How Long Does a SaluSpa Take to Heat Up? (Honest Hours)
Plan on hours to more than a day, not minutes. Bestway’s own reference table says a SaluSpa filled with 86°F water takes about 9 hours to reach 104°F — and a 50°F cold fill takes about 32 hours, with the air at the same temperature as the water. Where you land in that range depends mostly on your starting water and air temperatures. Here’s the full table, what stretches those hours, and the tricks that genuinely shrink them.
How long does a SaluSpa take to heat up?
Bestway’s spec for the SaluSpa AirJet Plus models (Vancouver and Milan) is a heating rate of 2-3°F per hour, and its AirJet range manual gives the same figure for most models. That rate isn’t fixed: Bestway says it may change when it’s below 59°F (15°C) outside or the cover is off, and that leaving the spa uncovered increases the heating time. Multiply the degrees you need by “2 to 3 per hour” and you already see why this is an overnight job, not a pre-dinner one.
Bestway prints its own heat-up table in the manual — it assumes the cover stays on and the water starts at the same temperature as the air, and the manual labels it “purely for reference,” so treat it as the manufacturer’s estimate, not a promise:
| Starting water temp | Time to 104°F (Bestway’s table) |
|---|---|
| 50°F (10°C) | ~32 hours |
| 59°F (15°C) | ~26 hours |
| 68°F (20°C) | ~20 hours |
| 77°F (25°C) | ~14 hours |
| 86°F (30°C) | ~9 hours |
Notice something about every row: it works out to roughly 1.7-2°F per hour (54°F in 32 hours at the cold end, 18°F in 9 hours at the warm end), at or below the bottom of the 2-3°F/hour headline rate. That’s not a typo. So don’t plan with the headline rate; trust the table’s longer numbers.
One more honest note: you don’t have to wait for 104°F. Bestway’s manual considers 100-104°F safe for a healthy adult, and many owners are happy a few degrees below the maximum, which can shave hours off the wait. The same manual says pregnant or possibly pregnant women should limit the water to 100°F (38°C), and recommends lower temperatures for young children and for soaks longer than 10 minutes.
Safety note: check your pump against the 2024 recall. In September 2024 the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a recall of about 866,000 Bestway AirJet and HydroJet spa pumps sold with SaluSpa, Coleman and Hydro-Force spas from May 2021 to May 2024, because they can overheat and catch fire (recall 24-359). Before troubleshooting anything below, read the model number on the label on the side or back of your pump. The recalled models are P05332, P05339, P05711, P05807, P07000, P07001, P05511, P07034 and P07572. If yours is one of them, stop using it and follow the CPSC recall notice or Bestway’s recall page for a free replacement or a refund. The SaluSpa pump recall guide walks through the label check and what to do next.
Can you speed it up by filling with warm water?
Yes — this is the single biggest shortcut, because starting temperature is the whole game. Every degree you fill with is a degree the heater doesn’t have to earn at a couple of degrees per hour.
The one hard line comes from the manual: the water must never exceed 104°F (40°C). So whatever mix of hose and warm water you use, keep the fill below that cap — a cheap floating thermometer settles it. And check the manual for your specific model before filling from anything other than a cold hose; I’m giving you the temperature logic, not a green light for your exact unit.
Here’s what a warmer fill buys you. Estimates — these rows are my arithmetic, not Bestway’s table. They use the roughly 1.8-2°F per hour that Bestway’s own table works out to in its mild-weather rows (not the 2-3°F headline), and assume mild weather (around 68°F air) with the cover on the whole time:
| Starting water temp | Time to 100°F (est.) | Time to 104°F (est.) |
|---|---|---|
| 75°F | ~12.5-14 hours | ~14.5-16 hours |
| 85°F | ~7.5-8.5 hours | ~9.5-10.5 hours |
| 95°F | ~2.5-3 hours | ~4.5-5 hours |
In colder air the hours run longer (the manual says the rate may change below 59°F outside). If your fill water starts at air temperature, use Bestway’s table above instead.
What makes it heat up slower?
If your hours are running past the table, one of these is usually the reason:
- Cold air. The manual flags outdoor temperatures below 59°F (15°C) as a condition where the heating rate may change, and its table’s hours grow as the air gets colder. Shoulder-season and winter heat-ups simply take longer.
- Cover off. The other condition Bestway names outright: leaving the spa uncovered increases the heating time. An open water surface sheds heat continuously, and the heater has to replace every bit of it before it can add anything new.
- A fresh cold fill. Tap or hose water in spring can put you at the bottom row of the table before you’ve done anything wrong.
- A bigger model. The largest tubs — the St. Moritz (314 gal) and Helsinki (297 gal) — heat at about 1-2°F per hour, per Bestway’s owner’s manual for the AirJet range those models belong to, so every row of the table stretches.
- Running the AirJet while you wait. More on this one below, because it’s wrapped in the most stubborn myth in inflatable-tub land.
Two boundary cases worth knowing. If the water is below 40°F (4°C), the spa isn’t designed to run: it shows E03, and the manual says to unplug the pump and restart it only when the water reaches 43°F (6°C); in genuinely cold weather see FreezeShield explained. And if your temperature isn’t climbing slowly but is completely flat for hours, that’s not a heat-up-time question anymore — work through the not-heating guide instead.
Does the heater stop when the bubbles are on?
Although many owners believe the heater pauses the moment you switch the AirJet on, Bestway’s manual describes the opposite: “Heat and massage system work together to create a warm massage experience.” What it doesn’t spell out is whether the heater keeps its full power while the bubbles run.
So why does the temperature stall — or even drop — with the bubbles going? Mostly physics. The AirJet blows air through the water (in cool weather, air much colder than your water), and you have to take the cover off to use it: the manual warns that running the massage with the cover on lets air build up inside, risking irreparable damage to the cover and bodily harm. Cool air through the water plus an open surface can shed heat faster than a 2-3°F/hour heater can add it. Whatever the heater is doing, it can’t keep up with that heat loss.
The practical rule: heat first, bubble later. Keep the AirJet off and the cover on until you’re at temperature, then enjoy the bubbles — they shut off automatically after 30 minutes anyway. If your tub climbs fine but always stalls short of the target, check the set point first (it ships at 95°F), then the cover and the filter, which are on the manual’s own list for poor heating, before blaming a fault. The won’t-heat-past-95 guide walks through reclaiming those last degrees.
How do you time it so it’s hot when you want it?
The trick worth knowing: the SaluSpa has a power-saving timer built for exactly this. You can set a heating duration of 1-999 hours and a delayed start of 0-999 hours, so instead of babysitting the tub, you schedule the heat to finish when you’ll actually get in. One catch — it doesn’t repeat automatically, so you’re setting it per session.
Worked example: water and air both at about 68°F, and you want to soak Friday at 7 p.m. The table says roughly 20 hours, so you’d have the heater start Thursday around 11 p.m. — set the delay accordingly and go to bed. Cold snap in the forecast? Pad it; the table’s hours assume the rate holds.
This heat-on-demand approach is also what Bestway designed the timer for: the manual pitches it as a way to avoid wasting power without needing to leave the heater on at all times. What that choice does to your electric bill (and when holding temperature actually makes sense) is its own topic: see what it really costs to run. The one exception is freezing weather: with the spa full, the manual says not to switch the heater off below 42.8°F (6°C) — again, FreezeShield covers that.
Beyond warm filling and the timer, the levers are the same ones that lower the bill: cover on whenever you’re heating, and many owners report a floating thermal blanket and rigid foam board under the base noticeably help the tub hold and gain heat — the manual doesn’t publish gain figures, so I won’t invent any. The order to add them in, and what not to insulate: how to insulate an inflatable hot tub.
FAQ
Is the display temperature accurate? Close, not perfect — the manual allows a difference of up to about 2°C (about 3.6°F; the manual’s printed “35.6°F” is a typo) between the display and an external thermometer. If your soak comfort depends on a degree or two, a cheap floating thermometer is the tiebreaker.
Are 220-240V models faster? I can’t give you a verified number. The Bestway manuals behind this guide are the North American 110-120V editions and don’t cover 220-240V versions. Whatever your model, go by the heating rate in its own manual.
How much does one heat-up cost? It depends on your rate, and a cold fill keeps the heater running for many hours straight — the running-cost guide has the formula and worked numbers for US electricity rates.
Can I get in before it reaches 104°F? Yes, if you’re a healthy adult: the manual considers 100-104°F safe for that case, and stopping short of the maximum saves you hours of waiting and a bit of money. Lower is gentler — the manual warns that water above 100°F can be injurious to health, and pregnant or possibly pregnant women should stay at or below 100°F.
How long did your first heat-up actually take — and from what starting temp? Tell me your numbers; real reader timelines make this table sharper for the next rookie.
Jake Weber — Jake Weber is the pen name of Rookie Spa’s editor. I don’t sell spas or chemicals, and I’m not affiliated with any brand. Every guide here starts from the manufacturer’s manual, is cross-checked against the questions and fixes owners report most often, and is written in plain English for first-time owners — with a clear warning whenever something involves electricity or water safety.