How Long Does It Take To Heat Up A Hot Tub For The First Time?

How long does it take to heat up a hot tub for the first time? If you have recently bought a new hot tub, you might be wondering how long it takes for the tub to heat up. Even if you have just changed the water in the tub, it might take slightly longer than you might realize.

Ideally, you should know that it can take anywhere between three to eight hours for a hot tub to reach the temperature that you want.

There are multiple factors that come into play here, such as the ambient air temperature and the temperature of the water that you are adding into the tub itself. On top of that, the capacity of the tub will also play a major role.

If it’s a big hot tub, it’s obviously going to take longer to heat up. To give a ballpark figure, it usually takes around four hours for the hot tub to reach around 100 degrees.

However, that’s not all. There are other things that you need to know about heating your hot tub, including how you can speed up the process, as well as one thing that you should avoid doing, since it can cause irreversible damage to your tub.

In the following article, we will talk about some important things, such as:

• The time it takes for your hot tub to warm the water.
• Will the hot tub heat up faster if you keep the jets on?
• Is there any other way that you can make the hot tub heat up faster?
• Can you pour hot water into your hot tub?

A lot of these questions usually come to mind when a person is draining the water from their hot tub. If you want to speed up the process and make sure that the water in your hot tub is nice and warm before you get in, just read the article below.

There’s hardly anything better than relaxing in a hot tub after you have had a tiring day at work. But, the last thing you would want is to get into the tub when the water isn’t hot enough.

There are primarily three situations in which you will have to heat up your hot tub at your place. First of all, if you have freshly filled up the tub after draining the spa, you will have to heat it up afterward.

Similarly, if you lower the temperature between multiple uses, you will have to reheat the tub before you decide to get in. Finally, if you power down your hot tub and winterize it for the cold months, you will have to heat it up again.

How Long Does It Take To Heat Up A Hot tub For The First Time?

The current temperature of the water in your hot tub will also have an impact on how long it takes to heat up again. If the temperature outside is warm, the water is going to sit at around 80 degrees without the internal heaters firing up.

Ideally, this ensures that you will only have to heat up the tub for around two hours to get it to a suitable temperature. In some cases, it might take up to three hours, but not any more.

However, if the water is cold and between the 60- to 70-degree mark, you should know that it could take a while longer to heat up. However, there’s nothing to worry about because the max it’s going to take is around four hours.

Does a Hot Tub Heat Faster with the Jets on?

To put it simply, jets will increase the pace at which your hot tub heats up the water. Jets make for an excellent addition to any kind of spa.

They don’t just help in heating up the water, but they also offer great comfort and when pointed in the right direction, they can also massage your muscles.

But, while most people use the jets for massaging their muscles, you should know that they can also be used for heating up the water in your hot tub. The power of convection currents come into play here.

When you turn on the spa jets, the water starts to circulate in the hot tub. Ultimately, it begins to move around and this allows the heat to disperse in an even fashion throughout the hot tub.

Without the jets turned on, there are going to be pockets of cold water that will be present in the pipes that are connected to the hot tub.

But, when the jets are powered on, these pockets are removed from the pipes, thus making sure that the water remains at a consistent temperature.

This process can increase the pace at which water heats up. In some cases, it can go up by six degrees in an hour as well. However, you need to make sure that you do not turn on the jets or the heater in your hot tub until it is full of water.

Some people like to turn on the heaters once the water hits the first jet, but that’s not a wise thing to do at all. The water won’t circulate in the pipes until they are all submerged, so the empty pressure is only going to harm the system in the long run.

More importantly, you should put a lid on the hot tub, especially if you have one. It’s going to cause the water temperature to rise much faster.

How Can I Heat My Hot Tub Faster?

There are three essential tips that you can follow to heat up the hot tub much quicker.

1. Using a Powerful Heater

There are three different kinds of heaters used for pools and spas. They range from 150k BTU to 400k BTU, with a 250k BTU option that rests in the middle.

While most people will consider the 400k BTU heater as a bit of an indulgence, you should consider going for a 250k BTU heater at least if you want the temperature to rise faster.

If you have a relatively small hot tub and use a 250k BTU heater along with it, you could cut the heating times down by almost an hour or so. It’s a pretty efficient way of cutting down on the heating times.

2. Place a Cover

As mentioned above, placing a cover on your hot tub is going to help the water retain the heat and this is going to ensure that the heat remains confined near the surface, which will ultimately increase the rate at which the temperature increases in the pool.

3. Turn on All the Water Features

Take a look at all the jets and water features that are built into your pool. Then, turn them on individually once the water reaches the suitable height. This is going to improve the circulation in the water, thus, spreading out the heat more evenly all around.

Can You Fill the Tub with Hot Water?

If you have been waiting for a few hours for the temperature in your hot tub to rise, it might seem like a plausible thing to throw some hot water into the tub the next time you want to get in.

While it seems like a viable solution, it’s definitely not. In fact, it could cause permanent damage to your spa. In most hot tubs, the highest setting is around 104 degrees.

You need to avoid pouring in water that’s higher than this, because it could damage the lining of your spa. Most people don’t think twice before throwing in water that’s upwards of 110 degrees.

This could cause the lining to sear and break apart. Remember, your hot tub isn’t designed to tolerate scalding hot temperatures. The materials are likely to melt or tear away.

In most cases, acrylic spas tend to give way if the water is overly warm.

If you are going to go ahead with the hot water trick nonetheless, it might be a wise idea to fill up the hot tub with regular water beforehand. This way, when you throw in the hot water, it will be dispersed evenly instead of hitting the surface directly.

More importantly, the heated water won’t rush straight through the pipes and the filters (which could also pose a problem). If the temperature of the water is higher than what the hot tub is designed for, it could cause damage to the filters, the lining, the pump, the jets, and all the other materials.

While it could increase the speed at which your hot tub heats up, do you really think it’s worth the added hassle? The risk is just too great to even consider this as a viable option.

As long as you follow the three steps given above, you won’t have much of a problem in speeding up the pace at which the water heats up in your hot tub.