In a double speed design, your pump goes into high speed when you push the “jets” button, giving you the hydrotherapy that spa users have come to love. The hot tub will turn the pump on in low speed when it’s time to clean the water by drawing it through the filters, or when the thermostat calls for heat.
In some hot tub designs, a separate circulation pump churns away 24 hours a day, maintaining a clean flow of water by continuously drawing water through your filter, and keeping your hot tub at the temperature you’ve programmed in.
Most circulation pumps are very quiet and you shouldn’t notice them, but as they wear out, the internal bearings may begin to make a whining noise. During the summer, you may choose to let the pump whine until it fails, but during the winter, you need to take care of it immediately. When the circulation pump finally dies, your heater will stop heating. If it’s the middle of January and the air temperature is 20 degrees, you will have a very limited amount of time until your spa freezes up. If water freezes inside your tub’s pipes and tubes, the ice can expand and crack your pipes, causing thousands of dollars in damages. Depending upon the type of spa you have, it may not even be repairable. Because there are so many brands of hot tubs, and so many different models within each brand, we often have to order a pump, and it can take several days. So we always recommend that whining pumps are dealt with immediately, before they turn into a two thousand dollar problem.
