fisrt timer

Dang, my LA spa during the deep freeze of over night lows in the 20's highs in the 40's a few months back, I was running my spa 4 times a week at 104 degrees. My total bill for the whole house including the tub was less than a hundred bucks. We have tracked the bills and while its definately not a scientific method, our cost to run the tub has been as low as 8 dollars in the extreme summer heat to a little less than 20 during the cold winter months. Not bad! I have talked to too many people around here that tried to save a buck with cheep spas but have huge energy bills. Pay now or pay later. I would rather pay up front and get a better tub to use during that time than pay all that money in energy and still only have a poor tub to use. JMHO!

If I remember right the prices were as follows for mine, this is just from rough memory so dont quote me: What the listed prices were: 9999 for spa with 3 pumps stainless rings and LED lights, no UWMS 8999 sale price for above 800 for UWMS Price for individual options: 250 for Stainless rings 200 for 4 LED light kit that change colors I cant remember all of the prices becasue I went back and forth on whether or not to do the 3 pump version and same with the UWMS. I was always negotiating an OTD price and the reciept doesnt show a breakdown of price. It just shows the OTD price and price before tax. The receipt does break down all of the options ordered. I realized that I had a typo after going though my previous post. My price was 8300 OTD, not 8200. That isnt a big biffernce but just wanted to note that. If I was trying to save money, I would not get the LED lights or the Stainless rings. I always like the Stainless rings as I thiink it makes the tub look fancier. I did just realize were some of the price difference may be. I live in Northern California which is about 6 hours from the factory. The cost difference to ship a tub from LA to virginia will be alot more than Sacramento. My dealer may have had more room to play with because of the cost to get it here. Just a theory.

I guess that I am biased becasue I own an LA tub and I was not impressed with the Marquis. But, in all honesty you need to test and make your descision on comfort. I highly recomend test as many models as you, even the ones you didnt like at all from day one. Some of the spas I thought that I wouldnt like were the ones I like most and vise versa. Remeber that it doesnt matter the value if your not comfortable. I bought the LA because I was most comfortable in it and I also thought that everything about the tub was great. I have had mine 10 months and I love it. No problems at all. Just dont base your opinion around which one of these complete strangers on here tell you to buy. Be your own judge and you cant go wrong.

I dont see at how a dishwasher would do much for a cartridge style filter. You need some serious water pressure to clean them correctly. I have used cartridges before and they are a pain in the arse. That is one of the reasons like these bags. I just scoop any of the big crap out of the bag and put it in the dishwasher.

I am biased in the fact that I love my LA spa. You can read my post from a few weeks back on my 10 month review. You arent by chance in Sacramento area are you? The big local Cal dealer just lost the brand/changed businesses.

You must have read my post on the filter system the LA spas use. It depends on your filter setup. If you are using the normal cartridge style filter then no, you cannot put them in the dishwasher. The LA spas use a unique filter system that uses a fabric filter bag and can be removed and put in the dishwasher for cleaning. It works quite well. Here is a link to read more on it if you wish. To my knowledge the LA spa is the only one using this, however with all the different brands out there, i am sure that someone will correct me on this. http://www.laspas.com/las_WM_AKFS.asp?varSect=AKFSKey

If you add insulation, I am sure that you can kiss any warranty good bye. I think that the company you spoke to over the phone sold you a bill of goods. Of course they are going to try to tell you that it wnt have any problems. To try telling you that people have the high energy bills because they keep the water at 104 degress or dont latch the cover. C'mon, thats complete BS. I keep my spa at 104 all the time and I never latch my cover. I also use my tub at least 3 times a week. The energy bill hardly changed with the hot tub. It sounds like someone was trying to cover up a poorly insulated tub. I am not saying to buy it it or anything like that but from what you described, you are resting your concerns because a representative told you so. Do your own research but it sounds like you were fed a bunch of crap.

I just realized that what was really bothering me is the steam coming off the water more than anything. I do use nature 2 stick, renew and chlorine granules. The chlorine is what I smell all the time. I have had a tendancy to add too much chlorine at one time.

Thanks Brulan, I used alot of information I got here on making my descision. I am now a happy camper. I cant stress enough at how import wet testing is. My wife and I went to go buy an Artesian spa. It was comfy dry and we loved the specs on paper and build quality. Well, we went to wet test as more a formality. We both looked at each other and hated it. Vey uncomfortable and poorly laid out with water in it. Way different experience with water. You need to wet test. The LA spa I bought attracted me instantly with the jet layout/design and value. I was expecting to either find bad things about them as if the value was too good to be true or it was going to be very uncorftable. I was supprised to find my research to uncover only praises for the product and my wet test to be the best out of any. It turned out, that all i could find was satidfied owners and that LA was truely a premium spa maker. I dont know if they are mainly only well known on the west coast but I also realize that what makes a good spa comfort wise is only the one that fits you well. I do not take offesn to anyone that would say my tub is uncorfortable becasue to me it is great but my body shape/size is comletely different than me. My mom was in my tub and I had to turn the power down for her becasue she is not that heavy and for me the power of jets is great. Different stroke for differnt folks!

There is little to none splashing. I am impressed with the design from that point. There is benefit to the neck jets I fit into. I did find that some of the brands I tested, there was so much splashing, the seat was unusable. This is not so in the LA. I just dont like smelling the chemicals coming off the water. My gripes have nothing to do with the design/placement of jets. There is a benefit to using the seat. I know that my wife really enjoys the seat so I guess if I were to buy it again, I would still get the neck jets.

As for the ozone, I bought it becasue it gives a 24 hour re-circulation pump and the dealer told me the heater unit has a big upgrade because of it as well. I took his word for it. My water stays crystal clear! I cannot complain at all. The filters work good. I do two rinses in the dishwasher eventhought it says one. It gives better results IMO. I have no problem removing them. It barely takes any effort. Much better than having to take the hose to a cartridge and scrub. I chose the HEAT model becasue it fit well and I liked the jet configuration and the lounger. I did negotiate the price heavily. They were asking around 10k for the spa without the UWMS but it included the stainless jets and light package. I negotiated for quite a while and made multiple teaser visits. By the time the negotiating was done my price was 8200 out the door with real wood steps (not plastic), HEAT model 3 pump version, light upgrade, UWMS, stainless jet rings, cover lifter, chemicals, delivery and set up, cover. The price before tax was like 7800 dollars if I remeber. So, I did a custom order and chose my colors. Mine is a blue swirl (grey pillows) with fake redwood skirt. They also gave me a price garuntee that if it was cheeper at the fair that year they would refund the differance. I went to the fair and the best price they were offering was 8800 plus tax without any options. I think that I got a good deal.

When I ordered my HEAT model the floor room demo had the neck jets in both corners. I opted for the neck jets only in the deeper seat because the shorter one would be useless to me or my wife. My wife enjoys the neck jet seat alot. I am still a bit tall for them at 6' 1" but I can still squeeze in even though I am a taller torso. My biggest issue with the neck jets is that it puts your nose so close to the water that all you smell is the chemicals coming off. I can only sit in it for about 5 minutes before have to move. The jets are pleasant. No issue there. It is nice because its the only spot that will work the top of the shoulders. In fact one nice thing is that you can put parts of your left leg on the volcano jet while in that seat. I like the gatlin gun style foot jets but I do wish there was an option to convert it to a single volcano style jet at times. Right now there is only that one option. Dont get me wrong, I like the gatlin gun style, I just would like to mix it up. If I do feel the need for more pressure I put my foot on top of the volcano jet, so the option is already in the tub, just in a different location. The gatlin gun jet in the lounger is awesome and make positioning my foot in the right places better in that position. I find myself prefering to run either just the seat jets or just the foot jets at one time. There is so much force that if you are running both and moving your legs around, the jets will start to move you around in the seat. Its fine if you arent moving around but I like to move my legs around the foot jets alot. Adjustment ion this tub is never a problem. Each indidvidual jet is adjustable and then the diverter valves can be used for adjustment as well. The only jets not adjustable are the tiny jets in the corner seat with the neck jets. However, the neck jets are adjustable so you can turn them on and off. Getting in and out of the spa could not be easier. There are two steps in the tub that are wide enough for easy in and out. The display was smartly laid out so that it is turned around to be read while in the tub. This is the only time I find myself using them so that was a smart feature on LA's part. The surface finish was excellent from day one and even after draining, cleaing and refilling does not show wear. The only problems have been from me trying to get the whole chemical equation right. I have let it sit for a few days in the summer with not enough chemicals and the water turned green. Not the tubs fault. The seat I use the most is the center seat beteeen the 2 corners. 6 very large twirling jets with alot of pressure thoughout the entire back. It also puts the feet right in front of the 2 foot jets. Perfect for me. I love it.

The spa that I bought was an 8x8 LA spa HEAT model with the 3 pump 63 jets. The options I got where the lighting package, Ultimate Water Management System, Stainless jet rings. The foam is a full foam but they do there packaging different. The foam is not a structural member like many tubs. The floor of the tub is structurally supported by the frame and then filled in with foam. They do a 2 layer foam. One layer open cell and one layer closed cell. They also put another layer of insulation on the inside of all panels so there are no big air gaps. So far my energy consumption is very little and it has a little effec ton my bill if any. I am located in Sacramento California. Out summers can reach the 100's on normal but our winter can reach the 20's at night like they have been recenctly. The jet configuration is very nice. An assortment of all sizes, not just a bunch of small jets to get the jet count up. The placement is very nice. I even have one big volcano jet that can put out a ton of force for getting the one spot that needs alot of force. We use that jet alot. The lounger doesnt let me float and has jets placed throught the entire length. Overall a two thumbs up. I would give the tub a 4 3/4 out of 5 stars becuase nothing is perfect. I did test probably about 15 - 20 tubs before buying so I think the research and testing I did is what made this purchase so good. There were so many tubs that looked good on paper and were comfortable dry but were lousy wet.

Okay, some of you remeber me from many months ago. I was the one always insulting the Costco threads. Well, that got tireing eventhoguht it appears more people have come forth on having problems. Well, I didnt come back to talk about those. I dont even care about them anymore. Instead I am giving a 10 month review of my hot tub. I dont see the LA spas on here very often so I decided to give my review. So far after 10 months of owning, there have been absolutely no problems. I am very happy. The lounger is awesome and fits me perfectly. All 63 jets work good. I am happy that I got the (3) x 5HP pumps. Alot of pressure that I like. I am big guy and so I wanted something that didnt feel flimsy. The construction is great. It holds the temp to within a degree. Everytime I go out to it, the temp is always right there. The jets turn on and the fun begins. I do wish that I didnt get the neck jets on one seat. I dont use them as much as I thought that I would. However I use the lounger alot more than I thought I would. I almost didnt buy a spa with a lounger. The gatlun gun jets like used in master tubs work great. My energy bill jump is so small we had to work at tracing its consumption. It cost next to nothing to run. I use it atleast 3 times a week. I sit in my backyard and have a view of the hills behind me. All in all, the jets are very well placed and extremely comfortable. I would highly recomend this product to anyone. I will say that I spent the extra 200 bucks for the light show but I dont turn the lights on that much. It was a bit of a waste of money. I took everyones opinion and did not but the stereo. I am happy becasue to hear it well, I would have to turn it up so loud my neighbors would hate me. The tub sits close to me neighbors house. What I have done is bought a waterproof case for my ipod and some waterproff headphones. It works great!!!!!!!!! I play my tunes and I dont disturb the neighbors. It cost a whole lot less than the stereo option. Well, happy tubbing. I hope this may help anyone shopping. I figured that this forum is to share information.