Finally Took The Plunge! But Got A Few Questions.

[r5ran]

After over a year of reading this forum (countless hours late into the night!), jealously using friend's tubs, and testing and researching, I ordered a 08 H/S Vanguard last week. Pearl shell with the redwood exterior. The H/S 12 month no payment promotion rushed things along a bit, too. First I want to thank everyone out there for their help and great information, it really made the difference in our decision. Every dealer we visited made a comment about how informed we seemed.

An issue I had, is I live in a very remote area, and the only dealers we had locally, (within 100 miles) was a H/S and Sundance dealers, and they are tiny with almost no tubs to test out wet. So, over the last year, as we traveled, we would try and stop in to test, and like everyone states, it made all the difference! The nearest big city dealers (about 200 plus miles away) had some killer deals on leftover 07 tubs (but wanted $200-$300 per warranty service call for travel), and the Costco price was tempting, but I decided service was an important factor here, and bought from the closest H/S dealer. The fact he was the lowest price H/S dealer we found anywhere and very helpful and knowledgeable, helped too.

It is suppose to arrive next month, but I am in the process of building a sunroom/deck area, and want to hold off on delivery for a while, even though the dealer bets I won't have that much discipline, and will say I want it ASAP when it arrives. He's probably right!

But I have a few simple questions for anyone that knows.

First - I have an unused 220v 60amp breaker with about 25 feet of 6/4 wire in my basement from when I use to have an electric hot water heater. I was hoping to save some money and reuse that breaker and wire for the tub. The H/S manual says to use a 50 amp breaker, but can I use the 60 amp that is there? Also, while I heard #6 wire is correct size on this forum, the manual shows #8 wiring from the breaker box to the sub panel. Any issue with using the heavier #6 I already own?

Next, I thought I read somewhere here, that if you have a doctor's note that states hydro therapy would help muscle or back issues, you do not have to pay state sales tax on the tub. (I am in Michigan). I got the note from my doc for my back pain, but have not been able to find anything solid that supports this or the process to get this exemption. Anyone have any info on this, or is this wishful thinking?

Got a $100 in accessories to use, and was looking at a thermal blanket, but didn't think it was needed, especially in what is considered to already be well insulated tub. Anyone use them and are they worth the cost and hassles? If not, anything else (besides chemicals) you would recommend for these dollars? (Got the lifter, stairs, etc... included already)

Finally, while we loved the White Marble shell, it was not available with redwood exterior, so we got the White Pearl shell, but we're a little concerned it may scratch very easily. (our kids are grown, so it will be mostly adult used) The only other choice was the sand, which I'm sure would be the toughest, but the Pearl looked so good! Anyone else own a pearl tub, and how has it held up?

Again thanks for all the past and future help, I can't wait!

Randy

[IL Parrothead]

Randy,

As for the doctor's note, I got one. In IL, I had to pay sales tax. But my accountant says I can write the hot tub off as a medical expense with the note.

Hope that helps.

Mike

[Jake the dog man]

I don’t know about the wire, but the breaker should be fine. Hopefully someone else will chime in about the electrical side.

There is some truth in the Doctor’s note thing. I have never heard of sales tax relief, but in certain cases, with a written prescription, you can claim a percentage of your hottub for therapy & exercise. My accountant is leary, as it is certainly a red flag to the IRS, but if you are willing to take the chance.

I have a Tiger River hottub, with the smooth white pearl. We went into the ordering process wanting a more marbly greyish color textured surface. We also wanted a grey plastic wood outside. It seems you can’t get both on one tub, so we went with the grey outside and a smooth white pearl inside. I think it looks great, but it is more slippery then a textured surface. It also shows dirt more easily, which is good & bad. To me, that helps keep it clean, because I can see it & hence remove it. It is about 9 months, used 4-6 times a week, sometimes with kids. I have only 1 small scratch and I think it came from our Labrador Retriever jumping in when it was new last year! My next tub will likely not be white pearl, but it does look good at night with the lights on.

Good Luck with getting ready for the tub!

[In The Bubble]

Good choice on the HS tub. You should NOT need to spend the accessory money on a thermal blanket.....those are meant for poorly insultated tubs. We're in Maine and our HS Sovereign did really well this past winter.

Spend it on chemicals, you'll need them.

Happy tubbin', you're gonna love it.

[r5ran]

After over a year of reading this forum (countless hours late into the night!), jealously using friend's tubs, and testing and researching, I ordered a 08 H/S Vanguard last week. Pearl shell with the redwood exterior. The H/S 12 month no payment promotion rushed things along a bit, too. First I want to thank everyone out there for their help and great information, it really made the difference in our decision. Every dealer we visited made a comment about how informed we seemed.

An issue I had, is I live in a very remote area, and the only dealers we had locally, (within 100 miles) was a H/S and Sundance dealers, and they are tiny with almost no tubs to test out wet. So, over the last year, as we traveled, we would try and stop in to test, and like everyone states, it made all the difference! The nearest big city dealers (about 200 plus miles away) had some killer deals on leftover 07 tubs (but wanted $200-$300 per warranty service call for travel), and the Costco price was tempting, but I decided service was an important factor here, and bought from the closest H/S dealer. The fact he was the lowest price H/S dealer we found anywhere and very helpful and knowledgeable, helped too.

It is suppose to arrive next month, but I am in the process of building a sunroom/deck area, and want to hold off on delivery for a while, even though the dealer bets I won't have that much discipline, and will say I want it ASAP when it arrives. He's probably right!

But I have a few simple questions for anyone that knows.

First - I have an unused 220v 60amp breaker with about 25 feet of 6/4 wire in my basement from when I use to have an electric hot water heater. I was hoping to save some money and reuse that breaker and wire for the tub. The H/S manual says to use a 50 amp breaker, but can I use the 60 amp that is there? Also, while I heard #6 wire is correct size on this forum, the manual shows #8 wiring from the breaker box to the sub panel. Any issue with using the heavier #6 I already own?

Next, I thought I read somewhere here, that if you have a doctor's note that states hydro therapy would help muscle or back issues, you do not have to pay state sales tax on the tub. (I am in Michigan). I got the note from my doc for my back pain, but have not been able to find anything solid that supports this or the process to get this exemption. Anyone have any info on this, or is this wishful thinking?

Got a $100 in accessories to use, and was looking at a thermal blanket, but didn't think it was needed, especially in what is considered to already be well insulated tub. Anyone use them and are they worth the cost and hassles? If not, anything else (besides chemicals) you would recommend for these dollars? (Got the lifter, stairs, etc... included already)

Finally, while we loved the White Marble shell, it was not available with redwood exterior, so we got the White Pearl shell, but we're a little concerned it may scratch very easily. (our kids are grown, so it will be mostly adult used) The only other choice was the sand, which I'm sure would be the toughest, but the Pearl looked so good! Anyone else own a pearl tub, and how has it held up?

Again thanks for all the past and future help, I can't wait!

Randy

Thanks for the answers. I suspected that is what I would hear about not needing a thermal blanket and the Pearl finish and the tax write off, but anyone have any answers about the electrical issue? I thought having a 60 amp breaker instead of the 50 amp would not allow it to trip at the proper load, which could damage the tub's control box (even though the 20 and 30 amp breakers in the subpanel should do that first, right?) I am pretty sure using a heavier #6 wire versus the #8, if anything is a good thing, should stay cooler and allow less resistance under load, but want to be sure. There has to be some electrical gurus out there that know this! Any ideas?

Thanks, Randy