Cold weather power out

[ssbraun]

Just a little note that may be of interest to those who worry about losing power in cold weather.  I turned my power off yesterday at noon because I am having my spa replaced today, knew I wasn't going to use it last night, thought I'd save some power and check out the insulation of the unit; it is now almost 20 hours later and the temp of the tub has only dropped to 95 F.  This with ambient conditions of 23 F and a north wind direct on the control cabinet at 25 to 35 mph (the wind chill is 5 F).  This cold wind was unexpected or I wouldn't have left power off overnight (I don't wish to damage the unit by freezing it even though it is going away).  This mornig I awoke to these cold windy conditions, and immediately worried about the pump compartment.  Powered it up and everything is fine, no frozen circ pump etc. as I thought there may be with the strong wind blowing right on the cooling vents of the pump compartment!  I guess this makes me feel a lot better about the FF units after reading the concerns about the equipment cabinet...Have a great day everyone...hopefully by this eve I'll have my new spa in place (provided the crane doesn't cancel b/c of the wind!)

Steve

[HotTubMan]

Thanks for the report. I have sold on both sides of this debate.

What I dislike is when the TP guys tell you that the equipment in the FF is going to freeze in a matter of hours.

With the power out there may not be any circulation, but the plumbing to and from the equipment is still attached to a body of very hot water. Heat and cold transfer is a cornerstone of the TP argument, but seems to get forgotten when it comes to the scare tactics of power outages....

[Brewman]

Shame on any dealers for using this scare tactic.  
I live in an area where it's possible to get to -30 F in the winters, not including the winds impact.
In the past 4 decades, I can remember only one time that power went out in the winter- that was last year, and it only lasted a couple of hours.  Water temperature only went down a degree or two.  
For those who live in areas more prone to power outages, get a small generator, and rig up a light bulb for heating the cabinet space.  There really isn't much else you can do.  
If our power ever goes out at below zero temperatures for any significant lentgh of time, I've got way more important things to worry about- my house.