4 Tips for Winterizing Your Inflatable Hot Tub
- Oct 17, 2023
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Last Updated: February 19, 2025
Every season is hot tub season!
You may be wondering when the right time is to take down and store your inflatable hot tub when the chilly winter months approach.
The good news is – you don’t need to! Winter is one of the best times of the year to enjoy your inflatable hot tub, and it can even withstand fairly cold weather (keep reading for more on that!).
What better way to relax after a long, hard day than soaking in your inflatable hot tub with a cold beverage in your hand, enjoying the crisp winter air? Sounds like a blissful gift to yourself!
If you’re still not convinced about keeping up your hot tub year-round, here are four tips for winterizing your portable hot tub:
1. Give Your Hot Tub Shelter + a Good Location
First and foremost, you may need to move your hot tub from its current location. Ideally, you want to put your inflatable hot tub close to your house with some type of shelter (patio cover, awning, etc.) above it.
Ask yourself...are you really going to drag yourself across the yard to soak in the hot tub when it’s 30°F outside and snowing? Probably not.
Bonus Tip: If you don’t have a covered area, and you own a SaluSpa® hot tub, inflatable hot tub accessories like a canopy can help block the cold air coming from the side!
2. Follow Your Winter Use Instructions
Now that your hot tub is set up in the best location for winter, if you own an inflatable hot tub that features anti-freezing technology (ours is called Freeze Shield®), you want to make sure you’re following the winter use instructions carefully to avoid damage to the hot tub heater pump and liner material.
Bonus Tip: Before the outside temps drop below freezing, drain, clean and refill your hot tub to get rid of any debris from summer/fall. Let’s call it “Winter Cleaning!”
Your hot tub can stay up all winter long, even if the outdoor temperature gets down to 42.8°F – just make sure there’s always water in it, that the spa heater is always on, and if you don’t plan on regularly using it, to check on it often.
Bonus Tip: Do not use your hot tub when the outdoor temperature reaches 14°F. You risk damaging the liner. For the same reason, you also don’t want to set up or take down your hot tub when temperatures are this low.
The Freeze Shield system automatically keeps the water temperature between 42.8°F and 50°F, preventing the water from freezing. (If the Freeze Shield system ever stops working, a warning will appear on the display screen to alert you.)
Bonus Tip: If you plan on traveling during the holidays or are away from your home for an extended period of time where temperatures could drop below 42.8°F, we strongly recommend taking your hot tub down and putting it in storage.
3. Keep it Covered
When you’re not soaking in your hot tub, keep the included protective cover on to hold in the heat, conserve energy and protect from debris. Not only does every SaluSpa hot tub come with a standard cover, some also feature an EnergySense® insulated cover for additional energy efficiency.
Want to take it a step further? The SaluSpa Hermosa Smart AirJet™ features patent pending EnergySense insulation that is constructed with a multi-layered material that is designed to prevent heat loss. The insulated liner and cover hold in heat when the spa is not in use – making it up to 40% more energy-efficient than similar inflatable hot tubs.
4. Keep it Clean
Just like during the warmer summer months, you will still want to maintain your inflatable hot tub by keeping it clean and free of debris.
If you need maintenance essentials or just want to stock up on hot tub chemicals, a chemical starter kit is the way to go. It includes everything you need to care for your hot tub: Brominating Tabs, pH Plus, pH Minus, Scum Destroyer and Bromine Test Strips.
Now that you’re prepped for winterizing your inflatable hot tub, go relax (in your hot tub)!
Read this far, but don’t have an inflatable hot tub yet (and now you want one)? Here are some options that all feature a Freeze Shield system.