Original > Hot Tub Forum

Power requirements

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bodguy:
Good morning,
I have been lurking the boards for quite some time and researching the purchase of my 1st tub.

I had the forsight when building our new home to have a concrete tub pad poured and 220V run to it. I didn't ask for a specific amperage (hadn't started researching tubs yet) and the builder put in 30 amp service.  :-[

Had I known better at the time I would have asked for 50 amp service, however now that the house is almost finished the only way to run 50 amp service is to run another line through the attic and down the side of the house through conduit, which I do not want to do, I really don't want to have conduit stuck to the side of my brand spankin new home.

Alot of the tubs I have been reasearching seem to have 50 amp, and even 60 amp requirements.  

I'm looking for a 6 person or larger tub, price not important. Am I going to have troubles finding a tub of that size that will run on 30 amp service?

Thank you in advance

Chas:
You can run any 110 volt tub with the wiring you have. In the HotSpring spa line that would be:

Jetsetter (small)
Prodigy (also small)
Sovereign (only the EE model)

In the Tiger River line you could run:

Sumatran (small)
Bengal (medium)

These tubs are well-designed, and do a very credible job on 110. With the heat-recycling from the jet pump motor, there is very little cooling when the jets are running.

There is a little-know feature on the bigger HotSpring tubs: you can program the logic on the control board to shut down the heater when the jets come on - so you could run the spa on a 30 amp circuit. This is not in any of the books - but I have done it. Swap a jumper on the circuit board, an you have a 30 amp spa. You get the fast heating/reheating of a 220 volt 6000 watt heater, but the heat kicks out when you trigger the jets, just like on 110.  Unlike a 110, you can reheat at 9 or 10 degrees an hour once the jets go off. By doing this you can use your existing 30 amp 220 supply.

Otherwise - you could find an electrician who would be willing to snake the correct wiring down the inside of the wall - or another wall nearby (such as inside of a closet or utility area) and bury the conduit to get where you need. A good electrician should be able to do this - though they may have to cut an access whole in the interior wall to get past the normal fire blocking. This is the time to do this: you have all the new paint to do the touch-up.

On a new house - with the choices you expressed, I would get the power updated to 50 amp and go with one of the largest HotSpring tubs.

Electro:
bodguy,

I think conduit is beautiful.  I'd install EMT or rigid on most surfaces, interior and exterior.  What could be nicer than seeing something as wonderful as conduit everywhere.

If you decide to install a bigger line, go with 60 amp service.  This is the largest allowed by the codes.  All of the biggest tubs use 60 amps to allow either no or lessened turning off of the heater.  Nevertheless, big tubs with 3 or more pumps will usually program to have the heater go off with more than 2 pumps working on their high level.

Electro

Chas:
'Tro has a point, conduit can be beautiful.    ;)

The largest HotSpring tubs are all 50 amp. They use a 4000 watt heater instead of a 6000 watt so you can run all systems at once. You really don't notice the difference in heat capacity, and being able to run all systems at once is nice.

If you do go to the trouble of running in a new 220 line, I would agree that putting in 60 amp would be wise. You will end up with a sub panel - most likely - and you can use that as a staring point for additional power for extras, such as outdoor lighting, music, fans, patio heaters, blenders, the rotisserie, etc.

bodguy:
Thanx for the quick replies.   ;D

I probably could have the 60 amp service run through the attic and into the wall where the tub is going to be located, the interior wall next to where the pad is, is actually a walk-in closet

Although, living on the Mississippi Gulf Coast the heat loss should be minimum when the tub is running, the average temp in the winter is around 50 degrees in the heart of winter, and you don't even want to know what it is in the summer (equater hot), I may actually want to cool the water LOL

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