Lantern88

Hello, last weekend I purchased a 2012 Jacuzzi J495 (520 gallons) with Clearray and an Ozonator. I won't get the tub until a few weeks from now but I have started to read as much as I can about how to maintain the water quality. My concern is that if I follow the dealer's advice, I will use a product called Spaguard - SpaSentry ?? which I belive would be a little costly on a monthly base. *Note* My wife want us to use a product that will reduce chance for itchy dry skin and keep the smells down ... and while easy on pocket book... from my brief research Nature 2 with small amount of chlorine will accomplish this. *** Its very important for her *** So I have looked into this Nature 2 stick which supposedly last 4 months for tubs up to 500 gallons. I have found this online for as little as $15 per stick and I can handle that price much better. I realize I would need to have other items in my toolbox to keep a close check on the water. My Questions: 1. Can 1 Nature 2 stick handle the 520 gallons for 4 months? 2. Do I have to use MPS or can I just use chlorine and Nature 2? 3. What other chemicals or tools do I need to have onhand to manage my water? Taylor kit, ph increaser/decrease, alkaline increaser/decreaser, chlorine (what kind), filter cleaner, ??? * I really want to learn my stuff and be as independent as possible from dealer 4. With low chlorine use, do I have to add chlorine every time after I use the tub (daily)? Any advice would be great Thank you,

Anyone have experience with this product? Will it work with Ozone? and Clearray? Thanks.

Thanks guys for all the advice. I just came back from the dealer and after some negotiations, My wife and I purchased a Platinum 2012 Jacuzzi J495. As options or extras we got The cover, Lifter, Ozone (back up to Clearray), Smartseal (extra factory insulation) in the deal at a reasonable price. The dealer mentioned that he has a spa school that' I'll be taking advantage of .... I noticed he sells or encourages the use of a product called Spaguard .... He says I can expect chems/filters to average out about $30 per month + electricity costs. We calculated that based on our local energy costs (0.06 to 0.08$ per KWH ) that our electricity costs should be about $20 - $25 monthly with the aid of the SmartSeal and the fact that my wife and I don't like temperatures above 100F and our average temperature here is about 60F yearly. What do you think of the monthly 'maintenance' costs? Because my wife and I both want as a little chem smell as possible ... what do you guys think of SpaNaturally? Their start up Kit is $75 .... and $16 refills I'm thinking of not doing the Spaguard and trying out this method. Cheers

Hello, I'm close to pulling the trigger on a J495 but I have a few questions that could help me negotiating with the dealer. 1. Can Ozone and Clearray co-exist? Any advantages? (will it reduce my chemicals and the smell associated with them?) 2. Anyone know what the dealer cost of these dealer options: Cover Cover lifter Ozone Smartseal (does it really save 25% electricity and worth the money) Prolites corner cabinetry lighting 3. Is it too much to ask for the dealer to include these in with the spa? (not asking for stereo or steps) Thanks

Thanks guys for all your advice. @Spawn Thank you for your thoughtful response to my post. Its really great when you can get good advice. * The hotspring dealer says he doesn't have the space to fill a Grandee for wet test * The Sundance dealer doesn't have an Optima in the show room to wet test ... he could get one but I have to pay upfront! @arches2 Thanks for the info. When you say that Clearray is a 'gimmick' ... what do you mean by this? The Sundance and Jacuzzi dealer make it sound like its a revolutionary breakthrough in UV design for tubs. Can I use an ozonator and Clearray together? will it help reduce chems? Update: I have an offer on the table for a Jacuzzi J495 (BIG Tub) that is not too much more than the Optima. My wife really enjoyed the jets on J470 and we want as big a tub as we can afford. I'm a little concerned about not having tested a J495 but the dealer will only bring it in if we buy it. By the way, I asked him if I could have Ozone installed as well as the Clearray cause I have read in these boards that it can be done. He says that he'll look into it but has never heard ... says the manufacturer advises them to just have Clearray. Can anyone explain to me what ozone does that the clearray doesnt do? Last question: These are the options I'm asking to be included: (do you guys think its asking for too much?) how much do these cost the dealer? Ozone 2lb density cover Cover lifter Smartseal Insulation from factory Prolites (1 kit with 2 led lights for the front corners) The Hotsprings dealer said he cannot get a caldera for us so that idea is dead! The Sundance Aspen is a lot more money than the J495 .... and we prefer the layout of the J495 Thanks again everyone,

Hello, This is my first post in this board. First, let me I apologize for the long post ahead. I was hoping I coulde get some feedback on these spas: Caldera Cantabria, Sundance Optima, J470 and HS Grandee My wife and I have wet tested the Sundance Cameo (dealer didn't have the Optima) , Jacuzzi J470 and Hotspring Aria (dealer didn't have the Grandee filled) Wet Test Results: Sundance Cameo: My wife liked the lounger but found difficult to stay on the other seats ... they pushed her out so she was in akward position trying to anchor her in place. Jets were nice but one area where the jet is weak is for the lower back. Found the spa quite noisy compared to the others. The Clearray water system doesn't seem to reduce the chemical smells as much as we had hoped (perhaps water was not properly balanced???) * Since we would preffer the Optima for extra seating ... our concern is the foot jets will be a lot weaker than on the cameo ... is this true? Jacuzzi J470: We loved the lower back massage, and a couple other seats but found the foot jets a little underpowered .... and when the diverter was in neutral ... the performance in general was tamed. This unit was a 2011 with no clearray installed and the chemical odour was pretty strong. - Tub looks nice, controller is modern, Hotspring Aria: My wife found the seats unconfortable and couldnt really 'stay put' ... not footwell to anchor herself (just like it would be on the grandee. She wasn't impressed by the motto massage ... (I kinda of liked it a little but wasn't blown away by it)... other jets were just ok The unit didnt have the ACE system but the water was nice .... if we buy hotspring we would definitely get ACE since we both are sensitive to chem odours. - On the plus side... water system - Didn't like that you couldnt manually turn off jets like on sundance and jacuzzi by twisting them. As far as the Dealers go: Sundance/Jacuzzi ... same dealer whose been in business here for over 30 years Hotsprings... a long time business who is new to hotspring but has great reputation locally Here is my problem, from all the tubs I have looked or wet tested, the one that both my wife and I agree would be the perfect layout and size for us is the Caldera Cantabria. Problem is there is no Caldera Dealer in town .... but the Hotspring dealer says he could bring one in if we comitt to buy it. obviously this means no wet test. The Sundance dealer says he can bring an Optima in but we have to pay for it upfront and if we don't like it we can get the jacuzzy J470 or Cameo but no refund. What do you guys know about the Caldera Cantabria ... how does its water filtration system and energy efficiency compare to the the others? ACE VS Clearray? Any experience out there? What to do? - By the way their prices are about the same: $11000 - $11500 canadian (cover, lift, etc... no stereo) - Yes, a lounger would be nice but not at the cost of space (cameo) ... would like to seat 7 or 8 Any Advice would help.