Welcome to our forum.
Thank you all for your help. My initial theory ended up being correct. The lowest temp for the hot tub is 80. I was hoping the water would need to get to at least that in order for the control panel/jets to work. Sure enough when I asked my husband to check the temp one more time before bed he came back in and asked me if I wanted the good or bad news first. I told him the bad and he said "the water is only 82, but dang those jets are fierce and the lights are awesome". I threw on my coat to see for myself and he was right; those jets are powerful. Looking forward to our first soak tomorrow night.