Anyone Own a Hot Tub??

[Jo-Anne]

DH and I are researching getting a hot tub for the back yard (There are 4 of us with DD 8 and DS 5). Just wondering if anyone has any advice or words of wisdom?? We have visited Beachcomber and Sundance Stores and find good things about both...however, I did like the Beachcomber brand better - and it does help that they are Canadian owned! Just wondering for those who have hot tubs, what features do you like and maybe what don't you think is "necessary"? If you had to do it all over again, what features would you add or just do without? Any advice is helpful. Thanks, Jo

 

[MikeyNS]

Hi!

We bought one last year; I believe it's a Sunrise spa (not to be confused with the Home Depot brand, I believe that's Sunset.. I may have them reversed!)

Some tips that I have..:
#1: Buy a Canadian brand! Ours is so well insulated it's sickening. We keep it at 102F during the winter and I doubt we use $25 worth of power for the thing. CHECK THE INSULATION! My inlaws have a US brand that has so little insulation.. yuk

#2: Definitely get the thing wired for 220/240V.. you're able to use the pump and heater at the same time (again my inlaws can't. I think theirs is 150/160V or something..?), plus it's much more efficient.

#3: Be prepared to drain it every 3-4 months.

#4: Get an ozonator! Really cuts down on the chemicals. And I definitely recommend Bromine.

#5: Not really a buying related answer; but make sure whenever you use it have a shower first. They get scummy really fast if you don't. Get them to throw in an extra filter you can swap for when you do your draining maintenance. Helps out a lot when you can properly clean your filter.

Hmmm.. I can't think of anything else. The thing is a dream! I would recommend a Sunrise spa to anyone. It has a "mini-miser" pump that runs 24/7 which saves wear and tear on your big pump (I sound like a salesman 'eh?)..

Hope that helps!
-M

 

[lookingforfun@disney]

My mother has an 8 man spa it is a Coast Mountain spa I had never heard of them it seems to be ok though. The biggest thing is the hydro consumption when owning a spa/hottub. I agree with the ozonator my mothers doesn't have this and she is constantly checking and adding chemicals. Hers is Canadian made but I don't think it is a very good one it is 220V and she has it on it's own circuit. Many places will let you test drive a spa meaning you go in and they set up an appointment to check it out and sit in it etc to see if you like the position and angles of the seats etc. We love the hot tub in the winter but in the summer I could live without it so we don't use my moms very often come May. Also look for ones that have a replaceable fiberglass bottom on them this way when it rains and snows and the water gets splashed out of the tub it doesn't sit on the concrete and rot the wood.

 

[mom_rules]

We've had a Tiger River spa for about 5 years now. Great warranty (5 years on everything). Everything MickeyNS says-I second! Make sure that if you are going to use it in the winter that it is not too far away from the entrance to the house and if you have tile or ceramic floors that your feet are dry-they become extremely slippery-the kids have flipped more than once. Ours is an 8 person and is works great for 4 adults.

 

[mom22girls]

We have a Hydropool Spa that seats 5-6 people. It has one lounge chair that we don't really use because you sink too low under the water to really get comfortable. We have 2 daughters 4 & 6 and they use our hot tub in the summer all the time. Much safer than a pool because we can lock it up.

We don't shower before we go in but we don't wear a lot of creams on our bodies. When friends come over that do wear a lot of cream it does get pretty bubbly. I tend to shower after I go in because the chemicals irritate my eczema.

Enjoy, Our favourite time of the year is in the fall. Nice cool evenings

We also got lots of jets thinking that would be the best way to go but we usually don't even turn the jets on. Just enjoy the warm water and silence.

We actually tried out 2-3 tubs in the showroom before purchasing. The salepeople suggested trying out the different amount of jets. We thought that since my husband gets stiff backs quite often we would use all the jets but we don't.

just my 2 cents

 

[Jo-Anne]

thanks for all the input! We actually did a Wet Test and hopped in the showroom hottub today at a Beachcomber showroom! They aren't opened on Sundays, but they let us come in as one of their employees was going to be there! Glad we did as we actually chose a different model than one we thought we'd get as it had a better height range of seats for kids and me. So we put down the deposit and will be soaking before Christmas...we might start a new Christmas Eve tradition with a couple of hot schnaplettes in the Hot Tub! Jo

 

[mom_rules]

That's our tradition!! Nothing better. The kids have a riot jumping in the tub, making snow angels then back in the tub. It's fun to watch.