Nordic Crown Ii

[SouthSpa]

I’ve owned 2 hot tubs. My first was a 350 gallon Morgan spa and it stayed with the house when I sold the place 10 years ago. I started thinking about getting another spa and reflected on my experience with the Morgan spa to help determine what I REALLY wanted in a spa. After much deliberation, I purchased a Nordic Crown II. That was over a year ago and I have enjoyed trouble free use at a very low operating cost. I have nothing but praise for the product. I used this spa forum in my research and I am grateful for the resource. Here are some brief thoughts that I hope will be helpful to those considering a new spa.

Hot tub brochures often mention how many people can comfortably use a tub at the same time, with most having room for 6 or 8 people. My actual experience is that 99% of the time I enjoy being alone for a 20 minute soak, usually first thing in the a.m. and again in the late evening before bed. I rarely invite anyone other than my significant other into the tub so I view all hot tubs as a 2 person spa.

I prefer “barrier-free” to molded plastic seats. Lots of carved out seats look great on the brochure but once you get in you don’t see them as much as you feel them. The buoyancy of the water combined with the powerful jets can easily float a person around, frequently bobbing up and down on the ridges of a seat. More annoying than painful, but why have molded seats at all? Once settled into a seat I would either float right out of it, if it was one of the bigger seats like the chaise lounge, or quickly get bored with the feeling of being stuck in one position. Barrier free makes every position infinitely more adjustable by sliding a little bit to the left or right without landing on a plastic butt breaker.

I prefer round to square. For some reason the square Morgan spa would get a ring around the water-line, a buildup of scale. Water additives and scrubbing would keep it under control but the round tub doesn’t have that problem. Maybe it’s the circular, whirlpool action of the round tub that cleans itself, maybe I have a lower personal funk factor this time around, I don’t really know, but the round tub stays cleaner all by itself. The Morgan had an ozinator but I did not buy the optional ozinator for the Nordic and I see no reason to. I shock once each week and add bromine in a floater, that’s it. The Morgan had a sleeve in the filter where the bromine would reside. I use a floating dispenser in the Nordic and it makes it much simpler to check and refill. The floater circles over the filter cover so it’s not annoying to the bather.

I also prefer a round spa because I find it more comfortable. Sitting in 104 degrees for any length of time will get your body heat up. Hanging your arms over the back gets your upper body out of the water for a breather as you comfortably hang there; maybe even letting your head rest back against the perimeter wall of the tub. The curve of the round tub helps make this position easily accessible by not stretching the shoulders too far open. The Nordic spa doesn’t have a lot of extra bells and whistles, but it has a cool-off bench that doubles as an entry/exit step that is extremely useful.

Modern design spas have way too many jets in my view. The whirlpool action of heated water is what relaxes my muscles, not being blasted with jet streams. Don’t get me wrong, some jets are essential, but only a dozen or so. I’m no expert on motor efficiency but I assume that having fewer jets places less demand on the motor and probably the heater since more bubbles release more heat resulting in more energy needed by the pump and so on. The Nordic spa seems to be very energy efficient in spite of reports of not having as much insulation as some of its competitors. A comparison of utility bills showed an average increase of $15 per month as compared to the previous year. It’s hard to say exactly how much of that could be attributed to the spa because I also used a window unit heat and air unit for a garage area converted into our “studio” which gets only occasional use. I do, however, live in Memphis with fairly moderate winter temps.

After doing some internet searching like you may be doing now, and really thinking about what I liked and didn’t like about my first spa experience, I decided on a round, barrier-free spa. But when I tried to locate one I found that there are only a few manufacturers that make them. I had never heard of Nordic and couldn’t find a whole lot of current information on them but they had my prerequisites of being round and barrier-free, so I searched for a local dealer. I found one an hours drive from my house. The dealer had a huge showroom filled with square tubs equipped with LED lighting, surround sound systems and even dvd players with TV screens! (who can sit there for 2 hours and watch a movie???) There was only one round tub in the whole place except for a couple of 100 gallon portable types. The salesman said this Nordic Crown II had been sitting there for 5 years and never had water in it! I called the Nordic factory with the serial number of this particular tub and found them very professional and courteous. They looked up the serial number and told me it was actually built 7 years ago and assured me the spa warranty begins on the sale date regardless of the date it was built. That was important to me because the Morgan spa needed lots of service calls, having been plumbed incorrectly at the factory, a fact that was overlooked by the service rep for the first 5 or so trips to my house. So I bought the Nordic II at half-off retail and had it delivered. I filled it up, plugged it in and have enjoyed it twice a day for over a year now without any trouble whatsoever.

By the way, I assumed I would go 220v since it was required for my last spa, but I was anxious to get in it so I plugged it into an available 110v. I have no plans of going 220v because I see no reason to. For my purposes, the Nordic Crown II is a great spa and I expect it will be the last one I will ever need to buy.

[Trigger]

I’ve owned 2 hot tubs. My first was a 350 gallon Morgan spa and it stayed with the house when I sold the place 10 years ago. I started thinking about getting another spa and reflected on my experience with the Morgan spa to help determine what I REALLY wanted in a spa. After much deliberation, I purchased a Nordic Crown II. That was over a year ago and I have enjoyed trouble free use at a very low operating cost. I have nothing but praise for the product. I used this spa forum in my research and I am grateful for the resource. Here are some brief thoughts that I hope will be helpful to those considering a new spa.

Hot tub brochures often mention how many people can comfortably use a tub at the same time, with most having room for 6 or 8 people. My actual experience is that 99% of the time I enjoy being alone for a 20 minute soak, usually first thing in the a.m. and again in the late evening before bed. I rarely invite anyone other than my significant other into the tub so I view all hot tubs as a 2 person spa.

I prefer “barrier-free” to molded plastic seats. Lots of carved out seats look great on the brochure but once you get in you don’t see them as much as you feel them. The buoyancy of the water combined with the powerful jets can easily float a person around, frequently bobbing up and down on the ridges of a seat. More annoying than painful, but why have molded seats at all? Once settled into a seat I would either float right out of it, if it was one of the bigger seats like the chaise lounge, or quickly get bored with the feeling of being stuck in one position. Barrier free makes every position infinitely more adjustable by sliding a little bit to the left or right without landing on a plastic butt breaker.

I prefer round to square. For some reason the square Morgan spa would get a ring around the water-line, a buildup of scale. Water additives and scrubbing would keep it under control but the round tub doesn’t have that problem. Maybe it’s the circular, whirlpool action of the round tub that cleans itself, maybe I have a lower personal funk factor this time around, I don’t really know, but the round tub stays cleaner all by itself. The Morgan had an ozinator but I did not buy the optional ozinator for the Nordic and I see no reason to. I shock once each week and add bromine in a floater, that’s it. The Morgan had a sleeve in the filter where the bromine would reside. I use a floating dispenser in the Nordic and it makes it much simpler to check and refill. The floater circles over the filter cover so it’s not annoying to the bather.

I also prefer a round spa because I find it more comfortable. Sitting in 104 degrees for any length of time will get your body heat up. Hanging your arms over the back gets your upper body out of the water for a breather as you comfortably hang there; maybe even letting your head rest back against the perimeter wall of the tub. The curve of the round tub helps make this position easily accessible by not stretching the shoulders too far open. The Nordic spa doesn’t have a lot of extra bells and whistles, but it has a cool-off bench that doubles as an entry/exit step that is extremely useful.

Modern design spas have way too many jets in my view. The whirlpool action of heated water is what relaxes my muscles, not being blasted with jet streams. Don’t get me wrong, some jets are essential, but only a dozen or so. I’m no expert on motor efficiency but I assume that having fewer jets places less demand on the motor and probably the heater since more bubbles release more heat resulting in more energy needed by the pump and so on. The Nordic spa seems to be very energy efficient in spite of reports of not having as much insulation as some of its competitors. A comparison of utility bills showed an average increase of $15 per month as compared to the previous year. It’s hard to say exactly how much of that could be attributed to the spa because I also used a window unit heat and air unit for a garage area converted into our “studio” which gets only occasional use. I do, however, live in Memphis with fairly moderate winter temps.

After doing some internet searching like you may be doing now, and really thinking about what I liked and didn’t like about my first spa experience, I decided on a round, barrier-free spa. But when I tried to locate one I found that there are only a few manufacturers that make them. I had never heard of Nordic and couldn’t find a whole lot of current information on them but they had my prerequisites of being round and barrier-free, so I searched for a local dealer. I found one an hours drive from my house. The dealer had a huge showroom filled with square tubs equipped with LED lighting, surround sound systems and even dvd players with TV screens! (who can sit there for 2 hours and watch a movie???) There was only one round tub in the whole place except for a couple of 100 gallon portable types. The salesman said this Nordic Crown II had been sitting there for 5 years and never had water in it! I called the Nordic factory with the serial number of this particular tub and found them very professional and courteous. They looked up the serial number and told me it was actually built 7 years ago and assured me the spa warranty begins on the sale date regardless of the date it was built. That was important to me because the Morgan spa needed lots of service calls, having been plumbed incorrectly at the factory, a fact that was overlooked by the service rep for the first 5 or so trips to my house. So I bought the Nordic II at half-off retail and had it delivered. I filled it up, plugged it in and have enjoyed it twice a day for over a year now without any trouble whatsoever.

By the way, I assumed I would go 220v since it was required for my last spa, but I was anxious to get in it so I plugged it into an available 110v. I have no plans of going 220v because I see no reason to. For my purposes, the Nordic Crown II is a great spa and I expect it will be the last one I will ever need to buy.

Interesting comments South spa and a well thougt out post. Thanks.

I find your post very interesting because my first hot tub was a used round Nordic Viking. I got the tub for free and it was a great learning experience for me. however, my experince was just the opposite of yours. I'm not trying to argue with you here, I just find this very interesting and would like to post my exepericences so that other can compare how opinions can greatly differ when it comes to hot tubs.

I agree that the round open seating is nice, espicially when I had friends over. It was a great social tub. Everyone had an equal seat and talking was easy.

Since then, I've upgraded first to a Tiger River Caspian, and now to a Caldera Geneva. I have to say the I prefer the molded, sculpted seats. Like you, 90% of the time it's just me in the tub and maybe my wife. The molded seats provided a better theraputic massage and a greater varity than the open seating in a round tub. My Tiger river had an area of barrier free seating wich was nice; the best of both worlds, but the Jets and therapy on the Geneve simply blow the simply jetting of the Nordic completey away.

I'm up North in New England, and found the Nordic to be a bit of an energy hog in the winter. Actually it was outright through the roof and was the main reason I junked the tub after one season. Your moniker suggest that your in warmer lattitudes than me, and this may not be as of a concern with you?

I used the bromine, and had "ehh" luck with it, I foud the dichlor with ozone worked fantastic to me.

I've discussed 03 with others and I understand it seems to work better for some folks than others. Me. I love it. I am surprised you find that no 03 and bromine works better for you(?) I had a very ineffciet bromine system; it was dispensed via a floating duck and I never got a good handle on how to control the amount of sanitizer.

With Dichlor I add the sanitizer after I use the tub (low chem soaking) and add the necessary amount given the tub's use. With the bromine dispenser it was always dispesing sanitizer reagardless of tub use and I always felt I was soaking in a chemical soup.

One of the isssues with a round tub is a cover lifters. I didn't have one with my tub and only saw one manufacturer who offered on .Do you have lifter?

Overall, I look back on the Nordic and as stated the barrier free seating and simple design of the tub was elegant. I also had cedar skirting which was very nice. I think the Nordic tubs fill a niche, and for the money and in the right installation and situation, they can work out just fine.

[Roger]

I like Nordic. On the economy end of tubs 3-5 grand they make a fine product. Maybe it's 4-6 now on the economy end? Either way they seem to hit a price point well.

[SouthSpa]

I was soaking in my Nordic the other day and thought about this forum. I haven't checked-in since I posted comments about my Nordic spa last Nov '09. It's been another year and the Nordic is still like new, absolutely trouble free.

[Gina23]

Great, I just installed a Crown II last week. Can't speak to the energy efficiency of it, but as I've had the panel off I've noticed full foam insulation, so hopefully this will help... I have a 2010 model. Glad to hear you are happy. I am in love with mine!

[veroamore]

Thank you for the great reviews! My husband and I really appreciated the in depth explanations here. We recently selected a Crown II model (mostly because of this thread) and got it installed and running last weekend. Now I want to return the favor and let you know about our initial reaction.

We've had the tub less than a week. It was easy to get installed and running - we actually used it the night we brought it home (attached the garden hose to the hot water faucet in the laundry room to make sure the tub was warm!).

We're a younger couple (in our 30s with two kids). Our son (he's 10) loves the hot tub. Our daughter is intrigued, but still a little young to try it (she's 17 months). We anticipate using the tub with and without our kids and occasionally with guests. Although the tub is 'sized' for 5 adults, it is very comfortable for our family. I anticipate it being "cozy" with 4 adults (comfortable to share with our parents, siblings and their spouses, or very close friends ... a little too "cozy" for anything beyond that) but 5 adults would be cramped. However, it is also not horribly oversized if I want to use it by myself.

We live in New England and it's still pretty chilly (not unusual for it to drop into the 30s at night still) so I'm curious to see what our electric bill looks like next month. We did not get the extra Title 20 insulation - we opted for the instant gratification of taking home something that was in stock. We like that the amount of water in the tub is on the lower side (only 300 gallons) - hoping this will mean an energy savings in less water to keep warm.

We had looked really closely at the Retreat model with molded seats - my husband thought the molded seats looked really comfortable. SouthSpa captured my concerns with them and convinced my husband to consider a barrier-free seating option (thank you!!). We did not wet test - just dry test. The molded seats of the the Retreat were claustrophic during the dry test. I had been a little concerned about floating around in a barrier-free tub (because I've had that experience before), but something about the design of the Crown II tub makes that a non-issue for me - I comfortable remain seated without effort once I'm settled.

We love the round shape - it is very comfortable to rest your arms on or even lay your head back on. The whirlpool action is also very nice (we had never experienced that before and almost like it better than the bubble jets!).

The number of jets is good. I would have appreciated one more foot jet (hubby and I tend to fight for the foot jet but we're exploring other options - like sharing and taking turns! LOL! or just using other back jets for our feet.) I really like the jets in this tub and the whirlpool feature. My typical experience with hot tubs have been brief dips in hotel tubs. In those cases I like the extra hot water (above 104 in my opinion), and the more forceful jet ... but those dips are shorter. 10 minutes if I'm lucky. We're in our tub 15-30 minutes at a time. At 104, we're wiped out and ready for bed after 30 minutes (I think 30 minutes at 104 is too much - we'll have to either drop the temperature a few degrees or not soak as long). The jets are less powerful than hotel hot tub jets, but they are much nicer for longer periods of time and much more relaxing overall. After 10 minutes in a hotel tub, I'm ready to get out because I feel like I'm getting beaten by the jets; in our tub it's a wonderful experience from the moment we get in until we crawl out.

We have gone with a non-chlorine system because I hate the smell of chlorine and we have two little ones. The tub has an ozonator and our dealer helped us pick a non-chlorine kit to maintain the water chemistry. As it's only been a week, I can't judge how that it going yet. I expect we'll need to play around a bit over the next few months to find the right balance for us.

Overall we are very happy with our purchase so far! It is easy to operate, comfortable, and well sized. Our biggest complaint right now is that we are both tall (I'm 5'10", hubby is 6'2") and sitting up straight in the tub leaves our shoulders well above the waterline; a lower seat or deeper tub would have been nice. However, it is not a big annoyance.

Right now the tub is still a shiny new toy so we're in it almost every day and I would absolutely recommend it - we got a great price (less than $4500 installed) and it appears to be a fabulous starter tub. Although I am using it for rehab (stress which has led to back problems) as well as general relaxation, we're not sure yet if we'll continuing using it frequently 6 months or a year from now or if we'll be lucky to use it once a month by then. Knowing that, I am very happy with the price point and size. If we're still using it frequently in 3 years, we will consider upgrading to a larger tub - the kids will be bigger and they'll want to entertain their friends so a larger tub could make sense. If we're still using a tub frequent when the kids move out, I would appreciate this size tub again (although perhaps one a little deeper).

[Clamonda]

What does a FC error code mean?