Many hot tub enthusiasts like to use their tub year-round. In fact, many people enjoy the soothing warmth of a hot tub more with piles of snow around them in the dead of winter. However, if you’re not one of those types and want to close your hot tub during the colder months, you’ll need to take special precautions to make sure freezing weather doesn’t damage your spa.

Even if you choose not to use your hot tub, you can still keep it running during the winter so freezing weather doesn’t damage your equipment and plumbing. If you prefer to turn it off completely, you should follow these steps when winterizing it. A shop vac that can suck up water, some large towels, and a garden hose are useful items to have on hand.

• Turn off all electricity by turning off the circuit breaker. If it’s a portable model that doesn’t have wiring, just unplug it. Remove the cover from the hot tub completely, and also remove or open all access doors to the areas that house the plumbing, pump, and heater.
• Locate the hot tub drain and connect the hose. When the drain valve opens, water should start to come out if the hose is stretched out and below the water level in the tub. When the flow of water stops, disconnect the hose but leave the valve open.
• Some hot tubs have an air channel under the seats to provide bubbling action. You will need to turn off or unplug the spa heater and water pump individually and then turn the tub back on. It is important to make sure there is no power to the pump and heater because both could be damaged if they run without water.

• Turn on your hot tub blower and let it blow water out of the air channel for about 30 seconds. When you’re done, be sure to turn off the power at the circuit breaker again.
• Remove the cartridge filter and store it in your garage or basement.
• Look carefully around the heater pump and filter for any accessories you can take apart. Sometimes these have tabs that stick out a bit to make them easier to grip and turn by hand. Remove any of these that you can find along with the drain plugs and allow the water to drain.
• A shop vac really comes in handy at this point. You need to close the air control inlets which are usually on the top edge of your hot tub and attach the hose to the vacuum to blow. Get into your spa and run the hose against the jets, one by one. As you do this, this water will be forced out of the remaining jets as well as any fittings you removed around the pump and heater. Continue from one stream to the next until no more water comes out.
• Put the hose back on the vacuum and suck up any water in the bottom well of the tub and that may be on the seats. A quick rub on the inside with a soft towel should finish the job.
• Replace the jacuzzi cover on the spa. Since most hot tub covers will leak some water into the tub, it’s a good idea to cover the entire spa with a tarp or specially designed winter cover.

There you go. She has invested thousands of dollars in her hot tub, and with a few hours of work she can ensure that it will hold water when she refills it in the spring, with no leaks due to freeze damage.