Seamuis

cochise, thanks for the response! Envoy is on the deck and Used it last night and this morning. Great spa, powerful jets, 100% filtration. Still fiddling with all the directional jets. The jets in the foot well area are great for it-bands and glutes. Time to spend some time time in water chemistry. Happy Holidays! -Seamuis

I "threw my back out" Friday skiing, which reinforced the need for this luxury and ratcheted up our decision making process. We wet tested a Saratoga Spa yesterday and a Hot Springs Envoy today. Rather than wait we purchase the Envoy today and expect delivery as early as the 12th and as late as the 19th. Unfortunately the Saratoga dealer did not have a Saratoga Spas Empire or a Canfield in stock to wet test, both of which would take three weeks to get in. The Envoy we were able to wet test and we could have it here at our home before Christmas. While it may have been the best decision, it could have been much different. Everything just lined up. I did call the Jacuzzi dealer yesterday and a J480 was $15K and the J335 was the other model they had in stock with a lounge. At 6' tall I felt at a disadvantage shopping for a spa with a lounge, I had to go to spas that were bigger to get a correct fit on the lounge and in my case that was often not in stock. Started with a budget of $7K and quickly spent over $11k, yikes! Good luck to those shopping.

Looks like I'll be adding New Way Equipment in Avon, NY and Saratoga Spas to the list. While they are a little further away, they also have been in business a long time. Saratoga Spas seem to have a better reputation than Maax Spaa and they have dedicated circulation pumps which seem to be a great feature. (They are also a local NY company and only about 3.5 hours away!) Any feedback on the three manufacturers we are looking at would be appreciated.

Did you ever solve this issue, sorry I am not able to help but I am curious.

Dr. Spa, thanks! With what Dr. Spa stated would it be correct to say, the Covana contributes very little in measurable energy savings? I am researching other shade and privacy options, but given we do not know what we want to do with our deck and back yard (no final vision or design) our options may be limited. Assuming a full foam cabinet is a better insulator, what weight does the point that full foam cabinets are more difficult to work on and or full foam cabinets make it difficult to address leaks associated with your tub hold? I find the part about the leaks difficult to understand when many state that with a leak a shell becomes worthless as they are very difficult to repair. Also on this point can anyone comment on the longevity the full foam offers to the acrylic tub itself? The foam is not structural, but combined with the frame and some energy by a strike or blow being absorbed by the foam does it contribute to longevity or am I reaching?

Hello, thanks for contributing to such a great resource and a Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours! I (we) are embarking on my first spa purchase in Western NY. It will primarily be used by my wife and I. I've always enjoyed spas on ski trips and am usually the last one to exit. I have a blown out disk at L4-L5 and muscle tightness is my worst enemy. I am hoping in addition to stretching a spa will help stay off back episodes. Our home is a ranch with a two tier deck. The bottom 10' x 20' tier is at grade and the upper 16' x 16' tier is at 2' above grade, planing on placing the spa on the upper tier close to the 10' side of the lower tier. While the deck is exposed to full sun in the summer making it virtually unusable, we are blessed with a large back yard with a mature Red Maple at the center. Due to removal of a perimeter of dying Blue Spruces and overgrown Creeping Junipers privacy and shade is at a premium for the near future. We would really like to make a destination of our back yard and admittedly are "putting the cart before the horse" buying a spa first. This week a 60 Amp 220 VAC and 110 VAC service were run out to the deck with a disconnect box mounted on the house but not within reach of the proposed spa location. Next week the main deck beam will be reinforced and and additional beam added. I am fortunate to have to reputable dealers in our area, Pettis Pools (Maax) and Clover Home Leisure (Hot Springs). Both dealers have been around for a long time, have great local reputations and clean BBB reviews. Pettis also carries the Sterling Covana motorized spa cover, which has great appeal given our lack of shade and privacy. I hope this coming Sunday to wet test a Maax 481 and a Hot Springs Envoy. The Maax 781 would be a better comparison to the Envoy, but both are more than we would like to spend. Both the Maax 781 and Hot Springs Envoy are several paychecks above our budget. Bullfrog would be in the running, but for me having a local dealer to service us is extremely important. Our budget started with the Maax 471, but tat 6' tall the lounge did not fit well thus the 481 and Envoy. The Covana would solve any problems related to shade and privacy quite well, but the money even for a 2yr old showroom display could easily put us into the Maax 781 or Host Springs Envoy. After reading about spas and service I "think" I would prefer a spa that is insulated (Maax Spas), but not full foam (Hot Springs). It certainly gets cold here, but with heat rising isn't the cover one of the largest sources of loss (Therefore Covana)? Hot Springs would blow out our budget and not place us in a position to afford the Covana or deck improvements offering shade or privacy. With 110' of snow a year on average and a huge shade and privacy problem. Your experience and input would be very welcome as we try to make this decision. If I could sell my 2013 BMW K1600GT I might be tempted to buy the Envoy (based on this forums members current endorsements on HS) and the Covana. I am not ready to fire sell the bike just to make this purchase. -Seamuis