turning it down(95-96 deg.) after getting out in the PM, then turning it up in the morning. We live in the northast where it will be cold at night until August. Is this a waste of time? Thanks ahead of time for any thoughts on this subject.......................

If you're using the spas a couple days per week I would leave it alone. If you're only using it a couple times per month then lowering it and raising it an hour or two before use would seem fine.

There is a simple way for you to see if its worth it. If you know you're not going to use your spa for a day or two lower the temp setting 10º. That essentially disables the heater from turning on until it gets to the new lower temp setting. With that heater off go out a couple times per day and just open the cover long enough to monitor the temperature and see how well its holding. I think you'll find very little temp drop the first couple days showing there isn't much gain to dropping eh temp setting if you're using the spa regularly.

As far as the summer timer, that shuts off your circ pump which limits your filtering. I'd only use that for its intended purpose which is for very hot times during the summer where having the circ pump on 24/7 adds too much heat to the water and causes the spa temp to rise a few degrees above your set point. I persoanlly wouldn't use it as an energy saver, especially is you're a frequent user who may need the full filter cycles.