How Long Does It Take To Heat A Hot Tub

Understanding How Long it Takes for Your Hot Tub to Heat Up

When you have a hot tub, it’s not odd to wonder how long it takes the hot tub to heat. There is no 100% actual time because a lot of factors come into play.

How powerful your hot tub’s heating system is, what temperature it is outside, and whether or not you have a cover on your hot tub while it heats up will all come together to dictate how long it takes to go from cool to pleasantly hot.

How Long Does It Take To Heat A Hot Tub

Generally speaking, you can expect your hot tub to take between three and eight hours to reach your set temperature.

So, this means that it’ll take a minimum of four hours to get around 100-degrees Fahrenheit, but this can be longer if the water coming out of your hose is ice cold and if the surrounding air is cooler. Larger hot tubs can take closer to eight hours because there is more water to heat.

Hot Tub Heating Time Per Hour

If your hot tub is in good working condition, your water temperature can go up between three and six degrees every hour.

You should leave the cover on when it heats to prevent heat from escaping and encourage it to heat up faster, and you have to consider the temperature outside if the hot tub is in your yard.

The warmer it is outside, the faster your hot tub will heat up. So, on a sunny, warm day, the hot tub can reach 100-degrees in just four hours.

How well you maintain the hot tub’s components, including the pump, water heater, jets, and cover, will affect how efficiently your hot tub heats up.

If some of the components are showing wear and tear or are damaged, the hot tub can take much longer to heat.

This is why it’s a good idea to keep each component in good shape and repair any worn-out parts quickly to make it more efficient.

When Would You Need to Heat Your Hot Tub?

Soaking and relaxing in a nice warm hot tub is a great way to end the day. So, it stands to reason that you’d want it warm all of the time. So, when would you have to heat it, and why would it be cold in the first place?

There are three big reasons, including:

  • You drained the hot tub during the winter months
  • You bought it and freshly filled it with cold water
  • You lower the temperature between uses and want to have warmer water

Does Turning the Jets on Make the Hot Tub Heat Quicker?

Jets are a great addition to any hot tub because they allow you to relax in comfort while the jets give you a nice massage, and they can also help the water heat faster.

Switching your jets on will cause the water to circulate in your hot tub, and this will help disperse the heat evenly throughout the water to eliminate any cold spots.

If you choose to leave the jets off, you usually get pockets of colder water that stay around the pipes inside your hot tub, and the jets will flush the pockets out to mix it all.

Turning the jets on can make the water heat up closer to six degrees every hour, but you do want to make sure that you don’t turn on the heater or the jets until your hot tub is full of water.

Some people mistakenly think that you should start heating and circulating the water as soon as it gets to the first jet, but this can cause damage to the whole system because some jets will try to run dry.

You can also manually swish the water around with your hand if you don’t have any jets in a bid to get rid of pockets of cold water.

Two Ways to Heat Your Hot Tub Quicker

Along with using the jets to circulate the water, there are two more big ways you can encourage your hot tub to heat up quicker. They include:

  • Get a Powerful Heater – The hot tub and pool industry typically use 150,000 BTUs, 250,000 BTUs, and 400,000 BTUs as their main heater types. A lot of people think that the 400,000 BTU heater is too much for a hot tub, but they settle on a 250,000 BTU heater. This system can cut your heating time down by an hour or more each time you use it.
  • Cover the Hot Tub – When you heat your hot tub, put a cover on it and make sure it’s secure. Without a lid on, the hot tub’s exposure to the outside air will make it much harder for the water to heat consistently. Any lower temperature than your desired water temperature is working against the process, so keeping a lid on will trap heat in.

Consider Heating the Hot Tub Around the Clock

Should you keep your hot tub heating element running around the clock, or should you switch it off between uses?

There is no exact answer because it depends on how often you use the hot tub and your location. If you live in an area with colder temperatures and you don’t want to wait hours to use the hot tub when the fancy strikes you, you could consider keeping the heater on all of the time, so it’s always ready to go.

Leaving the heating system on can also prevent the pipes from freezing if the temperatures drop in the winter months.

If you don’t use your hot tub much, you may want to switch it off between uses to save money on utility bills. Just remember to turn it on a few hours before you use it.

Your Hot Tub’s Energy-Efficiency Factors Into How Fast it Heats

You can reduce your energy costs in a few ways, and it doesn’t matter if you run your hot tub periodically or all of the time.

You should invest in a lockable cover that has tapered edges and is high-quality because the cover works to trap heat in and doubles as a safety measure if you have pets or children.

Also, performing regular maintenance on your hot tub ensures that all of your components stay in excellent working order to increase the energy-efficiency.

Your landscaping directly around your hot tub will also affect how energy-efficient it is. Surrounding the hot tub with shrubs or trees can help trap heat around the unit.

It is also possible to create a gazebo or specialized unit to surround the hot tub to shield it from the elements and allow it to heal faster.

Can You Use Hot Water to Fill the Hot Tub?

You don’t want to add hot water to your hot tub when you fill it because it can easily damage the unit permanently.

Never put water that is over 104-degrees into your hot tub because it can easily sear the lining on the hot tub, and the materials can start to give away or melt when you do.

If you do want to add hot water, you should fill the hot tub halfway up with cold water before mixing in hot water.

Filling it halfway with cold water before you add the hot water will help to disperse it instead of allowing it to concentrate on the hot tub’s surface and damage it.

You don’t want the hot water to go directly into the filter or pump to avoid damaging these components. If the water is hotter than the hot tub’s highest temperature settings, it can cause damage to the filter, jets, pump, materials, and lining.

Bottom Line

It takes between four and eight hours or more for your hot tub to heat up, but there are a lot of factors that come into play when you wait for it to get to a certain temperature.

Keeping the hot tub on constantly is an option you have, as is putting a cover on to trap steam in. Remember to switch it on a few hours before you want to use it, and it’ll be the perfect temperature when it’s time to relax.

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