SugarBear

The GFCI can go into your panel, inside the house, if you want. The quick disconnect does not go into the skirt. It must go a minimum of 5 feet away from the tub, and not more than 10 or 15 feet away depending on locality. If you have a reputable electrician, he should know this. If you want, check with your town electrical inspector.

The test strips are terrible. I had a very hard time reading them. Try this site I bought the Pocket Colorimeter 4A. It is very reliable and when you check it against the strips, you will see why you have problems. The strips seem to say that everything is OK, but when I use the meter, things are way off. Have not had a problem since using it. I'm sure Waterbear or one of the Chemical experts will chime in to give you the correct Chlorine treatment. I use Bromine because it's a weekend home and with it I can get away from daily Chlorine treatments. Good Luck!

I can only tell you that our Arctic Tundra is a great tub! Make sure you are comparing apples to apples. As trigger said "Wet test, wet test...and then wet test again! I would also check and make sure that you are comfortable with the dealer. I think that is almost as important as a good tub. I can also tell you that if you are worried about winter use, the Arctic is fantastic! We have ours up at our country home in the northern Catskill Mountains of New York (ski country), and it does get cold. The Arctic has releaved our fears of a tub at a weekend home with minus 20 and 30 degree weather, and not being up there during the week to check on it. Good luck!

The cloudy water could be caused by heavy usage the first couple of days and the fact that you let the bromine fall too low, but you did not mention your Alk or PH levels. This could be a cause also. If it was the bromine, then a good shock should take care of it in a couple of days. What are you shocking with? Suds and stuff are probably the cause of bathing suits (that's if you use them), makeup, hair products, etc. Try washing your bathing suits several times, without any soap, and keep them free of your regular wash and only rinse them out. You would be supprised to see how much soap is left in clothes after coming out of the wash. I have got into the habit of taking a shower and asking my guests to do the same before entering the tub. It has saved many water changes. How are you testing your water. Get a good test kit, such as Taylor. Good luck!

I'm sure that Waterbear or Chemgeek will chime in with the Official word (they are the experts). You should have a Bromine floater with pucks in it. The bromine never gets used up, you just need to activate it with shock (MPS or bleach). They will tell you, as I have learned, to use regular household bleach to shock the bromine into action. Get yourself a good test kit for your water testing. The strips are not reliable. Depending on the size of your tub, you should be adding a small bit of bleach to get your bromine level up to between 4-6 ppm. If you have ozone then the level should be between 1 - 3 ppm. You can do a search and find that they have answered this same question hundreds of times. Good luck! It'll get easier as time goes on.

Don't add the shock to the floater! Add it directly into the water. The only thing that goes into the floater are the pucks. Chill out..relax and enjoy. You'll get the hang of it. Don't over-manage your water or you will be dumping before you have to. Good Luck! Now, go have a soak.

Your initial fill is going to cost the most because you have to heat the water up to approx 100 degrees, and this goes for every 3 or 4 months when you change your water. If you live in the southern warm states then insulation is not that critical. If you live in the northern part of the U.S., like I do, then insulation is critical. We had -2 degrees F this past weekend and tubbing was fantastic. The tub is in the northern catskill mountains of New York, ski area, and our electric bill, for a non-fill month is about $30 more than usual. On a fill month, the bill goes to $35-40, depending on the time of year, winter or summer. I have an Arctic tub and it is well insulated. Where do you live?

They are new Arctic dealers...just make sure that you feel comfortable with them. Remember that you will be dealing with them for a long time. That would save about 30 miles from CT. I live in Westchester County, NY during the week, and both are about the same distance for me. Good Luck!

Unfortunately, the closest Arctic dealer is in New Milford, CT, about 2 hours away. That was the downside of purchasing the Arctic. I must say that the dealer has been great. I have had two minor problems, so far, and the dealer sent someone out to fix the same week, and on one occasion, I spoke to the dealer on Saturday and the repairman showed up on Sunday afternoon. He had installed the tub and loved the area and decided to take a ride with his girlfriend to fix it. I was shocked when I saw him pull up the driveway. This is a Country Home for us and we are only here on weekends. We did a lot of research and the Arctic seemed to fit into our plan. The house is in Ski Country, so it gets pretty cold in the winter, and being that we are not there during the week, we felt that the Arctic would hold up well. I'll let you know as this will be our first winter with the Tundra. Looking forward to it. The Tundra is loaded with everything except the stereo and it was in the low teens. Good Luck!

You made a great choice! I have been soaking in my Tundra Legend SE since May, and we love every minute of it. Now that the cooler weather is upon us in the Catskill Mountains of NY, I'm sure we will love it even more. Good Luck!