I bought a Hot Springs Envoy spa a few months ago. As the weather got colder, I noticed the initial water to come out when the jets or water feature were started was very cold. I told this to my salesperson who said "You might have a circulation pump out.” A day later a repairman came, unfortunately right after we just used the spa so the water was warm. I told him the problem since I could not show him. He said it was just the water in the lines and was normal. He didn't look at the spa. I asked him if it could get cold enough to freeze in the winter and he said no because they are too well insulated.

Today, I had the spa turned down to 80 degrees because we had just been on vacation. We then had a bitter cold snap and the temp last night was -6 F. When I started the water feature slushy ice came out. So, is there a problem with the spa or am I just not supposed to turn it down that low if it is to be cold outside? Thanks. I just moved from Las Vegas and am not used to dealing with these temperatures.

steross

nothing wrong......

Adding to everyone's statement of nothing wrong, there may be a way to help minimize this occuring. If you have a switch or a setting from economy to standard, and it's in economy, switch it to standard. This will cycle the spa when it calls for heat and will help keep the lines circulating with warm water. If you have a timer, set it so it comes on more often, for example, 10-15 minutes every couple hours or so. This would have a similar effect of standard mode. It is normal for the pipes to cool much more than the tub when it is not in use. The trick is to get the water flowing more often to prevent this.

He has no such setting- about all he can do is be sure he's not in "summer mode"

Oh, and don't listen to your salesman-he means well, but he wasted everyones time by sending out a tech...and made you think you have a problem when you don't...
If your circ pump wasn't working- you'd know it. The penguins ice skating on your spa would be your first clue

The ice up in the water feature is unusual... but unavoidable in an environment THAT cold. Just leave the water feature running. It uses no more or less power.

Since it's located so high, there's very little insulation in that particular part of the spa... and since it's so close to the exterior, if you have the valve turned off- it may ice up. There's no danger- as the rest of the tub is warm and insulated. Even if it did freeze up completely, it would simply send water through the usual channel until it dissolved the ice, and no harm could come to any of the plumbing