Xavier Labelle

Winterizing your spa

The winter season in Canada can be brutal when it comes to cold weather, and freezing temperatures can cause problems for spas. If your spa won’t be used for an extended period of time during the winter season, we highly recommend that you properly winterize it to prevent any damage that may occur to the spa components. As outlined in your owners manual, here is the proper way to winterise your hot tub.

What you’ll need:

  • Wet/dry shop vacuum (or similar product)
  • Sponge
  • Phillips head drill bit and drill
  • Plastic bags
  • Garden hose (if you don’t want the water draining around your spa)
  1. Start by shutting off the breaker connected to your spa (if it is a 110V spa, pull out the power cord from the socket and wrap it in a plastic bag)
  2. Open the drain valve located at the side of the spa and let the water naturally drain out (a normal garden hose can be attached to this valve to drain the water further away if needed). Leave this drain valve open
  3. Once the water has stopped flowing out of the drain valve, use the wet/dry vacuum to suck out any remaining water from each jet head (NOTE: If your spa is equipped with a blower, briefly turn the power to the spa back on and run the blower for 10 seconds to remove excess water, shut off the power when finished)
  4. Open the cabinet to obtain access to the control system
  5. Unscrew the two unions on each side of the heater connected to the control system and let the water drain out of the heater (you can also disconnect the control system and remove it from the spa if you wish, but when you open your spa in the spring again you will need to have it rewired)
  6. If possible, insert the wet/dry vacuum into each of these pipes and suck out any extra water
  7. Cover these pipe ends with plastic bags to prevent debris from entering
  8. Close the cabinet back up securely and use a sponge to soak up any extra water inside the tub
  9. Cover the spa with your hard top cover and secure it in place with the locking clips (a tarpaulin can be used to cover the spa as well for added protection)

If you wish to have a Canadian Spa Company service professional close your spa, we would be happy to assist you with this procedure. We will close your spa in the winter and come back in the spring to open it up and reinstall it for you to ensure that no problems occur during the winter season.

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