Hot Tub Control Room Design Considerations

A control room is the brains behind your entire DIY hot tub. It’s the room or location where you house your pumps, blowers, spa packs, dosing kits, heater, and all other external elements. Without it, your hot tub would just be a tub.

Given the many considerations when designing a control room, I’ve written this article to explain everything you need to know. By the end, you’ll understand exactly what design considerations are important for your control room.

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The main considerations when designing your control room are:

The Distance

One of the most important factors when designing your hot tub control room is its distance from the tub. For a DIY hot tub, it’s recommended to keep the control room as close to the tub as possible.

The shorter the run of the pipes, the higher the pressure and more power on the jets. A recommended distance between the control room and the hot tub is within 15 to 20 feet.

Any further than this and regular blowers might struggle and you may lose power on your jets from your pump unless you make design changes to accomodate that distance.

While larger distances can be accommodated, they’ll require larger pumps and in some cases, larger pipework too and more heavy duty rquipment like air blowers and therefore a higher cost.

Elevation Considerations

The elevation of your control room relative to the waterline is one of the most critical design decisions you’ll make. Getting this wrong can lead to system failure and expensive corrections.

Below Waterline Installation (Recommended)

• Enables use of standard hot tub components
• Allows gravity-fed water flow to centrifugal pumps
• More cost-effective due to using hot tub parts vs. pool equipment
• Provides natural priming for pumps
• Reduces strain on equipment

Above Waterline Installation

• Requires specialized self-priming pumps
• Higher equipment costs
• May need additional priming systems
• Generally not recommended unless site constraints require it

Testing Proper Elevation

To verify correct elevation setup:

1. Install temporary piping from tub to control room
2. Open valves with pumps off
3. Water should flow freely through pipes
4. If water flows naturally, your elevation is correct for standard hot tub equipment

Hot Tub Control Room Size

A question I get asked often is, how big should the control room be? Well, as large as your limitations allow!

The larger the control room, the easier it is to maintain, repair parts, and the more flexibility you have for future upgrades or accessories.

I made the mistake of having a smaller control room for my own hot tub, which caused maintenance issues. It was such a challenge that I remodelled a year later and created a new control room. You can check out the video for that here.

Suggested Space Requirements:

• Pumps: Each pump needs 1 foot wide and 2 feet long.
• Blowers: Same as pumps.
• Spa Pack: Same as pumps.
• Filter: If using a 50-square-foot cartridge filter, allow 1.5 feet of vertical height (2 feet is even better).
• Heater: Size varies, so check specs and plan accordingly.

Note: All hot tub parts should be covered. Unlike swimming pool parts, you shouldn’t leave these components exposed.

Services

This includes electricity, water, gas, or propane. Any utility needed should be connected to your control room, so ensure it’s feasible, especially if in a rural location.

Proper planning is essential—it makes a big difference and ensures everything works together smoothly.

Maintenance

Lastly, consider maintenance. This mainly involves the size of your control room, as well as ensuring everything is piped in correctly and labelled if possible to avoid issues during future maintenance.

Remember: A well-designed control room saves time and money through easier maintenance and reduced equipment stress. When in doubt, always size larger than your current needs to accommodate future expansions or modifications.

That’s everything you need to know about designing your DIY hot tub control room! 

Can I Help You?

If I can help you in any way I would love to hear from you. You can get in touch using the form below.

Thanks - Andi

 

Hi, Andi here. I own Buildahottub.com and also write all of the articles and info pages on the site. Some years back now, I built my own hot tub but struggled to find the information I needed. So, once my tub was complete, I started this website to help others in their own pursuit of hot tub and plunge pools DIY building information.

Today, I've helped over 1000 DIY customers just like you all over the world build hot tubs and pools. Have a good look around the site, there are lots of resources here. Please do get in touch if I can help you. - Cheers, Andi