Hot tubs

[RenoF250]

My parents have a Sundance I believe and I am not teribly impressed with the quality but it seems to work fine. I have a friend with a Hot Springs that claims that they are the best. When I was looking I liked the Coleman, seemed to be very well insulated and the pumps are hidden in the tub so they do not make nearly as much noise. Also, they seemed to have the best jetting. I would love to get one but I do not have the $$ and the power bill scares me.

 

[95_stroker]

John,

So far my research has turned up that Sundance and Hot Springs are two of the top names. I know the Coleman dealer here in town used to be a Sundance dealer but for some unknown reason he lost the franchise and when I talked to him about the Colemans he said he'd do nearly anything to get the Sudance line back. Dunno what that means though?

Budro,

If we go through with it I'll hit ya up. Im not afeard of electricity, all ya gotta do is turn the valve off right?

R_J,

My plans are for this to be a clothing optional deal. Will be me and the wife for the most part.... oh yeah and probably our three kids and whoever they decide to drag in. Yeah, I know I am in for a filter changing/water chemistry nightmare in the beginning.

 

[Crumm]

Yeah, I know I am in for a filter changing/water chemistry nightmare in the beginning.

And once you figure it out you can drain it and use the top for a catch-all storage area like everyone else that has one. I know a dozen people that have purchased hot tubs over the last ten years and all but one of them no longer uses it. They seem to be nice to start with but then people lose interest and time to deal with it. If you do take the plunge and get one just as soon as it is no longer being used sell it while it is still fairly new and has some re-sale value. I hauled ours off to the dump last summer because it was 10 years old and the market for a 10 year old tub is non-existent. As far as brand I can't really help you. Up here most folks go with arcticspas since they are designed for cold climates.

 

[Roland_Jenkins]

We sure use the heck out of ours. It runs 24/7 and is kept around 102% Electricty for it is around $10.00 a month.

Ours is Apollo brand. I think its around ten years old. It was here when we bought the joint. Haven't had any issues with it.
If you get a spa you gotta get a sauna to go with it. I like sitting in the Sauna for a half hour or 45 minutes and then streaking to the jacuzzi. Its a relaxing way to wind down at the end of a day.

 

[RenoF250]

John,

So far my research has turned up that Sundance and Hot Springs are two of the top names. I know the Coleman dealer here in town used to be a Sundance dealer but for some unknown reason he lost the franchise and when I talked to him about the Colemans he said he'd do nearly anything to get the Sudance line back. Dunno what that means though?

Budro,

If we go through with it I'll hit ya up. Im not afeard of electricity, all ya gotta do is turn the valve off right?

R_J,

My plans are for this to be a clothing optional deal. Will be me and the wife for the most part.... oh yeah and probably our three kids and whoever they decide to drag in. Yeah, I know I am in for a filter changing/water chemistry nightmare in the beginning.

That is interesting, the Coleman dealer I talked to was a Sundance dealer before also but he said that they had done some shady things (I don't remember what) and that he liked Colemean better. Coleman seemed to have much better insulation than my parents spa.

I think it is pretty much of a Ford, Chevy GM thing, they all work it just depends on what you like. I would get in one before I bought it though. The Coleman dealer had them setup for you to try. The jet placement and type is differnt in each and makes a big difference.

I do not know why anyone would have a spa and not use it. I really like using my parent's spa.

 

[dpantazis]

mike-

make sure pavers are on well tamped gravel/sand. you would be surprised how much 500 gallons of water weigh.

Roland: we do a thing here in the winter called "polar rolling" (no offense crumm). sit in the sauna, then run out into the snow and summer sault to the hot tub then jump in.

i know nothing of hot tubs, but the one i helped put in was one from costco. it seemed well built and thought out. margins on seams were even, elec panel was well assembled and labeled. no exposed edges, that sort of thing. there wasnt a whole lot of structure- lots of blown plastic and ribs. iirc, the tub was acrylic and was smooth and no noticable wrinkles. the freaking thing had a CD player and pop up speakers. like i said i am not expert, but it seemed well built.

crumm you got me thinking now, a 10 yo hot tub might make a good WVO processor with the right 'improvements'.
its got a heater, a filter and a pump. i wonder what the pump is like i those things....

dennis

 

[acjjkamp]

mike,
we have a Jacuzzi 6 person (only the wife and i use it though, kids dont care) that we bought about 3 years ago. we drain it every 3-4 months, keep up on the cleaning etc, runs 24/7 at 102 F. it came with a 10 year warrenty. lights, water fall, cd/stereo, pop up speakers, jets galore. i've used the warrenty twice for very minor stuff.
make sure you get a good insulated cover for it. our electric bill went up about $20p/m, but it is realy worth it.
we looked at Coleman and a few others, but none were as comfortable to sit in as the Jacuzzi that we bought (I'm 6' 200lbs). just like a truck, sit in them and try them out for size and comfort at the showrooms.
No matter what brand you get, you will enjoy it. The maintenance is nothing to worry about. our dealer gave us a years supply of all the chemicals that we needed, and he wrote down everything for us too. Piece of cake now.

 

[95_stroker]

make sure pavers are on well tamped gravel/sand. you would be surprised how much 500 gallons of water weigh.

Dennis, full capacity on the one we are looking at comes in at 4600 lbs. Been thinking about doing an 8'x8' pad for it instead of pavers. Its less than a yard of mud so.......

 

[95_stroker]

mike,
we have a Jacuzzi 6 person (only the wife and i use it though, kids dont care) that we bought about 3 years ago. we drain it every 3-4 months, keep up on the cleaning etc, runs 24/7 at 102 F. it came with a 10 year warrenty. lights, water fall, cd/stereo, pop up speakers, jets galore. i've used the warrenty twice for very minor stuff.
make sure you get a good insulated cover for it. our electric bill went up about $20p/m, but it is realy worth it.
we looked at Coleman and a few others, but none were as comfortable to sit in as the Jacuzzi that we bought (I'm 6' 200lbs). just like a truck, sit in them and try them out for size and comfort at the showrooms.
No matter what brand you get, you will enjoy it. The maintenance is nothing to worry about. our dealer gave us a years supply of all the chemicals that we needed, and he wrote down everything for us too. Piece of cake now.

Al,

What kind of warranty issues did you deal with? I think the Sundance 880 series comes with a decent warranty, 5 or 7 years on pump/controls etc and 7 or 10 on the shell. I think for the cost of the optional sound system we are going to forego that luxury.

I dont think anybody in town here is a Jacuzzi dealer, I would like to try one out. We did a test drive on the Sundance tonight, not the exact model we wanted but it is in the same series (880), they didnt have the model we wanted full and hot so we jumped in the next best thing. Its a pretty dang nice unit, I will give it that. They are hanging pretty good price tags on these things now too.

Im not overly concerned about the maintenance on it really at all. Ive taken care of both fresh and salt aquariums. Just gotta check the water and do the cleaning. Filters and a few chems etc etc.... If my neighbor had one in his back yard then I wouldnt be thinking about buying one, I'd just use his . If we end up hating it and not using it then I guess we deal with that down the road. I've got a TT that gets used twice a year, thought I would use it alot more than that when we purchased. Live and learn, how do you know unless you try. TT will prolly be on the auction block next spring.

 

[acjjkamp]

the warranty stuf was minor. a push button for one the jets had a crack, and i had one of the pillows replaced.
I sat in a lot of the different models and manufactures. one that i liked a lot was a Coleman, until I sat in it... my shoulders were too wide and the head rest area hit me in the middle of the neck...
test sit until you find one you like.

Good luck