Balboa control packs are the most common hot tub control packs I’ve seen. One of the easiest things to do, is accidently set the mode into economy or sleep. This can be a problem, especially for short-term rentals.
If the system is set in economy mode, the heater will only come on when filtration cycle kicks in. The idea behind economy mode, and the reason it’s called economy mode, is so you can save some money on your power bill since the heater isn’t coming on as often. Does it work? Honestly, I don’t know. I’ve never experimented with it myself. I’ve always thought that having your hot tub maintain the set temp, versus having it heat up all at once would be a wash, but that’s just my opinion. In the summer economy mode doesn’t really matter, however if it’s winter time, having your hot tub set to economy mode could allow the tub to cool down. Most filtration times are set to the default times, which is 2 hours every 12 hours. That means your hot tub could be cooling down for 10 hours straight. No one wants a cold hot tub.
Sleep mode could be an even bigger problem. The only good reason to use this mode is when you go on vacation. In sleep mode, the heater will not kick on unless the water drops to 20° below the set temperature. That means if you have your tub set to 100°, the tub could cool all the way down to 80° before you realize it’s set in sleep mode. If you have a short term rental property and a guest accidentally sets the tub into sleep mode, the hot tub is going to be cold when your next guests arrive.
Standard mode, in most cases, is the best mode to use. In standard mode, your hot tub will maintain the set temperature at all times. That means whenever you want to use your hot tub, it’s ready.
Toggling between the modes is easy. Most of the controls I’m talking about look like these:
To change between modes, simply press and release the warm or cool button (or warm AND cool button) then press and release the light button. When the tub is set to standard mode, you’ll see “St” displayed. The second character is supposed to look like a lower case “t”, but most people think it looks like an “e”. When it’s set in economy mode, you’ll see “Eco” or “Ec”. When it’s set in sleep mode you’ll see “Sl”. One of my favorite features about these Balboa systems, is that if it’s in standard mode, it will only display the temperature. If it’s in economy or sleep mode, the display will toggle between the temperature and either “Eco” or “Sl”. That make it super easy to see which mode you’re in. If you have a balboa topside control that has a mode button, to toggle though those modes you simply press warm or cool then the mode button.
It’s really a simple as that! Again, I recommend always keeping your hot tub in standard mode. I would never want to get to my hot tub to find it’s not at the temp I like, which is, of course, 104°. If it’s at 103°, I find that acceptable, anything lower than that is a nightmare.
Remember, if you need a replacement topside control, got to Spa Depot! Here’s a link –
Also, if you ever need help with any part of your hot tub, their How-To Guides are the best! Check them out here –
https://spadepot.com/pages/hot-tub-spa-information
I hope this helps, and thanks for reading!
Hot Tub Mark