60 Amp Hot Tub Wire Size

After you buy a hot tub, there is only one more step to make till you hop in for a soak. It is to install it. This means transporting it home, connecting it to the water supply and the power source. We recommend hiring an authorized electrician for electrical wiring and installation of your hot tub. Also, hire a plumber to connect the tub to a water supply and drainage system. These services are provided usually by companies that sell, move and install hot tubs and spas. Even if you know how to do it, do not try to install it yourself. You may be impatient to connect everything, fill it up with water and hop in, but you should really let the professionals do it. There are many reasons to do it that way. But there are some basic technical facts you should know about your hot tub or a spa. Knowing these facts can help you prepare everything you need for electrical wiring a hot tub and avoid the high cost associated with it.

60 Amp Wiring For A Hot Tub

All 240V hot tubs require 50 or 60 amp electrical hookups. Manufacturers recommend which wiring to apply for certain models. But what are the benefits of the 60A circuit to your hot tub? Should you remodel wiring and go for 60 amper wiring?

60 Amp Circuit Vs 50 Amp Circuit

The whole story is simple. 50A circuit capacity may not be enough for your hot tub when both pumps are running and the heater is on. If you want all your pumps and fans running full speed and have a heater on at the same time you will need a 60 amper circuit for your hot tub. Do you really need this kind of set up and what may help you make up your mind to go for 60 amps?

The usual sequence of events is, first you heat the water and then jump into your hot tub and then turn on the pumps and fans. When the hot tub is connected to the 50A circuit, the heater is switched off while the pumps are running. After one hour or less, in a hot tub with the pumps and the heater on, you may feel that the temperature of the water in your bathtub has dropped one or two degrees. This mostly depends on the air temperature around your bathtub, but also on the number of people in a hot tub. If your bathtub is outside in a place that is in a colder climate, the temperature can drop faster and for several degrees.

If you want to have pumps and jets running at the same time with the water heater on, you better hook up your hot tub with the 60A circuit. This will provide you with enough capacity to turn on everything you want at the same time, heater, pumps, jets, lights, everything you need for your enjoyment. This kind of setup is very convenient when the hot tub is placed outdoors and you simply like to stay in the water for longer than one hour. Or you are having a party and the people take turns in a hot tub for hours.

On the other hand, there are people that are not bothered with the slight temperature drop in their hot tubs. Most of the people that are not staying in a hot tub for longer than half an hour will not even notice the drop in temperature. It may happen that you have a hot tub hooked up on a 50A circuit and haven’t even noticed that your heater is not coming in when the pumps are running.

The Price Of 60A wiring

The price may be one of the factors to determine whether you will go for 60 amp wiring or not. If you don’t have your hot tub connected, yet may be a good idea to install 60 amp wiring and have peace of mind that your water will be as hot as you like even on cold winter days or nights, all together with the pumps on. If you already have your hot tub connected to a 50A circuit it may be a bit more expensive to remodel to a 60A circuit.

The size of the wire is the same, no matter if you go for 50 or 60 ampers. You will need THHN/THWN wire number 6 AWG. This is the answer to the question in the title of this article. The only difference in wiring a hot tub for the 50 and 60 ampers is the size of the GFCI breaker. But the prices may vary depending on the producer of the device. Anyhow, the difference in the price for a 60A GFCI breaker and a 50A GFCI breaker is not that significant, going up to 20-30 dollars. To get a better picture here is what THHN, AWG, and GFCI mean.

• THHN is related to the particular properties of the cable. T stands for Thermoplastic, double H stands for High Heat-resistant, while N describes Nylon coated. The wire can be also THWN, which means Thermoplastic Heat and Water-resistant Nylon coated wire.
• AWG stands for American Wire Gauge and it provides specific dimensions of an electrical wire. The wire gauge (size) also determines the amount of current that can flow through the wire.
• GFCI stands for Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter. From its name you can see it is a safety device providing protection from electrical ground fault and against fires or overheating. It is a fast-acting circuit breaker that activates in the event of ground fall, fire, or overheating.

Wiring A Hot Tub Safely

Safety above all. If you are not a professional electrician do not try to put wiring required for a hot tub. The best way is to book a licensed electrician and wait for him to come and do his job. Installing a hot tub requires certain procedures to be followed in order to obtain a manufacturer’s guarantee for a hot tub. Circuits used for a hot tub must be used only for a hot tub, no other appliances should be hooked up on these circuits at any time. Wires used must be appropriate for the circuit, and the amperage of the hot tub. Also, wires that are entering your hot tub must be in a flexible waterproof conduit. Many other rules apply to the installing of the hot tub, so do not put your or anybody else’s safety at risk with unprofessional service. Do not try to save money on an electrician, improper handling of the electrical installations around and in your hot tub may result in a severe injury or even death.