How much maintenance does a hot tub need?
With the One Model, a short routine: a test strip each week, a new filter every 3 to 6 months, a new salt cell every 6 to 18 months, a yearly check-up, and a drain and refill every 1 to 2 years. The tub does the daily work.
What is the hot tub maintenance schedule for a One Model owner?
Here is the whole routine on one page. Each line is a job and how often it comes up.
- Any time: follow the app. It shows the readings and tells you what the water needs.
- Every week: test the water with a strip, enter the result in the app and check the salt system's run time.
- Every 3 to 6 months: check the filter and replace it.
- Every 6 to 18 months: replace the salt cell, the part that makes the chlorine.
- Once a year: book a check-up with your local expert.
- Every 1 to 2 years: drain and refill.
How does the One Model handle most of the work?
The water pump runs 24 hours a day. It moves the water through the filter, the ozone chamber, the salt system and the heater, so the cleaning and the heating go on without you. Active Skim, a floating skimmer, rises and falls with the water level and pulls leaves, hair and oils off the surface.
Waterlab sits in the plumbing and reads pH, ORP and temperature. ORP is a measure of how well the sanitiser is working. The app (Gecko in.touch 3) shows all three on your phone, so you can check the water before you lift the cover.
A cloudy tub on a Friday can cost a weekend of test kits and bottles of chemicals. The One Model is built so that the daily work happens in the plumbing, and your part is the short list above.
Because the pump runs around the clock, there is no separate daily filter or heater schedule to keep. The routine above is what is left for you.
What does the weekly check involve?
You test the water with a strip, enter the result in the app and check the salt system's run time. That is the whole weekly job.
The strip matters because the owner is responsible for checking chlorine and pH. The CDC says owners must routinely test and adjust both. In the One Model, the salt system makes the chlorine and the app tells you what the water needs, so your job is to test and record, and the app says what to do next.
What are the bigger jobs: the filter, the salt cell and the drain?
The filter is antimicrobial. It traps dirt and debris as the water flows through it, and the routine is to check it and replace it every 3 to 6 months.
The salt cell is the part that makes chlorine from salt. It is replaced every 6 to 18 months.
A drain and refill comes every 1 to 2 years. The tub holds 345 US gallons, about 1,300 litres, so it is a planned job.
Does every hot tub need this kind of upkeep?
Yes. Every hot tub needs its water tested and its filter changed, including a saltwater tub. The King County public health hot tub guide (Seattle and King County, Washington) says an owner needs a test kit to keep a hot tub in balance.
In a regular hot tub, the owner buys chlorine, measures it and pours it in by hand. The One Model makes its own chlorine from salt, and ozone, a skimmer and a filter clean the water alongside it. That means far fewer chemicals to buy and handle, and a routine you still follow.
What does a beginner need to buy or learn?
Orders open January 1, 2027. Steps and handrails cost extra, and Good Hot Tubs has not decided yet whether a start-up kit comes with the tub.
You need to learn where the strip result goes in the app and where the readings show. A local expert on Vancouver Island brings the tub to your yard and looks after it, and a One Model is set up and running on the Island for test soaks if you want to see it before you order.
Before ordering, the team looks at your yard on a video call. That is a good time to ask about the routine.
Questions
Is there a hot tub maintenance checklist I can print?
The One Model routine is a weekly strip and app entry, a filter every 3 to 6 months, a salt cell every 6 to 18 months, a yearly check-up and a drain every 1 to 2 years.
What does the weekly hot tub maintenance job involve?
The weekly job is one test strip entered in the app, plus a look at the salt system's run time.
Does a saltwater hot tub need less maintenance?
It needs fewer chemicals to buy and handle, because the salt system makes the chlorine. The weekly test, the filter changes and the drain and refill stay in the routine.
How often do you change the water in a hot tub?
For the One Model, drain and refill every 1 to 2 years. The weekly test strip and the app show whether the water needs anything between drains.
Sources
General facts on this page come from these public sources. Facts about the One Model come from Good Hot Tubs.
- Home Pool and Hot Tub Water Treatment and Testing. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
- Staying Happy and Healthy in Your Hot Tub, sixth edition (PDF). Public Health, Seattle and King County.
Related answers
Is the One Model right for you?
Ten questions about your home and how you would use a hot tub. You see your result before you give any contact details, and you can ask for a test soak on Vancouver Island when you send it.