How to Drain and Refill Your Hot Tub Before Winter

How to drain, clean and refill your hot tub

Right now is the best time to drain, clean and replace the water in your hot tub.

If you take care of this (or get this taken care of) in October, you can probably make it through the winter without doing it again.

Think about the misery of scrubbing away at your cold, wet hot tub when the temperature outside is -15C. You might not want to clean your hot tub now, but you really don’t want to clean it then.

Now is the time!

If it’s your first time, or you’re short on time, you might want to book us to do it. We’ll show you the steps so you can do it yourself next time.

But if you want to try it yourself, the steps outlined right here are all you need.

7 steps to quickly drain your hot tub.

1. Add Swirl Away a day before you want to drain the hot tub.
2. Turn off the power at your main breaker and unplug the hot tub.
3. Find the black drain/fill valve under your hot tub steps.
4. Remove the safety cap from the valve fitting.
5. Attach one end of your garden hose and lay the opposite end lower than the drain valve.
6. Turn the outer section of the valve counterclockwise to start the flow.
7. Go do something fun for an hour.

If you have one, you can use a submersible pump to drain the hot tub faster.

Once the draining is complete, rinse the inside of the tub with fresh water, which should drain out the valve as quickly as it flows in.

How do I scrub the acrylic surface of my hot tub?

Harsh chemicals dull the acrylic surface of your hot tub, so never user products like Comet, Lysol or Ajax.

Instead, use a simple solution like Swirl Away 2 – Cover and Acrylic Cleaner with a sponge. Don’t use the scratchy side of the sponge though!

Wipe down the exposed surfaces and rinse the vinegar and water out as you go.

Put the water back in!

Close the floor drain, fill up the footwell, then open the floor drain again. This helps rid the hot tub of any straggling contaminants still in the drain lines.

1. Close the floor drain and use your garden hose to refill the hot tub through the skimmer mouth.
2. Stop filling once the water is halfway up the neck jet opening.
3. Reconnect the power and get the water circulating.
4. Once the hot tub reaches 85F, you can go ahead and follow your Fresh Fill Procedures.

We always recommend keeping a complete water care kit around, so you have everything you need to troubleshoot if the balance of chemicals goes off for some reason.

The entire cleaning process takes about 4 hours for most homeowners – a lot of time when you only have the weekend to handle all your chores.

We can do the work while you enjoy the weekend.

You can book a hot tub drain, clean and refill for as little as $175 if you’re a weekly maintenance customer.

How much is your time worth?

Give us a call to schedule your service today and avoid the last minute rush.