Adding Chemicals to Your Hot Tub with Smart Technology

Over the past decades, smart technology has revolutionized how we interact with everything, from our alarm clocks to the cars we drive every day to the ways we manage our personal health. Hot tubs, which traditionally have required manual maintenance and water testing, are no exception, and smart hot tub technology is now saving hot tub owners endless hours and unnecessary stress.

Adding chemicals to your hot tub has long been a stressful task, yet it remains an essential part of hot tub ownership. Proper chemical balance is crucial in maintaining safe, comfortable, and hygienic water, and is also vital in maintaining the longevity of your spa. But manually testing your water with strips or liquid test kits can be a frustrating, daunting task, one that has discouraged hot tub owners for years. Luckily, however, smart technology now offers an easier, more accurate approach to adding chemicals to your hot tub.

Keep reading to get the inside scoop on using smart technology to balance your hot tub chemicals.

Measuring Your Hot Tub’s Health

Spas are constantly subjected to body oils, lotions, sunscreen, sweat, and outdoor elements like rain, debris, and dirt. For this reason, hot tub water can easily become a breeding ground for algae, bacteria, and other contaminants. No need to panic, however. These are a few useful measures to gauge the health of your hot tub’s water:

  • Sanitizer Levels: Cleansers like chlorine and bromine are essential in combatting bacteria and algae, but levels must be in a specific range to be effective. Too little sanitizer can cause contamination, while too much can irritate the skin, eyes, and respiratory system.
  • pH Level: Your hot tub’s pH should generally fall between 7.2 and 7.8. Too high of a pH (alkaline), can cause scaling and cloudy water. Too low (acidic), will cause skin and eye irritation, and risk corroding your equipment.
  • Alkalinity: This is a measure of your water’s ability to neutralize acids and bases — in other words, resist changes in pH. If alkalinity is too low, pH can aggressively fluctuate, causing issues with water quality and crucial parts of hot tub hardware.
  • Water Clarity and Comfort: Properly balanced water will look clear and feel smooth on your skin. Poorly balanced water may be cloudy, have unpleasant odors, and can irritate your skin.
  • Calcium Hardness: This refers to the amount of dissolved calcium in your water. Too soft of calcium (low hardness) can damage your tub’s surfaces and plumbing. Too hard (high hardness), will cause scaling and clogging.

The Role of Smart Technology

So how exactly does smart technology make adding chemicals to your hot tub easier? Through sensors, mobile apps, and integrated devices, smart systems provide hot tub owners with real-time data, tailored recommendations, and even dispense the exact amounts of chemicals needed.

Here are five ways that smart technology can help you maintain clear, hygienic water:

Automated Water Testing

Testing the water can be one of the most frustrating, time-consuming parts of owning a hot tub. Using traditional test strips or liquid test kits requires manual sampling, often causing inaccurate results due to human error or confusion. Smart technology eliminates the need for this however, utilizing automated testing systems to continuously monitor your hot tub’s chemical levels and water health.

Systems like SmartTub® coupled with Spa Sense allow you to test your hot tub’s water from anywhere, utilizing a system of sensors to provide you with accurate and up-to-date readings through the connected app. Critical parameters such as pH, alkalinity, and sanitizer levels are just seconds away, helping you keep your hot tub running as smoothly and stress-free as possible. 

Can’t remember the last time you tested your water? Don’t fret. Filtration and water care reminders ensure that you never miss a step in the water treatment process.

Real-Time Notifications

A major benefit of using smart technology to balance your hot tub chemicals is its ability to keep you constantly informed with real-time alerts sent directly to your smartphone. This gives you the advantage of knowing when something is wrong with your hot tub far before you’re physically near it.

For example, say you’re away for the weekend and you get a notification that your tub's pH levels are outside the ideal range. Real-time alerts, paired with chemical dispensing technology, will allow you to take quick preventative action, dispensing a pH increaser (such as sodium carbonate) to raise the pH directly from your smartphone. Not only does this save you time and effort, but it also prevents a potential problem from gaining ahold of your tub.

Integrated Chemical Dosing

Manually adding chemicals to your hot tub is old school. One of the most impressive features of using smart technology within your hot tub is its ability to automatically dispense chemicals and pH-balancing agents into the water when necessary. This helps prevent the overuse or underuse of chemicals, both of which can lead to poor water quality.

The best part of it all? You don’t have to do a thing. Smart technology will take care of the heavy lifting, allowing you to sit back, relax, and rest assured your hot tub’s water is always taken care of. 

automatic hot tub chemical monitor and dispenser, adding chemicals to hot tub, hot tub chemical monitor

In-Depth Analytics and Data

Aside from automated testing and chemical dosing, smart technology can provide valuable insights that allow you to track your hot tub’s trends over time. These can include water chemistry data, long-term dosage trends, and other noticeable patterns that can affect your hot tub’s performance.

Why is this data important? Insights such as these can help identify potential problems before they happen, allowing you to make informed decisions about your hot tub’s maintenance. For example, if you notice sanitizer levels are often low, it may indicate a problem with your filtration system or incorrect chemical dosing. By reviewing the provided data, you can identify potential causes for this issue and make any adjustments needed.

Convenience

Arguably the best reason to integrate your spa with smart technology is merely its convenience. For years, many hot tub owners have neglected proper maintenance simply because they don’t have the time. Using smart technology significantly reduces the time spent on hot tub maintenance, eliminating the need to manually test your water every week or add chemicals after every use.

With a smart hot tub integration, you can balance your hot tub’s chemicals anytime, anywhere. Whether you’re at the office, walking the dog, or far away on a vacation, you can rest assured that your water is automatically being tested and balanced, meaning that your spa is ready to use at any time. This added peace of mind will save you extra stress, work, and ultimately, money, as you won’t be spending as much on extra chemicals.

Exploring the SmartTub® System

One of the most cutting-edge smart technology integrations is SmartTub®, a patented, industry-first hot tub solution that provides remote monitoring and control through phones, smart devices, and Siri® and Alexa® wearables anywhere in the world. Fully integrated with select Jacuzzi® and Sundance Spas hot tubs, this state-of-the-art platform is engineered to make it easier than ever to use and maintain your hot tub.

Let’s dive a bit deeper:

Energy Savings

Embrace efficiency with the SmartTub® app's intelligent features designed to minimize energy usage while maximizing comfort. Specialized tools like “Smart Heat” and “Auto Schedule,” help maintain optimal hot tub temperature and adjust settings based on energy consumption.

Enhance Wireless Sensors

A variety of strategically placed sensors throughout the tub help protect your investment, connecting seamlessly to your smartphone for up-to-date diagnostics. The Spa Cover Sensor will alert you if your cover remains open, ensuring your hot tub stays insulated and secure. The Water Sensor will detect moisture near sensitive components, helping to prevent damage.

Monthly Usage Summary

Detailed utilization reports will ensure you’re always in control and fully informed as a hot tub owner. Look to these for a comprehensive overview of spa usage patterns, energy consumption, and monthly operational statuses. Then, use this data to optimize your hot tub settings for efficiency, plan maintenance, and understand performance trends.

Remote Diagnostics and Support

Getting assistance with your hot tub has never been easier using the SmartTub® app. With merely the tap of a button, you can instantly connect with a certified hot tub dealer, allowing you to swiftly address any issues or concerns. Dealers can then run remote diagnostic tests to efficiently troubleshoot and resolve problems without even needing to visit your home.

So is smart technology worth implementing in your hot tub? Absolutely! If for one reason only, look to utilize smart technology for its convenience. The time, stress, and effort you spend on hot tub maintenance will drastically decrease, allowing you to spend more time relaxing and less time worrying. The peace of mind you will gain from using smart technology is truly invaluable, and you can always rest assured that your hot tub is safe, secure, and fully hygienic, with detailed diagnostic reports just clicks away.

To learn more about SmartTub® and the Sundance Spas brand, visit us online.