hd2000

We had a spa in an enclosed pourch and the only thing that worked for us was to use a exhaust fan. Our area was pretty much waterproof to begin with so we never worried about damage to the structure. The first time we used the tub, it got so steamy we couldn't even see each other at opposite ends of the spa. It was so bad I decided to open the door and windows to vent it out and let the steam escape. My neighbor happened to be looking out his window and he thought our pourch was on fire and it was smoke rolling out of everything. He called 911 and a few minutes later, here comes the fire department charging through our door only to discover myself and my wife still soaking in the tub. The nexxt day, I was installing a fan.

Does anyone like it? A better question would be is there anyone that doesn't. As for the towel, I leave mine inside the door and pick it up on the way in. My tub is about a good 2 steps from the door anyway, so I see no reason to leave it out in the cold or wet. My glasses stay in the house to. I don't wear my glasses when I soak or swim and I've never been in my spa with a hat on. What is it that everyone is looking at when they are in the spa anyway? I really never had any need for my glasses when I'm soaking in the spa and I can't see worth a crap without them. My vision is good enough to see to the other side of the tub, and that's all I ever needed, so the galsses stay in the house.

I live in a cold climate (Ohio), and like I said, I can wait the few hours it takes to heat the tub. As for hose freezing, it's never been a problem. I'll have maybe 1 refill during the winter at best and my tub is just a couple feet from the faucet. I use a cut off piece of hose that's no more than 6 feet long. A month and a half? I've had tubs for 25-30 years. I hope you enjoy using your's as long.

I can not imagine having more people in a tub than it's stated capacity. My experiance is that if the tub says it will hold 6, it will actually hold 4 or 5 unless you have a couple small children in the mix. I suppose 6 adults could all squeeze into the tub and be rubbing shoulders and knees, and be uncomfortable, but why do that? We replaced a 6 person spa and I don't think we ever had more than 4 adults in it. We currently have a 5 person spa, and I can't imagine having more than 3 or 4 full sized people in it. It may be OK for 5 kids, but I think even that would be a stretch. To put more people in a spa than it's stated capacity would be like having more than 1 in a phone booth. It will probably hold them without a problem, but why?

I'd list Hot Spring, Sundance, D1, and Jacuzzi as my top 4 and not in any particular order. There are others that I've looked at, but they didn't compare, so I won't even name them. Some, like Marquis and Caldera have a good rep, but I've never been in one, never been to a dealer that carried them, and I know nothing about them.

I really don't see any real worthwhile cost savings in using hot water to fill the tub. At best, you are saving maybe a couple of dollars and in my case, I wouldn't have hot water for my household needs after filling the spa. I'll happily spend the buck or two it might take to heat the water in the tub and I'll happily fill my tub in the morning and then use it that same night. My spa isn't such a necessity that I can't live without it for a few hours while it's heating up especially since that only happens a couple times per year. I'll save my hot water for showers, dishes, dirty clothes, and other household needs. My tub will make it's own hot water, and my shower won't. I also don't agree with the selection that says "cheaper to heat inside faucet". If you want me to believe that, you'll have to show me some facts and not just express a personal opinion because I don't think it's any cheaper. In my case, I'm almost positive it isn't since my home is all electric.

1998? Well, we just ditched a 1994 and it was running perfectly. In all the time we had it, I had to replace 1 pump and refinish the cabinet. That's it. Oops. I forgot about the flow switch. I replaced one of those to, but it's pretty cheap and easy to do. Sundance makes a nice spa. I really think you'll be surprised with your electricity bill. I doubt it will be anywhere near what you thought it would be. If it were me, I'd probably just set it and forget it till spring. We turn ours down a bit during the warmer months. It probably cost just as much to reheat it as it does to maintain the higher temp. Dropping it down to 98 probably isn't saving you more than a couple of dollars per month if it's saving anything at all.

If my spa cost me $50 per month, I'd wonder what was wrong with it. We have had a spa for about 30 years now, and I don't think it's ever cost me more than about $20 a month ever. I'm in NE Ohio and we get some pretty cold weather here to. Today we are having a high of 22 and this is just the beginning of the winter. My spas have all been either Sundance or Hot Spring, so you have something to compare to. We just got rid of a Sundance Marin and it ran me about $18 in the winter to keep it as hot as we could. In the summer we dial it down a couple degrees. I suspect all those people that gave you a answer of "a lot" have had some pretty crappy tubs. I doubt you would save more than just a few dollars to turn it down through the week. How old is that spa anyway?

Maybe that's why it itn't much of a problem for me. My wife NEVER latches the cover when she is the one that closes it. I do, but I must admit, not always. We have never had our cover blow off either.

It's happened from time to time for me and my solution is to take a glass of warm water out and gently pour it over the latch to unfreeze it. I never looked at it as being a big problem and a glass of warm water was good enough for me. Probably because it really doesn't happen to me all that often. Maybe some WD40 or something like that would help if it's a problem for you. Off the top of my head, I really can't think of anything else, but someone else probably has a better solution than mine up their sleeve.

"and how do they say to deal with the PH creep issue? it does not matter what salt system you use they all work the same way ,water passes by a small electoral field to make the chlorine and in return you get the creep " They don't say. Probably because it doesn't. At least mine doesn't. I got the TA and PH balanced when I filled the tub, and it's remained as stable as my previous tub where I added the chlorine. Again, you're trying to relate the ACE system to a salt system pool. Particularly a cement pool that I assume has had the walls plastered. Guess what! The pool itself is adding to the ph drift but it will decrease over time, and your still ignoring the salt levels of a ACE system compared to a typical pool. You obviously have a case against salt water systems, so I guess it's a good thing you don't live in Australia where almost all of the pools use salt. Since they have been using salt systems in pools here for about 30 years now, and about 1/2 of the new pools use them, I have serious doubts about the reliability of your opinion. Did you know that a lot of hotels and public pools are converting to salt? Why would they do that if it's so bad? You lost me when you claimed replacing pump seals every month. All that tells me is that the system was improperly used (abused?), poorly serviced, and if you were the one working on it, obviously you didn't have a clue on how to get it functioning properly.

Jacuzzi makes a nice tub, but you're a little off on the warranty info. Yes you get 10, but that's on the structure of the shell against leaking. As far as surface blisters, cracks, and the like, it's 7 years. I tried the 345 (no lounger) and I liked it, but my ultimate decision to go with the HS was in large part due to the dealer that sold the HS vs the Jacuzzi dealer and my past experiance (very good) with HS. The 335 with the lounger would really be tight with 4 in it let alone 5. Having said that, I will also say that ALL spa manufacturers exagerate the number of people thay can hold. It's like a car. Can it actually seat 5? Yes, but you're on top of each other and at least one better be a small child. They all do it so just keep that in mind. Go by your gut, and look at the leg room when judging seating capacity. Your probably correct that it's good for 3 and tight for 4.

Your right. I was simply trying to relate the most vulnerable spot. The bulk of the moisture a cover soaks up comes from the underside of it. At least that's my understanding. If the bulk of the moisture the foam absorbes comes from the sides or the top, that's news to me.

"How does one actually know when to replace a cover? Mine is just over two years old and has slowly gotten heavier ... I assume the foam inside is taking up moisture. The vinyl material on the inside is also sagging. Other than that the outside looks fine. But it is getting awfully hard to lift it back onto the tub." It's time! It's heavy because as you suspect, it's holding water. When that happens, it has lost most of it's insulating properties. A good spa cover will have a well sealed, heavy (thick), vapor barrier on the underside. The actual vapor barrier is usually covered with some sort of material to prevent damage to the barrier.

"no i have worked on a few salt water spa's and pools and with what i have learned and had to fix,clean and replace ,pump seals salt generators,pipes and fittings in a salt water pool that i looked after i can't promote a salt water system.did the sales guy speak about these things? no they dont they just want you to buy one so they can soak you over the years for service.1 of the salt systems that i cared for would go thru pump seals monthly. the girls that did the pool would bring water to the shop daily for balancing and still the thing would eat seals.and to top that the pool was only 5 years old and the salt f**ked that pool so bad that they had to have some one come in and chip away and grind the pool down so that it could be refinished and resealed after all that they got rid of the salt and went to a chlorine system.so my view of a salt system is a big waste of your money " You obviously have no knowledge of the ACE system since it is in no way related to any past salt system used in spas or pools. It works nothing like a pool system or past spa systems for that matter. It does not infuse nearly the amount of salt into the water and it doesn't even generate chlorine in the same manner. Besides all that, I have confidence in my dealer and Hot Spring to repair any seals for the life of the warranty which is for 5 years on the pumps, jets, plumbing, etc. Since my spa isn't made of cement, I doubt I'll have anyone grind it down, and I'd imagine the warranty for 7 years on the tub surface would cover it anyway. If it goes through seals monthly, then HS will be paying for them, not me, but I doubt they would sell a system that is that harsh on the equipment. I guess you have little faith in the company. Oh well, many of us do. I'm using just a handful of salt per month using the spa 5-6 times a week. How much salt did that pool use? I also talked to several people that have the ACE system as well as the dealer and guess what. Nobody has had any issues with it! No leaking seals, no surface pitting, nothing but high marks from actual users of it and no repairs for the techs. Bottom line is that you simply can not compare or relate the ACE system to any pool salt system or any other spa salt system. One last thing. Here is a copy of the ACE owners manual that tells how to clean the cell with those "VERY HARSH" chemicals you spoke of: Cell Cleaning Periodic cleaning of the ACE cell is recommended to maximize the life of your equipment. Use of the Vanishing Act calcium remover will help reduce the cleaning frequency. On average, the cell should be cleaned every 3 months. When the status message on the screen indicates Low Salt and the water has not been changed or topped off recently, it may be time to clean the cell. 1. Turn off the power to the spa. Open the spa cover and remove the filter lid. 2. Unscrew gray filter cap and gently pull the cell out of the filter. 3. Unscrew the lid to the cleaning bottle included with the ACE system and fill with spa water to the fill-line indicated on the bottle. Add 1 tablespoon of pH down to the cleaning bottle and secure lid. Shake bottle to create cleaning solution. 4. Remove the lid from the cleaning bottle. Place the cell in the bottle, ensuring that the bottom of cell is floating. 5. Soak the cell for 10 minutes or until bubbles stop coming from the cell. If bubbles are still releasing from the cell after 10 minutes, change the cleaning solution and repeat. Spa water and a tablespoon of PH down. Harsh indeed!

the only thing i am going to add is to stay away from the salt system they can be a bugger to deal with some times and nobody talks much about the down side of salt. like bonding ALL metals around the spa, how hard they are on pump seals. also once in a while the cell needs to be cleaned with VERY HARSH chemicals and that these cells do wear out and need to be replaced . or how hard salt is on concrete(etching)and how fast salt will rot wood.if you use a salt system you will be adding lots of acid to keep the PH creep under control and then the alkalinity drops so you add some of that then the next day you add acid because the PH is creeping up again. something like a dog chasing its tail all day. You make it seem like the ACE system is using ocean type water or something. It's a salt system, yes, but the amount of salt that actually enters the water is very minimal. It's low enough to still be considered fresh water and you can not even taste the salt in the water. It's about 1,200 ppm. Salt water in the ocean is around 35,000ppm and in a pool with a salt system, about 4 times what is in a ACE system.

I'm not a dealer, but as a recent HS purchaser, I didn't like the "fountain that shoots water" at all, and I prefer the soothing stream. You call it cheesy, but I like it and I doubt that I'm the only consumer that does. I've got a fountain in my yard and I don't need one in my tub.

I agree completely, unfortunately ACE will not be available for a 2 year old Limelight I'm not questioning you at all, but can you tell me why not? You can get a new Limelight with ACE, so have they changed the plumbing and controls since then or what?

You might be overwhelmed by the process but you have to admit that the wet testing part of it is a pretty nice way to shop.

I to have a well. If you have a water softener, you'll be good to go with the ACE system. The ACE is a salt water system to generate the chlorine needed in the tub. You select the tub size and how much usage the tub will get, then it generates the amount of chlorine needed to satisfy the numbers you entered. If you test and your chlorine level is to low, simply dial up the usage. If chlorine is to high, dial it down a bit. If you need to shock the spa, or anticipate a lot of usage (party) it has a boost feature that handles that. The ACE system simplifys the water treatment sanitation needs. You don't need to add chlorine or shock the spa as part of your routine maintenance.

Wow! Three very different choices. Small, medium, and large. We are on our third spa and second HS and about all I can tell you is that the Hot Springs spas are very good tubs. We recently downsized from a Sundance Marin which was also a very nice spa, to a HS Prodigy and we are very happy with it. We are using the ACE system along with the ozonator in ours and have no complaints about it at all. The advice I can give is to get the 230v over the 115v if you choose the Prodigy. You really don't have any energy savings with the lower voltage and your tub will heat faster with the higher one. We have been spa users for a long time and over that time we learned we don't need a lounger, so that would be a strike on the Sovereign for us. Over the years we also discovered that a vast majority of the time, it's just the 2 of us using the tub, so that's why we downsized. If we had kids or something still at home, we probably would have opted for something more Vanguard sized. I really like the Vanguard. The dual moto seats are a nice feature as is the dual pumps. Since you said you are a newbie I'll also add that you should definately get a cover lift. It saves on wear and adds to ease of use. Have the dealer fill up the dry tub and see how you like that one. Sitting in a dry tub and sitting in a wet one are two different things and what you think you may like dry may not do at all when its full of water and running. Good luck. You are looking at a good make. I'll also add that I wouldn't be put off much by a tub that has been full on the dealers floor for a year as long as you get a fair price. The dry tub shouldn't have anything wrong with it that you can't see, but I'd look it over really well for scratches and the like.

I know there are many that feel that the Costco spas are a bargain, but I'd rather have a used Grandee than the best Costco spa. The Grandee is a really nice tub. I do feel the asking price for the used HS is high unless it's in excellent condition. I'd try to bargain them down some. I liked the suggestion to look at (and wet test) some of the other makes like the D1 home line or the Sundance 680 series, or possibly a Tiger River by Hot Spring.

We had a lounger once and determined that it wasn't worth it. We had one without, then one with, now one without again. If you have tested both and like the Vanguard, that's the one I'd get. I doubt you would regret not having a lounger. If it works for you, a lounger is nice, but it sacrifices a lot of seating room and not everyone likes them, and if your floating, it isn't working for you. I know that most of the salesmen I have talked to while selecting a new spa have all said that most people that currently have a lounger don't really care if they have one when they get their next spa. Personally, our decision was to NOT have one, and we are very happy with the decision.

Where we live the closest neighbor is about a football field away but we rarely use the lights. Just getting in and that's about it when it's just the 2 of us. We like seeing the stars and all that. With guests, we often have the lights on.

Maybe this will help you out http://www.hottubsbarn.co.uk/company/ace-owners-manual-p1.asp or try this one http://www.hottubstore.com/pdf/ACE_Easy_Operation_Guide%20(1).pdf