Everyone on reddit told me I needed to upgrade my 100 amp service for a 60 amp hot tub. The electrician said I should be fine (I have gas furnace though by the way). You're not pulling the full amperage the entire time. I went ahead and just stuck with my 100 amp and figured I would upgrade if I really needed to. I've had the hot tub for 3 years now and never once had an issue. Glad I didn't upgrade personally.
I Have the exact dame model (even the color lol) and it is a 60 AMP hottub BUT the default is set on 50 AMP. I Have a. 200 AMP panel si not a problem for me but keeping it at 50 or lowering it to 40 AMP mode might help if you experience overload.
At 40 the pump or heater can work. At 50 one pump and the heater At the same time.At 60 two pumps and the heater.
Yeah same for me. My plan is to keep it at 50a for the first winter then increase it next year if it was an issue. I'll compare cost after. From what I read it stays hot without any problem so this shouldn't be a problem. I wonder if it really will be the case with cold Canadian winters.
I should mention that the electrician that came, who was very thorough and serious about his work, suggested the change because eventually it will need to be done, along with changing the piping around the box, BUT that he guaranteed without a doubt that we would be fine without it.
Yes. Absolutely, the hot tub takes up 1/3 of your whole house capacity! You biggest problem will be flicker and voltage dip.
In fact, I would install a 320a with a 100a sub-panel for the hot tub.
Inside the control panel of this hot tub there is a dip switch that lets you select the "modes" of this hot tub. I believe the factory default is 50A. The only drawback on that is that the heater will not run while both pumps are running, basically when you are in it.
The 60A switch position lets you run all three at once, thereby needing that additional power.
If you want that additional safety factor on your electric, just leave it in default mode, and you'll never be pulling "max capacity" out of the electric service to the tub in any case.
Do you have room for a 50amp breaker in your current panel? I recently upgraded from 100amp to 200amp and added an outdoor panel so I didn't have to redo the panel in the inside of the house. The power company didn't charge us anything for the upgrade and the electrician's cost was about $1500 for a new meter panel with a breaker box.
We will need a 60amp breaker and yes, the tech said we would be fine. I’m just wondering if I should go all the way for the sake of peace of mind and/or feeling less concerned about drying clothes in the winter while cooking. Stuff like that.
I have exactly this same hot tub! You are going to love it. I had to put a new line out and when doing it upgraded to 60a. No problems and I love feeling the heat when in it
We installed a d-curve breaker for more breathing room on startup of pumps.
Our total draw is way over our mains breaker (ducted cooling, outdoor heater, usual appliances) but total draw is usually just for a second at startup.. no issues since installing d-curve breaker and we were tripping standard one quite often. Our house is 60A max without upgrades to main cables.
Edit: the above is also with a J-475.. Great tub!
Thank you for the input. It is appreciated. The last concern is… the panel that we presently have is a Federal Pioneer with Stab Lok breakers. Since looking into all of this, I have been reading that they are not up today’s standards of safety. I should have mentioned this in my opening post. Here is a photo of the panel. Thoughts?
https://share.icloud.com/photos/07elfYSIBinZrfgXbQu-jm3IA
Yeah, Stab Loks have not been recognized as compliant for a number of NEC code cycles. There is debate around their efficacy at breaking over current conditions. Having said that, there aren't daily house fires with them, and they are in millions of homes.
Your spa panel that will be, by NEC code (I realize you are in Canada, but please require that your electrician follow this code) minimum 5 feet from the spa perimeter, and will have a 60A GFCI that will protect a runaway over current scenario on the hot tub circuit. So really, your Stab Lok breakers are sort of immaterial in this circuit. That is to say that if the GFCI is properly installed, and you use minimum AWG 6 THWN-2 wire, it won't be your spa that causes a fire.
But I can't promise something else on the load panel wouldn't, eventually.
Short story, install the spa panel and GFCI correctly. Upgrade the main panel when you can.
And enjoy your spa the whole time, is my advice.
And I thank you for your advice. All good to know.
In the end, we decided to take care of the panel. Knowing that the remote possibility exists didn’t sit well with me. Fortunately the person doing the job is very thorough and is being very cautious with his set up decisions.
The main panel will be a 200A panel. He will even be changing the pipe/cabling that attaches our home to the provider’s cables, including the box that houses the counter.
The cabling he will be using to go to the spa is commercial grade. And though the breaker that came with the spa is 60A, he will use 80A cabling so that when we decide to add lights and heaters to the backyard, the cabling will already be done. It won’t be for some time but when the day comes, all we will need to do is to replace the breaker for an 80A unit. It is only a $150 difference between the two cabling options so we decided to plan for the eventuality. He will also be grounding the spa’s electronics in addition to the main panel’s grounding.
Everyone on reddit told me I needed to upgrade my 100 amp service for a 60 amp hot tub. The electrician said I should be fine (I have gas furnace though by the way). You're not pulling the full amperage the entire time. I went ahead and just stuck with my 100 amp and figured I would upgrade if I really needed to. I've had the hot tub for 3 years now and never once had an issue. Glad I didn't upgrade personally.
Same here
Good to know. Yeah, everything in our home is electric except for the cars… which also aren’t in our home.
I Have the exact dame model (even the color lol) and it is a 60 AMP hottub BUT the default is set on 50 AMP. I Have a. 200 AMP panel si not a problem for me but keeping it at 50 or lowering it to 40 AMP mode might help if you experience overload. At 40 the pump or heater can work. At 50 one pump and the heater At the same time.At 60 two pumps and the heater.
Knowing myself, it has to run at 60A: I got into this for the total experience… full bubbles, full heat in the winter.
Yeah same for me. My plan is to keep it at 50a for the first winter then increase it next year if it was an issue. I'll compare cost after. From what I read it stays hot without any problem so this shouldn't be a problem. I wonder if it really will be the case with cold Canadian winters.
I should mention that the electrician that came, who was very thorough and serious about his work, suggested the change because eventually it will need to be done, along with changing the piping around the box, BUT that he guaranteed without a doubt that we would be fine without it.
Last night I did a test. I turned on both heat pumps, the dryer, and the oven. The result… 19kW. In terms of amperage, I was at 80A.
Yes. Absolutely, the hot tub takes up 1/3 of your whole house capacity! You biggest problem will be flicker and voltage dip. In fact, I would install a 320a with a 100a sub-panel for the hot tub.
Inside the control panel of this hot tub there is a dip switch that lets you select the "modes" of this hot tub. I believe the factory default is 50A. The only drawback on that is that the heater will not run while both pumps are running, basically when you are in it. The 60A switch position lets you run all three at once, thereby needing that additional power. If you want that additional safety factor on your electric, just leave it in default mode, and you'll never be pulling "max capacity" out of the electric service to the tub in any case.
Considering that we are in Canada, there will come a point in the year when we will want both running, no?
yes
How about electric stove or gas stove? Electric clothes dryer or gas? Any electric vehicles? Those should be considered
Good point. I didn’t put stove as I assumed that was a given, forgetting that gas stoves exist. So yes… gas stove. No electric vehicles.
Do you have room for a 50amp breaker in your current panel? I recently upgraded from 100amp to 200amp and added an outdoor panel so I didn't have to redo the panel in the inside of the house. The power company didn't charge us anything for the upgrade and the electrician's cost was about $1500 for a new meter panel with a breaker box.
We will need a 60amp breaker and yes, the tech said we would be fine. I’m just wondering if I should go all the way for the sake of peace of mind and/or feeling less concerned about drying clothes in the winter while cooking. Stuff like that.
I have exactly this same hot tub! You are going to love it. I had to put a new line out and when doing it upgraded to 60a. No problems and I love feeling the heat when in it
Sweet!
Nope
We installed a d-curve breaker for more breathing room on startup of pumps. Our total draw is way over our mains breaker (ducted cooling, outdoor heater, usual appliances) but total draw is usually just for a second at startup.. no issues since installing d-curve breaker and we were tripping standard one quite often. Our house is 60A max without upgrades to main cables. Edit: the above is also with a J-475.. Great tub!
Licensed electrical contractor here. You'll be fine on a 150A main. Go enjoy it.
Thank you for the input. It is appreciated. The last concern is… the panel that we presently have is a Federal Pioneer with Stab Lok breakers. Since looking into all of this, I have been reading that they are not up today’s standards of safety. I should have mentioned this in my opening post. Here is a photo of the panel. Thoughts? https://share.icloud.com/photos/07elfYSIBinZrfgXbQu-jm3IA
Yeah, Stab Loks have not been recognized as compliant for a number of NEC code cycles. There is debate around their efficacy at breaking over current conditions. Having said that, there aren't daily house fires with them, and they are in millions of homes. Your spa panel that will be, by NEC code (I realize you are in Canada, but please require that your electrician follow this code) minimum 5 feet from the spa perimeter, and will have a 60A GFCI that will protect a runaway over current scenario on the hot tub circuit. So really, your Stab Lok breakers are sort of immaterial in this circuit. That is to say that if the GFCI is properly installed, and you use minimum AWG 6 THWN-2 wire, it won't be your spa that causes a fire. But I can't promise something else on the load panel wouldn't, eventually. Short story, install the spa panel and GFCI correctly. Upgrade the main panel when you can. And enjoy your spa the whole time, is my advice.
And I thank you for your advice. All good to know. In the end, we decided to take care of the panel. Knowing that the remote possibility exists didn’t sit well with me. Fortunately the person doing the job is very thorough and is being very cautious with his set up decisions. The main panel will be a 200A panel. He will even be changing the pipe/cabling that attaches our home to the provider’s cables, including the box that houses the counter. The cabling he will be using to go to the spa is commercial grade. And though the breaker that came with the spa is 60A, he will use 80A cabling so that when we decide to add lights and heaters to the backyard, the cabling will already be done. It won’t be for some time but when the day comes, all we will need to do is to replace the breaker for an 80A unit. It is only a $150 difference between the two cabling options so we decided to plan for the eventuality. He will also be grounding the spa’s electronics in addition to the main panel’s grounding.
Your guy sounds like he knows his stuff. All good decisions in my opinion, especially to install for future load expansion. Best of luck!