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Qca Spas Vs. Strong Spas


Alex Houston

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Hi everyone,

I am on the market for my first spa and am mostly looking in the 6-person low-to-mid-range $3-5K budget category. Almost decided to purchase QCA Salerno Spa for $3,750 (after rebate) from Home Depot, when I found this site and read so many good reviews about the Strong spas sold at Costco. Would anyone be able to comment on QCA vs. Strong? Both QCA and Strong spas get pretty good reviews on HomeDepot.com and Costco.com. QCA seems to be slightly cheaper. But which one is considered better quality? What about features, insulation, maintenance? I would be particularly interested in comparing the Evolution Key West and QCA Salerno as they seem to be similar in features.

Thanks a ton!

Alex

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Hi everyone,

I am on the market for my first spa and am mostly looking in the 6-person low-to-mid-range $3-5K budget category. Almost decided to purchase QCA Salerno Spa for $3,750 (after rebate) from Home Depot, when I found this site and read so many good reviews about the Strong spas sold at Costco. Would anyone be able to comment on QCA vs. Strong? Both QCA and Strong spas get pretty good reviews on HomeDepot.com and Costco.com. QCA seems to be slightly cheaper. But which one is considered better quality? What about features, insulation, maintenance? I would be particularly interested in comparing the Evolution Key West and QCA Salerno as they seem to be similar in features.

Thanks a ton!

Alex

I'm bumping this for you Alex, I have no experience with Qca (never heard of them) but 11 months in I'm very happy with my Strong Spa.

DK117

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Just wanted to bump this one more time. Cant believe that no one heard of QCA spas. They claim to have been making spas since 1966. But, I guess, that no one heard of them tells a lot by itself…

A few of us have heard of QCA but they are very regional so unless you're around Iowa and the surrounding states you probably won't see one in person.

While QCA may have been "in business since 1966" but they weren't making portable spas that long since no one was doing so in 1966. They probably transitioned into spas from some other semi-related business back in the late 70s when portable spas started or maybe some time in the 80s. There are many well known spa makers that have been making portable spas for 30+ years so there is nothing unique about how long they've been in the spa business but its good to see they aren't new to it.

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  • 2 months later...

I know this was 3 months ago, but after reading 8 pages of the Strong thread and hearing about how well they are insulated I can say this as a 1.5 month owner of a Home Depot version of a QCA spa.

It is not insulated very well IMO. The insulation info posted on their web page is how they do it with their full service dealer models which are different. They only use 1/2" EPS (full side length though) insulating board that is held tightly in by the removable panels, so the seal is pretty good, but the R rating is only about R3 for this insulation which is inadequate for a cold climate like I have in the northeast. My electric billed jumped about $100.00 worth of KWh from 1.5 months of use. To be fair, we usually soak for 45-90 minutes at a time and the weather has been below freezing most of this time. We also had a party (my B-day) and we had 3-5 people in it for at least 6 hours straight with the outside temp at 15 degrees. You will use much more power when the cover is off and you are soaking in it with the jets running than when it is covered. They also only include a 3"-2" tapered cover that comes with it versus I think a 4-2 cover on the Strong spas from Costco. But I bought my Monte Carlo 6-7 person spa for $3,000.00, but got a instant rebate of $350.00, and even called and talked them down another $300.00 because I spend so much money there. So my net cost before adding a Ozonator and tax was $2350.00.

This is our first spa and mostly bought for the wife who has wanted one for 3 years. So when I caught this deal I figured why not? I just didn't believe that she would use it as much as she said she would and didn't want to pay too much for something that wouldn't get used much. I will say that I use it a lot myself and much more than I thought I would. For 4 weekends so far we have had friends over on the weekend to soak and drink together and it IS getting lots of use. In fact likely too much use for the outside weather which likely adds a lot to the power bill as a result.

Just last night I decided to add insulation so I bought 1 roll of R19 22" & 1 roll R19 15" (both faced batt) and added a Tuff-R reflective insulating board after that inside the rolled insulation with the reflective side towards the underpart of the shell. I do not know how much this will help, but I turned the temp setting down to 80 degrees so it wouldn't kick on, but with it only 10 degrees outside with all the insulation and panels off that only went 5 minutes before it kicked on. Yeah it was that cold while I did this. It was easier and faster than I thought and only took me 2 hours to do it and replace the original EPS "insulation" panel and outside panels. But when I just had the New insulation on and before the EPS & panels on I turned the heat back up to 100 degrees and after 20 minutes it was back up to 100 degrees. So I think this will help a lot. It cost me $110.00 for the additional insulation and if it works as well as I think it will with that test without the outside original insulation & cabinet panels back on it should get me much more efficiency.

So in the end, I would gladly take the $2350.00 hot tub and adding $100.00 for added insulation as otherwise we are loving the hot tub. Someone is in it the equivalent of about 2 hours per day for my family of six. I can be handy at times and after looking at how I could do this it was a snap, but many others might want to consider a model with more insulation. Other than the insulation which I believe I solved for $100.00 and 2 hours of my time, I am very happy with my purchase. It would have been nice if someone told me that the insulation is different on the Home Depot models they sell, but QCA has been very good with pre-sale and after sale customer service. So unless you can do a similar insulation addition or live in a warmer climate without the temp extremes we get in the NE, I would look elsewhere. YMMV

Helluva first post huh? I signed up after a few months of reading here and learning about the Dichlor to Chlorine system for sanitation, and thought I could finally add back to the forum that has given me such good advice.

So thanks to all for a great forum with great info. bowdown.gif

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Just wanted to bump this one more time. Can’t believe that no one heard of QCA spas. They claim to have been making spas since 1966. But, I guess, that no one heard of them tells a lot by itself…

I've seen plenty of QCA spas, and a few Strong spas. They both fall into the same catagory of cheap value line tubs. As long as your expecting this it is what you will get.

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Just wanted to bump this one more time. Can’t believe that no one heard of QCA spas. They claim to have been making spas since 1966. But, I guess, that no one heard of them tells a lot by itself…

I've seen plenty of QCA spas, and a few Strong spas. They both fall into the same catagory of cheap value line tubs. As long as your expecting this it is what you will get.

I have a Strong spa, CSXI80, getting colder in Omaha, NE. I mainly leave the tub on economy mode, which only heats during filter cycles. I normally have the cycles set to run for 2 hours in the morning and at night, typically before we'd want to get in the tub. If I know for sure we're having people over, I just turn it to regular mode 30-60 minutes before to heat it up. We had a PVC connection break initially when we had the tub for about 1 month, but Strong hired someone locally to fix and we haven't had any additional problems. We got ours through Costco.

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  • 4 months later...

Just last night I decided to add insulation so I bought 1 roll of R19 22" & 1 roll R19 15" (both faced batt) and added a Tuff-R reflective insulating board after that inside the rolled insulation with the reflective side towards the underpart of the shell. I do not know how much this will help, but I turned the temp setting down to 80 degrees so it wouldn't kick on, but with it only 10 degrees outside with all the insulation and panels off that only went 5 minutes before it kicked on. Yeah it was that cold while I did this. It was easier and faster than I thought and only took me 2 hours to do it and replace the original EPS "insulation" panel and outside panels. But when I just had the New insulation on and before the EPS & panels on I turned the heat back up to 100 degrees and after 20 minutes it was back up to 100 degrees. So I think this will help a lot. It cost me $110.00 for the additional insulation and if it works as well as I think it will with that test without the outside original insulation & cabinet panels back on it should get me much more efficiency.

--

Just wondering how your insulation project worked out. Have you been able to measure any energy savings by taking out foam panels and putting

in insulation around the inside perimeter? Does this really help (it seems most of the heat goes out the top, and as you say, when the

party is going on and it's cold outside with the lid off, you will be spending more on energy, but heat rises, so when the top is on,

I wouldn't think insulating more around the inside of the cabinet would really do any good but am interested in your observation,

thanks for any comment on it,

GTA-Tubber

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Just wondering how your insulation project worked out. Have you been able to measure any energy savings by taking out foam panels and putting

in insulation around the inside perimeter? Does this really help (it seems most of the heat goes out the top, and as you say, when the

party is going on and it's cold outside with the lid off, you will be spending more on energy, but heat rises, so when the top is on,

I wouldn't think insulating more around the inside of the cabinet would really do any good but am interested in your observation,

thanks for any comment on it,

GTA-Tubber

Heat radiates to cold in any direction! The sides are just as important as the top. Heat loss is measured by variences in temperature, if 100 degree pot of water is sitting on top of 20 below slab of conrete the heat loss will be just as fast straight down as if you put 20 below on top of 100 degrees.

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Heat radiates to cold in any direction! The sides are just as important as the top. Heat loss is measured by variences in temperature, if 100 degree pot of water is sitting on top of 20 below slab of conrete the heat loss will be just as fast straight down as if you put 20 below on top of 100 degrees.

I might be wrong here so don't jump on me for getting this wrong but I don't agree fully with this opinion.

Heat loss is far greater through surface contact than through the air, when an object comes in contact with another object which is colder the transfer of heat will happen quicker, so insulating the base is probably the most important.

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Heat radiates to cold in any direction! The sides are just as important as the top. Heat loss is measured by variences in temperature, if 100 degree pot of water is sitting on top of 20 below slab of conrete the heat loss will be just as fast straight down as if you put 20 below on top of 100 degrees.

I might be wrong here so don't jump on me for getting this wrong but I don't agree fully with this opinion.

Heat loss is far greater through surface contact than through the air, when an object comes in contact with another object which is colder the transfer of heat will happen quicker, so insulating the base is probably the most important.

Thermal conductivity (K) is MUCH greater in a solid than a gas. In other words, your general premise is correct that water in contact with air will cool less quickly than water in contact with the ground. However, while the upper surface of the water in a spa is in direct contact with air, the lower surface of the water is not actually in direct contact with the ground

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  • 9 months later...

Old topics never die, they just get bumped!

When the post was first started, some had not heard of QCA Spas, but they are actually all over and have been in business since 1966 according to their website. They can be bought at Home Depot, Meynards, Sams Club and through dealers and their online store, SpaSaunaDirect. The new 2012 models have a polar pak option, so you get double insulation around the walls and refective barrier insulation on the floor and walls, so you can either decide to stuff insulation around the walls or just get the polar pak upgrade for a couple hundred bucks - seems like you are saying it is well worth insulating floor and sidewalls (although if you use the spa for hours a day, every day - that electric bill is not because of the sidewall insulation, it is because it is going out the open top imao.

If air is a better insulator than a solid (as in double paned window glass), then the construction is correct with a sealed air barrier between the shell and the insulated cabinet vs. full foam - but that is a different topic for a different day, just stopped back in to say hi and that these guys now offer a polar pak upgrade for colder climates or for those that believe they need more insulation around the perimeter.

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seems like you are saying it is well worth insulating floor and sidewalls (although if you use the spa for hours a day, every day - that electric bill is not because of the sidewall insulation, it is because it is going out the open top imao.

You need a cover that fits well and is insulated AND you need to insulate the walls and below the shell. This is not an either/or choice.

If air is a better insulator than a solid (as in double paned window glass), then the construction is correct with a sealed air barrier between the shell and the insulated cabinet vs. full foam - but that is a different topic for a different day, just stopped back in to say hi and that these guys now offer a polar pak upgrade for colder climates or for those that believe they need more insulation around the perimeter.

A double pane window is not a true comparison to a non foamed hot tub IMO, no matter how many times people wish to make that comparison. Hot tubs are not nearly sealed as well but the real issue begins when the air inside a non-fully insulated spa starts circulating noticeably as soon as the pump turns on. The problem with heat transfer in a spa begins when that air starts moving (convection) inside that cabinet. Then when that pump turns on and the jets move water through them they also draw air from the cabinet into the water. The cabinet has to replace that air with air from outside the spa meaning more air flow and heat transfer, not exactly like a window. The air (or gas) inside a double pane window does not circulate nearly as much though it still will to some degree even if fully sealed as windows can be but its minuscule compared to a non fully insulated hot tub.

I'm not really trying to knock that insualting method as much as disputing that comparision to a double paned window which has holes.

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There's a company here in Colorado that uses that method. Wind River Spas, they do a high density closed-cell foam around the shell and then thermal panes around the cabinet. My neighbor has a Tornado model ~525 gallons, and he said it has added $15 at the most to his electric bill. I'm pretty sure the air intakes for the jets pull air from outside the cabinet. The method works, if done correctly.

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  • 8 years later...
On 12/17/2010 at 8:23 AM, PFC5 said:

I know this was 3 months ago, but after reading 8 pages of the Strong thread and hearing about how well they are insulated I can say this as a 1.5 month owner of a Home Depot version of a QCA spa.

It is not insulated very well IMO. The insulation info posted on their web page is how they do it with their full service dealer models which are different. They only use 1/2" EPS (full side length though) insulating board that is held tightly in by the removable panels, so the seal is pretty good, but the R rating is only about R3 for this insulation which is inadequate for a cold climate like I have in the northeast. My electric billed jumped about $100.00 worth of KWh from 1.5 months of use. To be fair, we usually soak for 45-90 minutes at a time and the weather has been below freezing most of this time. We also had a party (my B-day) and we had 3-5 people in it for at least 6 hours straight with the outside temp at 15 degrees. You will use much more power when the cover is off and you are soaking in it with the jets running than when it is covered. They also only include a 3"-2" tapered cover that comes with it versus I think a 4-2 cover on the Strong spas from Costco. But I bought my Monte Carlo 6-7 person spa for $3,000.00, but got a instant rebate of $350.00, and even called and talked them down another $300.00 because I spend so much money there. So my net cost before adding a Ozonator and tax was $2350.00.

This is our first spa and mostly bought for the wife who has wanted one for 3 years. So when I caught this deal I figured why not? I just didn't believe that she would use it as much as she said she would and didn't want to pay too much for something that wouldn't get used much. I will say that I use it a lot myself and much more than I thought I would. For 4 weekends so far we have had friends over on the weekend to soak and drink together and it IS getting lots of use. In fact likely too much use for the outside weather which likely adds a lot to the power bill as a result.

Just last night I decided to add insulation so I bought 1 roll of R19 22" & 1 roll R19 15" (both faced batt) and added a Tuff-R reflective insulating board after that inside the rolled insulation with the reflective side towards the underpart of the shell. I do not know how much this will help, but I turned the temp setting down to 80 degrees so it wouldn't kick on, but with it only 10 degrees outside with all the insulation and panels off that only went 5 minutes before it kicked on. Yeah it was that cold while I did this. It was easier and faster than I thought and only took me 2 hours to do it and replace the original EPS "insulation" panel and outside panels. But when I just had the New insulation on and before the EPS & panels on I turned the heat back up to 100 degrees and after 20 minutes it was back up to 100 degrees. So I think this will help a lot. It cost me $110.00 for the additional insulation and if it works as well as I think it will with that test without the outside original insulation & cabinet panels back on it should get me much more efficiency.

So in the end, I would gladly take the $2350.00 hot tub and adding $100.00 for added insulation as otherwise we are loving the hot tub. Someone is in it the equivalent of about 2 hours per day for my family of six. I can be handy at times and after looking at how I could do this it was a snap, but many others might want to consider a model with more insulation. Other than the insulation which I believe I solved for $100.00 and 2 hours of my time, I am very happy with my purchase. It would have been nice if someone told me that the insulation is different on the Home Depot models they sell, but QCA has been very good with pre-sale and after sale customer service. So unless you can do a similar insulation addition or live in a warmer climate without the temp extremes we get in the NE, I would look elsewhere. YMMV

Helluva first post huh? I signed up after a few months of reading here and learning about the Dichlor to Chlorine system for sanitation, and thought I could finally add back to the forum that has given me such good advice.

So thanks to all for a great forum with great info. http://www.highdefforum.com/images/smilies/bowdown.gif

I just purchased a QCA hot tub and I am here in New England.  Wondering how your QCA held up - 10 years later on your post here!  

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