It’s important that you maintain your hot tub water quality on a regular basis. This ensures your hot tub to runs smoothly, avoids breakdowns and most importantly maintains safe hygiene levels. One of the ways we recommend taking care of your hot tub is to use either bromine or chlorine sanitisers in your hot tub. These chemicals work to kill bacteria keeping the water in the hot tub clean, clear and ready to use the next time that you want to jump in. We are often asked, which is the better sanitiser so we try to break down the differences between bromine and chlorine helping you decide which one to use in your hot tub.
Advantages Of Using Chlorine
Chlorine is a fast dissolving, fast acting sanitiser that will kill the bacteria in your hot tub. It is easy to dose and most new spas will come with Chlorine Granules as part of the starter kit to get you moving.
Often a little cheaper than Bromine, Chlorine tends to be the go to sanitiser for new hot tub owners but there are some downsides.
Disadvantages Of Using Chlorine
Chlorine to be effective requires the spa PH levels to be between 7.2 and 7.8. The effectiveness drops off very quickly outside of this level which can be challenging for some spa owners. Although Chlorine is available in Tablet and Granular form, most spa companies invalidate your warranty if Chlorine Tablets are used in the Hot Tub as they are acidic, causing your PH to drop and potentially cause damage to the spa shell & components with extended use. This is not an issue with Granular Chlorine but due to the faster dissipation rate, you will typically need to dose the spa every one to two days to keep the water in a safe condition.
Advantages Of Using Bromine
If you prefer to use a slow dissolving tablet solution to keep your spa water clean, Bromine is the way to go. These are easy to use in both a Floating Dispenser or Feeder Filter system. A Tablet dispenser typically means you only need to top up levels weekly so far easier to manage. Bromine is also available in Infused Granules so you can use it for fast dosing if needed after a heavy bathing session. Other advantages to Bromine are it keeps its effectiveness through a broader PH range so lightly easier to manage for Hot Tub newcomers. It is also longer lasting at high temperatures which a spa tends to be. If you also have any skin conditions, or sensitive skin, Bromine tends to be a little easier on the body than Chlorine.
Disadvantages Of Using Bromine
In a spa environment, Bromine has less disadvantages, it can be a little more expensive than Chlorine but it is minimal. Like Chlorine, some people can get skin irritations but it is far less common and typically Chlorine will have more severe effects.