Automating an inflatable hot tub (Intex, Bestway): heating, off-peak hours and remote control

An inflatable hot tub is wonderful — apart from its control panel. Here is how to run it from your home automation, without modifying it.

The inflatable hot tub has become a garden staple. But between heating you forget to switch on (or off), filtration running at the wrong hours, and a manufacturer's app that is either missing or disappointing, it stays surprisingly dim. The good news: you can make it clever — without modifying it.

Why automate it? Heating is the crux

An inflatable hot tub heats with an element of around 2,000 W. Run for several hours a day, it becomes one of the largest consumers in the house during the season. Controlling it from your home automation changes everything:

• Scheduled heating: the tub is up to temperature for the times you actually use it (Friday evening, the weekend) and not the rest of the week
• Off-peak hours: heating shifts automatically to the hours when electricity is cheapest
• Solar surplus: if you have panels, the tub becomes a thermal battery — it heats when the sun is out (see our guide on solar diverters, which works on the same principle)
• Alerts worth having: temperature dropping, an error code (clogged filter, poor flow), the tub left running

How it works technically

On Intex PureSpa and Bestway Lay-Z-Spa units, the control panel talks to the pump unit over an internal link. By sitting in the middle of that link — using the original connectors, cutting and modifying nothing — you can read the state (temperature, heating, filtration, errors) and press the buttons electronically. The tub is none the wiser, and its warranty stays intact.

The data then travels over MQTT on your local network: Home Assistant, Jeedom (through jMQTT) or any other system picks it up, and you control everything from your phone or from your automations. All of it without the cloud: it works with no internet connection, and your bathing habits do not end up on a server abroad.

Two ways to get there

Do it yourself (for the tinkerers)

Open-source projects exist for both Intex and Bestway: a microcontroller, a small interface circuit, firmware to flash. Allow a few evenings of soldering and configuration, plus the appetite to maintain it over time. If that is your idea of fun, go for it — it is a fine project.

A ready-made unit (for everyone else)

This is precisely what we are developing at heliolocal: a plug-and-play unit that connects to the tub's original connectors (Intex PureSpa and Bestway Lay-Z-Spa), powered by the tub itself, with local MQTT, Home Assistant and Jeedom compatibility, and remote updates. Made and supported in France.

Three automations that change daily life

• "Tub ready on Friday": heating starts automatically on Friday at 2 pm, with a notification once it reaches 38 °C
• "Smart filtration": filtration only during off-peak hours, extended automatically after someone has been in
• "Do not waste it": if nobody has used it for three days the target temperature drops by itself — and comes back up as soon as you plan an evening

In short

Automating an inflatable hot tub is doable, clean (nothing is modified), and it pays for itself on the heating bill. Whether you are the do-it-yourself type or the plug-it-in-and-forget type, the comfort is the same: a tub that is always ready when you want it, and never wasteful when you do not.

Questions about your own model? Write to us — we are glad to answer, with or without a purchase.