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Is Your Hot Tub in the Path of a Hurricane or Tropical Storm?
If’ the storm is heading your way, you are going to be busy preparing your home for the high winds and rain that accompany a hurricane. While you are picking up the yard, stowing all things that can blow and trying to alleviate hazards that could exist when the wind picks up, how should you prepare your hot tub for a hurricane?
Electrical Tasks To Perform Before the Storm Strikes
Electrical hazards can be created by your hot tub’s equipment area flooding. Also power surges and transformers exploding can damage your sensitive electronics. The easiest and quickest way to eliminate electrical hazards in your hot tub area is to turn off the breaker that controls the hot tub.
If you are evacuating you are probably already shutting off your main breaker to the house. Be sure to include the hot tub breaker at the main panel as well. (In fact, a good practice is to turn all individual circuit breakers off.) Even if you are not evacuating, always, turn off the breaker to your hot tub. If you loose power completely, when it is restored, you do not want your hot tub to come on without your observation. There are often intermittent power outages and surges during a storm. You really don’t want to put your hot tub through those electrical surges and voltage drops. Turning off the breaker is the thing to do prior to high winds and rain.
Do NOT Drain Your Hot Tub
If wind and water is coming for you.. do not drain your hot tub! In fact, leave it full. You want the weight of it. It may overflow but that’s better than it blowing over, or floating away (yes.. that can happen!)
Keep Your Spa Cover From Becoming a flying missile
You may have to rely on more than your locking straps to keep your cover on your hot tub. Reinforce the locking straps on the spa cover with additional ratcheting straps to hold it in place. These straps should be placed length and width and possibly doubled up. You want to try and keep wind from getting under the spa cover. If you are using a tarp or an over cover, be sure it is tightly strapped down around the outside edge. Hot tub covers easily become giant flying objects that can damage your home or your neighbors home. Tie it down tight! If for any reason you can not secure your hot tub cover, Your best bet would be to bring it inside so it does not become a hazard if it blows off. If you are concerned about the cover being damaged you can put a piece plywood down on top of the cover and use your ratcheting locking straps to secure it tightly to the spa. Don’t even think about using bungee cords or anything less than multiple strong ratcheting straps for this.
Hot Tub Water Chemistry Before the storm
It can’t hurt to add a little chlorine bleach or granular sodium dichlor to the tub before the storm. This is not critical, the tub will probably need to be drained after the storm but it is a supply of water that you may be grateful to have as a water source for flushing toilets etc if you lose water supply.
Protecting Your Hot Tub From Windblown Debris
The standard practice of picking up all objects from your yard is important when trying to protect your hot tub. Obviously, in the worst case scenarios there will be flying debris in the air no
matter what you do to prepare at your own property. But even though a hurricane may threaten you, you never really know where exactly it’s going to come ashore. The Hurricane Flags can be flying for your area and you may fear a direct hit, but 10 miles can make huge difference in the severity of a hurricane over your house! You always want to hope for the best and prepare for the worst. There is nothing you can do about the 100 year old oak tree that succumbs to the hurricane forces and lands on your hot tub. But, you can keep your trash cans, lawn furniture potted plants etc from battering your house or hot tub in a more minor storm event.
Your Hot Tub After the Hurricane
Before the hot tub is energized after a storm you will want to inspect it for damage, and signs of flooding before you energize. Let it dry out for a few days too. You also will want to observe it’s start up procedures. If you believe your hot tub equipment area has been flooded, Do not energize the hot tub circuit at all. You can usually tell this by the debris line or water line in the equipment area. If there are signs that pump motors or control systems have been underwater DO NOT ENERGIZE. The equipment is most likely ruined and will have to be replaced.
Don’t energize your hot tub If the area around the hot tub still has standing water. You want to be sure that the area is dry before attempting a start up. Electrical shock can occur if there are problems with the hot tub equipment. Again, check for water levels at the equipment area before attempting a start up.
Prayers and Best Wishes to all Readers!
I know you wouldn’t be here at all, if you weren’t being threatened by a hurricane. My best wishes to you. Please let me know your experiences of the storm.. As a Florida native, I’ve prepared for 12 storms in my life, and never experienced a direct hit. I’ve had power outages, wind and rain, trees down but never serious damage. I pray your experience is the same!
If you have a hot tub and are looking for a cover, you can learn how to order spa and hot tub covers here