Hot tubs are a luxury item that many people wish to own. It can be fantastic to be able to come home and soak in your hot tub after a long day at the office.
You might even enjoy throwing small parties where friends can come over and use your hot tub. Depending on the size of the hot tub that you own, it might be better for a more intimate evening with your significant other.
Either way, you know that hot tubs have the potential to be a lot of fun. However, it isn’t so fun when your hot tub heater isn’t working properly.
Some people have had instances where they haven’t been able to heat their hot tubs with the normal heater units any longer. When this occurs, the most common solution will be to buy a new heater or to get the hot tub repaired.
Is it possible to heat the hot tub in another way, though? Could you heat the hot tub without a heater if you took certain steps?
Read on to learn about what you can do to try to heat a hot tub without a heater. This should give you some solid ideas that you can try out until you decide to get a heater for the hot tub once more.
1 – Let the Hot Tub Warm-up in the Sun
Of course, your hot tub could warm up just by being exposed to sunlight. If it’s warm enough outside and the sun is shining, then it’s possible that your hot tub could warm up after several hours of exposure.
This isn’t going to be a fast process, though. If it’s approximately 80 degrees Fahrenheit outside, then it’s going to take many hours for the hot tub to reach a temperature that you would consider to be hot.
It definitely isn’t going to be a match for using a standard hot tub heater. However, if your goal is simply to be able to comfortably use the hot tub without the water being cold, it’s going to work out okay.
If you just want to be able to take a dip in the hot tub and relax, then this might be just fine. You’re just not going to get things as hot as you would with a heater.
You should know that using a cover for your hot tub can help you to heat the water a bit faster. The cover can act as a lid on a pot that allows the food to steam while it’s on the stove.
Using the pump and the jets will help the hot tub to heat up faster as well. If those aren’t working, then the process won’t be quite as fast, but the hot tub can still heat up.
Even with the cover and the pump and jets going, it will take time to heat things up properly. Expect the process to take several hours no matter what if you’re just relying on sunlight.
2 – Buy the Best Hot Tub Cover That You Can
It’s possible that you might not have a good hot tub cover right now. Using whatever cover you have for your hot tub is better than not using a cover, but it could be beneficial to buy a hot tub cover that has good thermal qualities.
If you have a high-quality hot tub cover, then it’s going to do a great job of trapping heat in the water. You’ll be able to at least keep the water pretty warm if you’re using the hot tub cover and it’s warm outside.
The hot tub will be able to heat up a bit faster when the sun is shining as well. You should always be using a hot tub cover when you have an outdoor hot tub.
There are many other reasons why using a hot tub cover is imperative. You want to be able to keep debris out of the hot tub so that you’ll be able to use it without having to deal with nasty gunk.
No one wants to hop into a hot tub and have to wade through leaves or dead bugs. That’s a good enough reason to own a high-quality hot tub cover, but the fact that it helps to heat the hot tub up gives you that much more of an incentive to get one.
3 – Try to Place Your Hot Tub in a Good Spot
Trying to place your hot tub in a good spot can make it easier to heat it up with the sun as well. For example, if your hot tub is in a section of your yard that gets hit by a lot of sunshine, then you’ll have a much better time.
If you have a bunch of trees providing shade in the area, then the hot tub isn’t going to heat up quite so fast. This can be a problem when you’re trying to heat up a hot tub without a heater.
Those who have their hot tubs in bad locations might want to consider moving things. It could make it more practical to use the hot tub without a heater moving forward.
Granted, moving a hot tub that is already set up isn’t always convenient. Even so, it’s something that you can consider doing if you want to.
You could also make an effort to trim the tree branches that are hanging over the hot tub. If you create space by trimming the tree limbs and removing certain types of foliage, then the sun might shine down onto the hot tub better.
You’re really going to be relying on the sun to heat your hot tub when you don’t have a heater. There isn’t any way around that unless you want to get your heater repaired or replaced.
What About Indoor Hot Tubs?
It’s true that many people choose to place their hot tubs indoors in special rooms as well. If you don’t have an outdoor hot tub, then you’re not going to be able to utilize the sun in the same way to heat the hot tub.
This means that you’ll simply have to try to enjoy the tub the best that you can without heating it up. The water might stay warmer indoors if you have the hot tub in a good temperature-controlled environment, but it isn’t going to be truly hot.
You can still use the cover method to try to get the hot tub to retain some warmth, but the lack of sun is going to make truly warming the hot tub impossible. It would be necessary to have some type of heater to get the hot tub to be hot in an indoor environment.
That doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy your hot tub in other ways, though. You might be interested in using the hot tub as a makeshift pool or something like that.
It gets pretty hot during the summer and you might want to cool down on a hot day. Your hot tub water will be lukewarm and should feel pretty good to sit in when the weather is too hot.
Get Your Hot Tub Heater Fixed
Truly, the most practical thing for you to do is to get your hot tub heater fixed. There are going to be businesses in your area that service and repair hot tubs.
Calling experts will allow you to get the heater repaired in a timely fashion. You can then start enjoying your hot tub as intended instead of having to worry about trying to heat the water in unconventional ways.
For the most part, hot tub heater repair is fairly affordable. It is possible that it might make more sense to buy a replacement heater for your hot tub depending on what’s wrong, though.
Either way, you’re going to be able to get what you need to get things working again. You likely invested a fair bit of cash to purchase a hot tub, and it doesn’t make sense to let that investment go to waste.
Consider doing what you can to get your hot tub up and running again. You’ll be able to enjoy using the hot tub once more and you’ll be glad that you can unwind after stressful days at work in the most relaxing way possible.
Final Thoughts
You’ve been able to learn about what steps you can take to try to heat a hot tub without a heater. Honestly, it’s not easy to heat a hot tub without a heater, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t try.
You’re generally going to be relying on the sun to heat an outdoor hot tub when the heater isn’t working. It can go a bit faster if the jets and tubes are still working for the hot tub, but it’ll still take several hours.
Having a good hot tub cover can help quite a bit as well. You should be able to get the hot tub heated up eventually so that it can be used and enjoyed.
However, it’s not going to be quite the same as using a hot tub that has a working heater. Also, this method won’t help you if your hot tub is indoors.
You should consider contacting local experts to get your hot tub heater repaired. It might also be worthwhile to simply replace your hot tub heater with a new one that will work for a long time.
Look into your options so that you can keep enjoying your hot tub. It’s definitely worth it when you’ve already invested the money to buy a hot tub.
I have a bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems and over 10 years of experience working in IT. As a homeowner, I love working on projects around the house, and as a father, I love investigating various ways to keep my family safe (whether or not this involves tech). I’ve also played guitar for almost 20 years and love writing music, although it’s hard to find the time these days.