choosing a hot tub

[momz]

We are looking to get a hot tub. We had a swim spa at our previous home and loved it. But at our current age and stage, a hot tub spa is a better fit.

A hot tub is vastly different than a swim spa.

There are so many options. How do you choose? Are there any features that you prefer, or any that you don't recommend.

I don't even know what to consider.

 

[easyas123]

We window shopped for a bit, and ended up going with a therapeutic one. It's a smaller one, I think technically it seats 4 or 5 people, but it's just the two of us and I can't imagine having 4 people in there!

One thing to consider, which we DID NOT but got lucky in the one we choose. Height. If possible, sit in the ones you are considering. My husband is 6'4" and I am 5' 0" and we ended up each with our own "seat" that suits us well. His is deeper - if I sat in it the water hits me about the ears haha!!! But my seat is higher and so suits me fine. We have had our current one about 3 or 4 years now, and keep it on the walk out porch, under the upper porch so it's not out in the elements. We need to replace the cover next year, but the tub itself is great and we use it year round (we are in Maryland) and if something happened to it tomorrow we would replace it. I'd say we use it on average of 5 days per week.

 

[barkley]

we just went through seeking out a new one to replace our former that was far too costly to repair (IF you can find anyone these days). big priority was a brand with at least some non proprietery replacement parts. there's allot more bells and whistles on tubs now vs. when we bought in '07-we went with a bit smaller than we had but with many more jets, some of which are placed for wrist, elbows and feet.

 

[tvguy]

There are a lot of options now that we didn't have when we bought our spa in 1986.
Things to consider:
1) Do you want a 110 or 220 volt model. Budget about $1,000 if you need to have a 220 outlet installed.
2) What type of sanitization system to you want to keep the water clean. Some systems use supplies that can be very expensive.
3) How big a spa do you want? 2, 4 or more seats.
4) Do you want moving jets or static jets or both?
5) Do you want a model with a vinyl insulated cover or one with an insulated hard cover?
6) Which spa dealer do you want? Ask friends and neighbors their experiences.

We had our spa 25 years. It needed a new vinyl insulated and some repairs, but with high blood pressure I could no longer tolerate a 100 degree spa, Doctor said keep at no more than 85, so we just decided it was time to get rid of it. I never had an issue with parts or repair people.

 

[MillauFr]

Don't get worked up on the number of jets. We have a salt water tub. Works great and you don't have to add sanitizer too often. We have a Hot Springs tub. They are expensive but are built to last.

 

[Ms.Minnie]

We have a six seat (one seat is a lounge chair) hot tub by Bull Frog. The reason we went with the Bull Frog is because there are so few water tubes inside the tub itself (a lot less to go wrong and simpler to fix if needed). Look behind the panel and see what a mess of tubing are in some of those tubs. It's a mess of tubing that reminds me of a spider web. The Bull Frog is much simpler, and the jets are plentiful and also have lots of power. Another nice feature of the Bull Frog is that the backs of each seat (with the jets) are interchangeable.

In hindsight we should have gotten a seven-seat tub (no lounge chair), I'm too short for that seat and my DH has his favorite spot picked out. Basically, the lounge chair never gets used.

We also got a Covina automatic hot tub cover. It makes the hot tub very secure; we don't have to worry about any unwanted guests getting into the hot tub since you need a key to open the cover. It also supplies shade while sitting in the tub during the day or lights if using in the evening.

Happy hunting and I hope you enjoy whatever you pick.

 

[tvguy]

Don't get worked up on the number of jets. We have a salt water tub. Works great and you don't have to add sanitizer too often. We have a Hot Springs tub. They are expensive but are built to last.

Ours was a Hot Springs, rebranded by a local retailer under the Cal X Fun Spas name. It was durable, no doubt.

 

[firefly_ris]

We got a South Seas Spa by Artisian which we have been happy with. We live in a cold weather climate and like to use it year round so needed a 220v powered model to maintain temp. We also did a mineral based treatment system instead of chlorine which has been good. I would recommend it. 5 seater, plenty of room.