Two Ways To Reduce Your Spa's Energy Inefficiency This Winter
Snow is falling in New South Wales, and that is a good indicator that it is cold in this part of the country. An outdoor spa pool is a lovely way to stay warm during the chilly evenings, but as someone who inherited an old spa pool as part of a recent house purchase, how do you make sure it's not a big cost to you? There are two easy ways to make your spa more energy efficient this winter, so put these practices into place now.
Replace The Spa Cover
A spa cover is good for about five years, so if your cover is older than this, then it is time for a new one. The problem with bad-fitting ripped, or broken spa covers are they let heat escape around the edges and through the central hinge point of the cover. When heat escapes continually through the weak spots of the cover, then the spa heater needs to kick in more often to reheat the cooled water. The increase in heater usage means you're paying for more power than necessary.
If you only have a small budget to reduce the operating costs of your spa pool, then this is the number one replacement on your list. A spa parts supplier can help choose the best cover for your budget.
Do A Pump Run Test
Older spas don't have a set programmable timer which runs the water through the filter to keep it clean. You can achieve this same efficiency using a programmable timer attached to your spa pool electrical cord, but first, you need to do a pump run test to find out how much time your spa pump needs to keep the water pure.
Purchase an electrical timer from your local hardware store and plug your spa into it. Run the pump for 4 hours. Running the pump heats the water and pushes it through the cleaning filter. Take a note of the clarity of the water after the four hours have finished. Tomorrow, perform the test again, but this time for 3 1/2 hours, and then take a note of the clarity. Reduce the daily run time by 30 minutes per day until you notice the clarity in the water is no longer crystal clear. Add 30 minutes back to the timer, and this is the time amount you can then use to run the pump every day.
The purpose of the test is to make sure you are not running the pump longer than you need to. Additionally, once you know how long the pump must run, you can set the timer to run during the off-peak rate times set by your electricity company, and that saves you further money.
Talk to your local spa shop about other ways you can make changes to your spa to be more energy efficient as the staff are more than happy to give advice in this area.
