Closeing Vents in FF

[nicker]

Not to start another long thread like the ff or tp battle but,

I have a FF tub and LOVE IT. Nothing against tp as I have never owned one.  How ever this coming up on my first winter with the tub and living in a cold climate.  Ontario Canada winter temps possiblly down to -20.  When do you with ff tubs located in cold climates close your vents.  I was told once the weather starts to stay below 0.  We are not there yet but it won't be long till the cold and snow starts to fall. YA HOO BRING ON THE WINTER!

[HotTubMan]

.I am surprised your dealer made that recommendation.

What brand of tub is it?

Where do you live, I'm in Burlington.

HotTubMan

[nicker]

I have a Cost Mountain Spa.  The dealer never really mentioned when they should be closed. I heard that elsewhere.  I was going to ask the dealer but was also curios as to when/if most people do.

Is it not recommened to close them?  

[HotTubMan]

I have never had a supplier/manufacturer suggest to me that the vents be closed for the winter.

[Brewman]

Ditto on the thanks, and to keep on topic, our ff spa doesn't have vents that are closable.  Things seemed okay thru last winter.
Brewman

[stuart]

Many full foam spas with vents in the door have an option of closing vents to prevent snow from blowing in. At one time HotSpring offered an "insulating blanket" for harsh conditions as an additional protection to the equipment. In over a decade of owning spas I have never remembered to close my vents nor insulate the door and not once had a problem.  

Probably the biggest benefit to a vent that can open or close is to be able to open them in the hottest days of summer to keep the "heat creep" from increasing the temp in the spa. Vents are put in place to let the equipment run a bit cooler and "breath a bit".  

BTW, you will be happy to know that this thread will not be haunted by the past volatile ranting of our unnamed friend (let's please keep him unnamed!) any longer, the moderator has interceded!          

Thank you moderator!  
 

[tluxon]

We don't get very cold winters over here in the Seattle area, so I can't speak from experience with our spa.

We have a Marquis Euphoria, which is also a FF spa.  There is nothing more than a thin air barrier between our equipment compartment and the tub of 101°F+ water, so I'm sure it helps keep things just a bit warmer in there.  Another thing that probably helps is that the spa has a heating mode that runs the primary pump on low for a couple minutes every half hour to check the temperature.  So obviously, I don't have much to worry about in our relatively moderate temperatures.

On the coldest days, I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to block off any vents and it could very well help.  However, I'd really like to get input from the manufacturer before closing/covering/blocking any vents.

All the best,

Tim

[Jordy]

I've sold for Beachcomber, HotSpring and now own a Jacuzzi Dealership. All of these manufacturers are Full Foam spas and I have never recommended anyone close off or cover the air vents. All of these products have performed well for my clients even in the harshest weather. I am located in Calgary, Alberta and our temperatures can dip to -40 Celsius in the winter. So I wouldn't be too concerned.

[wetone]

The Coast Mountain Spas have 3 vents in the equipment compartment, one at the base which is a air intake, and 2 higher up which exhaust the hot air in the summer. The 2 exhaust vents that are higher up on each side of the spa can actually be opened and closed.

The vents are designed to prevent heat creep in the summer if some one was to use the spa for an hour or more. The manufacture does suggest that the vents could be closed during colder weather ( below zero) to keep the heat from the circ pump in the equipment area.