How Long Does It Take To Heat A Hot Tub?

After a long, tiring day, sometimes you can’t beat jumping into a hot tub to unwind in the warm bubbles and feel your stresses melt away.

However, if you’re new to owning a hot tub, you might be wondering: How long does it take to heat a hot tub?

In this article, I will explore some key information about hot tubs, including how long it takes to heat a hot tub.

So, next time you want to get into your hot tub or host a hot tub party, you have a better idea of how long you’ll have to wait.

Let’s get started.

How Long Does It Take To Heat A Hot Tub?

When you think of hot tubs, you think of a nice relaxing temperature. However, if you get into it too soon, you could end up with a lukewarm hot tub that doesn’t quite set your world on fire.

Generally speaking, the relaxing, optimum temperature of a hot tub is typically around 100 to 102 degrees Fahrenheit.

Heating a hot tub to the comfortable and safe temperature of 100 to 102 degrees Fahrenheit tends to take as long asfour hours. However, depending on the hot tub in question, it may range from three to eight hours.

To gain a better understanding of your specific hot tub and how long it takes to come to temperature, you will want to ensure that you check the instruction booklet that your hot tub comes with.

Not every hot tub is made equal. While it’s good to get a general ballpark figure of how long it will take to heat up, the only way to get an accurate timing is to check your specific model, as each hot tub is different.

What Affects The Heating Time Of A Hot Tub?

There are various factors that affect how quickly your hot tub will heat up to the optimum temperature.

Luckily for you, you have control over all of them, meaning you can get your hot tub to the right temperature once you know about these variables.

Base Temperature

While this might sound like an obvious one, how long it will take for your hot tub to warm up will largely depend on the starting temperature.

Whether you leave your hot tub off or to run all the time is a personal choice. However, the answer will affect how long it takes to heat it up.

For instance, if you live in a colder climate and don’t use your hot tub on a regular basis, then it might be that you turn your hot tub off until the day you would like to use it.

As a result, this means that your hot tub has further to go and you’ve got longer to wait to reach the optimum temperature.

On the other hand, leaving your hot tub on 24/7 will give you a head start on reaching the optimum temperature 100 to 102 degrees Fahrenheit, but will likely cost you more on a long term basis, especially when it comes to receiving a whopping great electricity bill!

Ambient Temperature

To put it short, the ambient temperature is a measure of temperature around something, in this case, the hot tub.

This means that the hot tub will warm up at a quicker rate if the water inside it is warm in the beginning or if the air around the tub is warmer.

While you can’t necessarily control the air temperature, you can control the environment that your hot tub is in by blocking out the wind.

So, how do you create an effective windscreen for your hot tub? There are various ways you can keep your hot tub sheltered to help it warm up more efficiently.

These methods include but are not limited to:

• Placing your hot tub in the most sheltered part of your backyard, such as a sun trap
• Installing a fence around your backyard to make it more sheltered
• Enclosing the hot tub in a gazebo
• Planting a row of shrubs to create a natural barrier from the wind
• Installing a windscreen on the windiest side of the hot tub

Hot Tub Cover

A hot tub cover is one of the most important factors to consider regarding how efficient your hot tub is when warming up.

Without a hot tub cover, there’s nothing to trap the warm water inside, meaning it can evaporate and escape into the air. As a result, it will therefore take a longer time for your hot tub to reach the optimum temperature.

In order to minimize how long it takes for your hot tub to heat up and retain all that warmth, you will need to invest in an energy-efficient, good quality hot tub cover that is in place while you heat up the hot tub.

It’s also important that you regularly maintain your hot tub cover. It’s natural for wear and tear to occur over time, and you will need to check the hot tub cover on a regular basis for any holes, cracks, or water saturation.

Once you begin to notice some deterioration in your hot tub cover, it’s time to replace your old hot tub cover with a new one to ensure that your hot tub is able to heat up as efficiently as possible.

It’s worth noting that some cracks are invisible to the naked eye, but if you notice your hot tub is becoming slower to heat up, your cover could be at fault. As a result, you’ll want to replace it.

Insulation

It’s safe to say that a hot tub that is well insulated holds its heat better, and therefore warms up more quickly.

While heat from the hot tub easily escapes into the air, it can escape through small cracks that appear in the hot tub cabinet.

A common place for hot air to escape is at the base of the hot tub.

If your hot tub is sitting on a hard surface, such as concrete, you may be surprised by the impact that this can have on the timing it takes to heat up your hot tub.

To help minimize the time it takes for your hot tub to heat up, make sure that you are regularly inspecting your hot tub for leaking spots.

If you find any, add insulation to help combat the issue and to cut off the seeping heat.

Regular Maintenance

Another important factor to consider is regular maintenance of your hot tub. How long it takes for your hot tub to heat up will largely depend on the condition of its working parts.

So, how do you ensure that your hot tub is running as smoothly and as efficiently as possible?

There are a few essential steps that you need to carry out regularly. These include but are not limited to:

• Cleaning the filters
• Replacing the filters when they can no longer be cleaned
• Regularly checking the jets are operating properly
• Regularly maintaining the hot tub’s pump for maximum efficiency

Good Quality Heater

Every hot tub comes with a heater, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best quality heater out there.

While the basic heater your hot tub comes with gets the job done, it might not be as efficient as another one on the market.

Over time, this basic heater can begin to deteriorate. Luckily for you, you don’t need to replace the entire hot tub when this becomes a reality, you just need to replace the heater.

Upgrading your hot tub’s heater to a stronger, better quality heater has the potential to take off minutes, or even hours the time it takes to heat your hot tub water up.

Opting for a heater with higher BTU’s per hour, higher wattage, and impressive controls and sensors can all contribute to how efficiently your hot tub runs.

As a result, this also has a huge impact on how quickly your hot tub takes to heat up!

Jets

Another factor you will need to consider is whether you have the jets on or off.

Believe it or not, the jets in a hot tub are a hot topic of debate.

While some claim that running the jets while heating the water allows warm water to circulate and distribute evenly inside the hot tub, others claim the cold air bubbles created by the jet actually have the opposite effect and increase the time it takes to warm up.

However, the reality is that jets have a small effect on the heating time of a hot tub.

If you’d like to use the jets, you could always run them every now and then throughout the heating time, or alternatively run them when the hot tub has nearly reached optimum temperature to make sure that the warmer water has circulated the tub sufficiently.

In Summary

A hot tub will usually take around four hours to come to optimum temperature, however this number can range from three to eight hours.

As you gain more experience heating your specific hot tub, you’ll figure out exactly when you need to turn it on for it to reach the optimum temperature before you’re ready to get into it.

Good luck heating your hot tub.