Anyone know much about hot tubs?

[shin0bi]

Does anyone know what the minimum temperature of a standard outdoor hot tub set to "low" would be?

[ZorroAMG]

I don't know about low but for operating temp it should be around 100-104ºF

What do you mean by "low"? In order to keep it running but not in use?

[shin0bi]

Correct.
Long story short, I live with a bunch of roommates, but only one of them uses our hottub. The rest of us were sick of paying 175 a month in utilities EACH to keep the thing running...

( I think it was so high because the girl's dog shredded the hot-tub cover, and it had a big gaping hole in the middle. Allowing lots of steam and heat to escape, and causing the heater to work overtime to maintain a consistent temperature. )


So when that roommate left for Australia for 6 months, I went out and cranked down the temp close to the min amount. We saved a small fortune on utilities, however, the hot tub froze and some things broke once the temperature dropped.

Anyway,
The landlord wants ME to pay the repair bills for the thing...

But I call BS on that because

a) Their dog shredded the cover, allowing heat to dissipate and cold/snow to get in.
b)The minimum temperature should still in theory be higher than 0 degrees.

I'm basically looking out for myself here. I don't want to be on the hook for this piece of crap hot tub unless I am truly the one responsible for its damage.

[ZorroAMG]

Hmmm...call a hot tub place and ask them what temp it should be at...

Can't help you cause I don't know bud!

[shin0bi]

Cool Thanks for your suggestion, I figured I'd ask anyway...
I'll call around and get the scoop. Hopefully they'll have some good news for me!

[CMW403]

Originally posted by shin0bi
Correct.
Long story short, I live with a bunch of roommates, but only one of them uses our hottub. The rest of us were sick of paying 175 a month in utilities EACH to keep the thing running...

( I think it was so high because the girl's dog shredded the hot-tub cover, and it had a big gaping hole in the middle. Allowing lots of steam and heat to escape, and causing the heater to work overtime to maintain a consistent temperature. )


So when that roommate left for Australia for 6 months, I went out and cranked down the temp close to the min amount . We saved a small fortune on utilities, however, the hot tub froze and some things broke once the temperature dropped.

Anyway,
The landlord wants ME to pay the repair bills for the thing...

But I call BS on that because

a) Their dog shredded the cover, allowing heat to dissipate and cold/snow to get in.
b)The minimum temperature should still in theory be higher than 0 degrees.

I'm basically looking out for myself here. I don't want to be on the hook for this piece of crap hot tub unless I am truly the one responsible for its damage.

if you cranked down the temperature then you would know the temperature...

it is possible that since there was a hole in the lid that would mean the heater is running constantly. the heater probably broke and thats why it frozen. the dog owner should be charged

[Mitsu3000gt]

There is no "minimum" temperature as far as I know. It depends on usage and how cold it is outside. Usage temperatures are generally 98-104 but many people turn them down when their not in use - you just need to remember to turn it up a few hours before you want to get in. 75ish isn't uncommon for a tub to be turned down to when it isn't going to be used for a while. Any decent tub should also be programmed to run the pumps every now and then to keep warm water everywhere. A good cover is pretty important to keeping the heat in (as you've acknowledged). $175/mo per person is absolutey ridiculous. Our tub used about $1000 of electricity in a year and the manufactuer gave us a brand new tub because it was using too much power. The new one uses ~$30/mo I think.

If the land lord's dog chewed the lid, he should take some if not all the blame (if he knew about it) because he didn't repalce the lid, but I think the best thing to do would have been to call the land lord as soon as your friend left and have him come drain the tub.

[blitz]

Originally posted by shin0bi

b)The minimum temperature should still in theory be higher than 0 degrees.

I'm basically looking out for myself here. I don't want to be on the hook for this piece of crap hot tub unless I am truly the one responsible for its damage.

Well when the weather outside is -35°C, the "low" setting on the hot tub won't necessarily keep it above 0. It would have to be set high enough to counteract the extreme temperatures.

I suspect "Low" might be meant for warm days in the summer.

[shin0bi]

Yeah... Hindsight is definitely 20/20. :(

The tub's temperature knob just resemble a stove. Min to Max. The thermometer is just floading inside the water. It's pretty low tech and oldschool. Had I been a little more responsible, I would have gone back after the water temp had dropped and taken a look at the thermometer. But you know the old addage: out of sight, out of mind.

Oh well.
I called a hot tub specialist and asked them if the minimum temperature on a hottub would still maintain a temperature above freezing. She said definitely.
Therefore, had the lid not been shredded, my actions would have had no adverse effect on the tub.
Thus, I plead "Not Guilty"

[ZorroAMG]

Tell the dog owner to shove it up their ass.

[Khyron]

I fill my tub with cold hose water in the dead of winter. If the water is circulating it shouldn't really matter how cold it is.

Now if you shut off the pump then the lines would freeze, expand and break a whole lot of stuff. It's possible that their MIN temp setting means off. But if you just turned it down and it was still running it should not have frozen even with no lid.

Next time just drain it and turn it off completely (I know, a little late now).