What should you do with a hot tub when you go on vacation?
The short answer
Leave it running, clean and covered
For a trip of a week or two. Do a few things before you go, and test the water before the first soak when you are back.
A hot tub is built to sit closed and running. Draining it for a short trip is more work, and in cold weather an empty tub is at more risk than a full one.
Before you leave
- Rinse or clean the filter.
- Prepare your sanitizer as its instructions say for time away.
- Lock the cover and check the latches.
- If your tub has a vacation or economy mode, your manual says when to use it. In freezing weather, keep the tub heated.
When you are back
- Look at the water and smell it.
- Test before anyone gets in.
- Rinse the filter.
Longer trips
For more than a couple of weeks, ask someone to lift the cover and check on it now and then. If nobody can and it is the cold season, see how to winterize a hot tub. If the water was due for a change anyway, plan the drain and refill for when you return, not before you leave.
This is general guidance. Your hot tub's owner's manual comes first, and so do the instructions on your products.