How To Set Up An Inflatable Hot Tub

If you’re one of the many people who have recently invested in an inflatable hot tub, you’ll need to know how to set it up before jumping in and enjoying the lovely warm water. As with most things, setting up your inflatable hot tub right from the outset will help avoid problems later on so I decided to do some research into the best way to get started.

So, how do you set up an inflatable hot tub? – To set up an inflatable hot tub carefully choose the right location, inflate with the pump and fill with water. Heat the water, check PH levels and add sanitizer.

Setting your inflatable hot tub up in the wrong location or filling it incorrectly can lead to irritation and possible damage to your new hot tub. Also not using the correct chemicals can quickly turn your hot tub into a health hazard.

Read on to find out how to get it right first time!

Where is the best place for an inflatable hot tub?

The first step is to choose the right location for the inflatable hot tub. It’s important to get it right first time. Hot tubs, even inflatable ones, are heavy when they’re full of water, and you won’t be able to move it after filling it. Therefore, make sure you’ve taken the time to select the perfect site in the first place! You don’t want to have to go through the hassle of draining the tub and relocating it again once it’s been fully set up.

Choose an area of ground big enough to contain the hot tub comfortably. Make sure that you leave sufficient space at each side of the tub too. You should leave around a foot of spare room on each side as well as an extra 3 feet to accommodate the pump unit so that you can easily access it.

Make sure to check the ground in the area where you’re siting the tub too. You need to ensure that it’s free of any debris or rocks that may puncture or tear the vinyl material of the tub’s base. Ensure that the land is level and flat to evenly distribute the weight of the water.

While you’re choosing the right site for your hot tub, make sure that you’ve chosen the right surface to set it up on. If you’re only going to be using the tub once or twice before packing it away, putting it on your lawn may be suitable.

However, if you’re planning to leave the tub in place all season long, finding a better, more stable surface is imperative. A concrete slab, patio or terrace is the best option as long as the surface is flat, even and sturdy.

Decking may also be suitable, but it’s important to check that it can withstand the weight of not only the tub but the water inside it too and the maximum number of bathers who will be using the tub at any one time. Raised decking may not be strong enough to support such a load, and therefore reinforcement may be necessary.

One further consideration is how close you’re siting the tub to a power outlet. You need to power the tub directly from the mains since relying on an extension cord isn’t a safe or appropriate option. If the extension cord isn’t rated highly enough, there could be a dangerous voltage drop that could cause damage to the electrical components in the pump.

Think, too, about how close the tub will be sited to a water source. You need to attach a hose to a tap to fill the tub up, so you’ll need to ensure that your hose is long enough to reach the tub so that you can easily fill it up.

Finally, consider the fact that you may well want the hot tub to be away from the view of neighbors or passers-by. Peace and quiet and privacy are important and can usually be helped by careful positioning of the hot tub or screening.

Once you’ve chosen the perfect spot, it’s time to prepare the area. Take away any sharp objects or loose debris that may damage the tub’s base or cause any additional stress to the tub. If your hot tub was supplied with a ground mat or if you’ve purchased one separately, place it down on the surface with the pips facing downwards. Spread the deflated tub onto the mat, keeping the air valves aimed towards the area where the pump will be kept.

How Do I Inflate an Inflatable Hot Tub?

The time has now come to inflate the tub. Some inflatable spas come with a pump unit that is already preassembled, therefore there’s no need to put any pieces together. However, some portable spas need you to assemble the pump yourself before putting it together then plugging it into an appropriate power outlet.

Once you’ve ensured the pump is properly assembled and plugged into the power supply, connect the air outlet of the pump to the inflation tube. Connect its other side onto the inflation valve of the tub. Switch the pump on and, if the pump features a reset button, you should press it so the pump is reset.

When your pump features a voltage test, run that test first to ensure the pump has been properly connected to an appropriate electrical source. Once the air tubes have been hooked up properly and once the pump is operating properly, it’s time to inflate the hot tub. You can do this by pushing the button that has bubbles on it. It is the same duct as that used for powering the bubble air jets. Inflating the tub is done by rerouting the air that normally would enter the air ducts to the inflation valve.

Once the inflatable spa has reached its full level of inflation, you simply push the same button once more. This stops the air flow. Detach the hose from the inflatable tub’s valve and ensure that it has been tightly closed.

Ensure you don’t over-inflate your hot tub though. If you do this, strain will be put onto the seams and this can cause weaknesses which could result in leaking or even ripping. Also, when you’re filling up the tub with water its walls need to have a little give since the water weighs a substantial amount.

If the tub walls are excessively rigid due to being over-inflated, the water weight distorts the hot tub’s shape, putting more stress on the connectors and seams and causing leakages.

Next, it’s time to inflate the tub’s lid. Take the deflated lid and spread it out inside the lid cover leaving the inflation valve accessible. You should still have your inflation tube attached to the pump. Connect its loose side onto the lid valve and inflate it just like you did with the tub itself.

Push the button with the bubbles on it to begin the flow of air and press the button once more when you need to stop the flow of air. Ensure you don’t overinflate the tub lid, though. Usually, the lid will be made from thinner material than the tub itself, therefore it’s more likely to burst. Once you’ve completed the process of inflating the lid, take the inflation tube out of the lid and out of the pump.

You won’t need to use the inflation tube again, therefore you can pack the tube away once you’ve finished inflating the lid.

The whole process of inflation shouldn’t take you more than around 15 minutes and then you’ll be ready to move onto the next stage of the setup process.

How Do I Set Up The Pump And Filter on an Inflatable Hot Tub?

Once the tub and the lid are fully inflated and the inflation tube put away, the next step is to connect the pump onto the tub. The pump valves directly attach onto the tub valves. There are no hoses required between them. When your portable spa is fully inflated, you should find the valves directly align without any difficulties. You need to attach three valves together.

The biggest is the one that you’ve already used for inflating the lid and the tub. Attach the air valve onto the tub’s corresponding air valve. This valve is the one that the air travels through to operate the air jets that produce the bubbles. The other valves are the water outlet and intake valves. The pump draws in water through its intake valve. It cleans the water, heats it then sends it back out through the tub’s outlet valve back to the tub. You need to ensure that all of these valves have been tightly connected together.

Once you’ve done this, attach the filter. On the inner side of the hot tub, you need to make certain that you’ve firmly attached the drain cover. This will ensure that no water leaks out of the tub. If the water outlet and intake valves feature covers, take them off now. The tub is supplied with a filter that screws on the water intake valve. You’ll find this valve close to the tub’s floor. Fit the filter in the filter housing, then screw the filter housing onto the intake valve of the pump.

How Do I Fill The Inflatable Hot Tub And Heat The Water?

Now the time has come to fill up your hot tub with water then heat the water up. However, before you can do this, you need to clean the inflatable spa. Even if your tub is brand new, it still makes sense to rinse out the debris and dust that accumulates in inflatable spas since they could contaminate the clean water that you’re about to fill the tub with.

Once you’ve rinsed out the tub, you need to fill up the spa with water using a regular garden hose. Make sure you stop once the level of the water is past the minimum level mark, but hasn’t yet passed the maximum level mark. Should you accidentally overfill the tub, you can drain out a little water by reaching to the tub’s bottom and opening up the drain valve.

When the tub is full of water, you need to heat it up. On the pump unit you should find two buttons that need to be pressed. One will activate the water filter system while the other will activate the heater. Turn both switches on. The water filter system has to be switched on first then the pump can begin to heat up the water. While the pump is working to heat the water, keep the tub’s lid on and firmly closed. This helps to heat up the water much more rapidly.

When it comes to choosing the right temperature for your hot tub, bear in mind that the majority of units are capable of heating the water up to a maximum of 104 degrees. This is considered to be the level that is safe according to industry standards. Yet, just because that is the maximum temperature doesn’t mean that this is the temperature you have to heat your tub to. Many people find that if they reduce the temperature by just a couple of degrees the water will be just as comfortable to sit in, but it will take less time to heat and it will use less energy, and therefore less money.

What Chemicals do I Need for an Inflatable Hot Tub?

When you’re setting up your inflatable hot tub, you should shock the water first so that any organic compounds which could cause algae and biofilm growth are killed. Also, you should adjust the water’s pH so that it falls within the recommended range.

Check the instructions on the pack of chemicals you’ve chosen to use and follow them carefully to ensure that you use them safely. It’s vital to complete this stage properly since some sanitizers won’t work properly if the water isn’t within the optimum pH range.

Once you’ve got the water to the correct pH and the water has been properly shocked, you need to add some chlorine or bromine. This will ensure that the water remains clean and keeps you safe from unpleasant skin problems such as folliculitis. Not only that, but it prolongs your unit’s life and keeps you from spending too much on unnecessary chemicals.

You can find out a lot more detail about chemicals, water chemistry and hot tub maintenance in my post here.

Now that this stage is complete, your tub has reached the correct temperature and is filled to the correct level, and is situated in a sheltered and safe spot, it’s time to put on your swimsuit, jump into the water and simply relax and enjoy the bubbles!

Related Questions

How do I drain my inflatable hot tub? Once you’ve finished using your hot tub for the season, you need to know how to pack it away and drain it. Luckily, the process of draining is relatively simple. All you need to do is detach the pump from the tub then fix a regular garden hose onto the outlet that is designated for draining.

You may require an adapter to do this, but in the majority of cases you will find one supplied with your hot tub itself. Next, take off the stopper cap that is typically found on or near the interior floor of the tub. This will cause the water to drain out of the hose. It goes without saying that you should ensure the hose is pointing somewhere where the water will be able to drain away easily without causing flooding.

Pointing the hose into a drain could be the ideal solution, and whenever possible, pointing the hose down a slope is the best solution since it speeds up the flow of water when the tub is emptying. The draining water could even be used for watering plants in your garden, but you need to take care with the chemicals that are being used in the tub.

Stop using shock treatments and chlorine in the inflatable spa a few days before emptying the tub and this will allow those chemicals to dissipate so that the water can safely be allowed to flow onto the lawn and plants without causing them any damage.

How can I make my inflatable hot tub more comfortable to use? Although inflatable hot tubs are an excellent and affordable addition for anyone’s garden, they aren’t as comfortable to use as a regular acrylic-shell spa. They have no internal seating, for example.

Luckily, this problem can be solved by purchasing some inflatable separate seating which can then be placed inside the tub and used by bathers. It also makes sense to place your inflatable hot tub in a sheltered spot beside a wall or fence where the wind won’t be as strong. This will ensure the water remains warmer and more pleasant to bathe in, while also giving you greater privacy from the prying eyes of your neighbors and passers-by.

There are many other accessories that you can purchase to go with your hot tub to make it more pleasant to use. In-spa lighting and inflatable cushions as well as inflatable drinks holders are just some of the accessories that you may want to invest in to go along with your inflatable spa that will make your bathing experience even more comfortable and luxurious.