50 amp Service - Upgrade to 60 amp???

[Quickbeam]

I posted this question once before and am sorry, but I’m still not sure what to do. We built a new cabin and had it pre-wired to put a hot tub on our roof deck. Unfortunately, our electrician only wired for 50 amp service. We are now seriously looking at getting a Jacuzzi tub - probably either the J-335 or the J-345. In any case, with both Jacuzzi and Sundance, from my understanding, if you have 50 amp service and have two pumps on at the same time, the heater kicks out. The salesman we are dealing with is a good guy who has treated us well. He tells us not to worry about the 50 amp service as the vast majority of his customers only wire for 50 amps. He says that when the heater kicks out, the heat from the pumps is enough to compensate for this. I would like to know from others out there if this is true? I really don’t want to be in the middle of winter and find that I have to shut off a pump, and therefore jets, because the water is getting cold.

I can have the electrician re-wire for 60 amps, although the wires would need to come through one of the walls and be run outside the house. It’s not a deal breaker, but is obviously not what I had in mind when we had the place pre-wired. I also know it’s going to cost me more money to get the wiring done to 60 amp., but I think I’ve got a pretty good argument to the electrician that he should have wired to 60 amp in the first place. I know I won’t get it for free, but I’m hoping that if I went ahead with it I would get a bit of a break on price.

Bottom line is this - if I have two pumps engaged and the water is going to start getting cold then I think I would rather bite the bullet now and get the 60 amp service. If however, our salesman is correct and the heat from the pumps is enough to keep the water from getting cold, then I’ll leave it with the 50 amp service. I would save myself some money and also not need to run wires on the outside. But I really, really don’t want to have to shut down jets to keep the water warm.

Also, I should let you know that I live in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. The winter weather can get cold, but not like it does in the Prairies.

So, what do you guys think - stay with 50 amps or go to 60? Does anyone have real world experience with 50 amps with either Jacuzzi or Sundance? Thanks so much for your help.

[Tman122]

The pumps will put off heat that will get to the water. But if it's 30 and you have both pumps running the water WILL cool. If it's 60-70 it may not be a problem. If I could afford it I would change it out. And yes by all means talk to the sparky about a deal. He's likely innocent and followed a spec given to him though.

[richierich]

I have my Sundance Optima wired with a 50 amp service. When in the tub for more than 20 minutes the temp does go down a deg. or two even when both pumps are running. Don't ever notice it while we are in the tub, only when we get out and see the temp. We have the tub set to economy mode so it only heats 4 times a day but I have the times set close to the time of day we are likely to soak. We are  usually 103 when we go in. I am in N Calif. so the temps are fairly mild.

[Pers Onal]

I say leave it for now and see how it does.

you can always increase the amperage later.

FWIW. After 13 years, I find that I often will sit for a good while with _both_ pumps off just enjoying the quiet and warmth.

It's pretty neat to soak in the quiet for a while. May well be long enough for the heater to pull temp back up.

[dunecritter]

The pumps will put off heat that will get to the water. But if it's 30 and you have both pumps running the water WILL cool. If it's 60-70 it may not be a problem. If I could afford it I would change it out. And yes by all means talk to the sparky about a deal. He's likely innocent and followed a spec given to him though.

I totally agree with this statement....Residual heat will find its way to the water with the main pumps but not enough to compensate very cold climates. Its fine in my neck of the woods (Arizona) but I would want the heater in other colder climates...A few degrees is everything in the water.

[Mudheadsports]

We're in michigan had just had a pretty extreme winter!!!!!  We just purchased our tub in January and had it wired for 60 amp service.  The factory settings were for 50 amp service and when we were using it in the really cold weather with 50 amp we noticed the water cooling fairly quickly.....if you only have the one pump running, the heater will run......IMO I'd just get it done now.....good luck!!!!  Hope that helps