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Master Swim Spas


arnspa

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Over 2 years ago we bought the smallest Master SwimSpa, H2X Crosstrainer2 (1300 gals). We have enjoyed it very much. I was recently delighted to see a TV ad featuring that Olympic guy in a Master Spa.

But I was reminded how little my wife has been swimming in the swimspa, after the first year. Ours was a big ticket item (About 25K with pad and electric). The one on TV looks even larger.

Maybe we have all we need. (It is fun to have as many as 12 in the tub) Still I'd like to see this newer one.

Other sizes are up to 2500 gals. We have a 5kWh solar system that reduces our current electric costs to zero. (Menlo Park, Calif) Would my wife swim more with this newer tub?

Anyone with expereince with these larger newer spas?

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I too really like the Master spa Swim spa, we have just decided to bring in this line after wet testing the short list and visiting the factories.

The big difference I have found is if it is dual zone, and how good of a swimmer you are... We carried one 5-6 years ago and found issues with the depth and water pressure.

The other thing we found was with a single zone it was kind of a white elephant... it was either at Hot Tub temp and too hot for workouts or at pool temp and too cold for Hot Tubbing. The dual zone is ideal, the hot tub end is hot and the pool end is warm.

For serious swimmers the propeller system really makes a difference, it is adjustable for flow and the flow is clean and smooth, way less turbulence than we experienced in the jet drive systems.

What reasons did your wife give for not using it much?

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  • 1 month later...

I am interested in your solar set up. Can you give me more info on it? What was the cost to set up. How well does it heat the water, summer vs winter? How is it placed and plumbed next to the spa. I too live in California and 38 cents s KWH kills. Thanks for any info.

Sorry to be so long away from this topic. Ours is a solar electric system for our whole house (not just the tub). It's a 30 panel, 5 kWh system. We're on the Peninsula, about 30 miles south of San Francisco, where it is very temperate = seldom freezing in winter and we don't have or need a/c in summer. Even so our usage with the swimspa is over 1000 kWh per month.

But with the solar system we pay PG&E zero/nada.

It cost about 20 thousand 2 yrs ago, and we have a contract with SunRun that guarantees output for 18 years. So we estimate our long term costs at $1000 per yr, and have no worries about PG&E rate increases.

We bought our system outright, but pay as you go plans are also available.

Note: We are on Time of Use billing. During the day we sell electric to PG&E (at 30 cents kWh during the summer) and buy it back at night (at 9 cents). With a timer we heat the tub only at the Off Peak hours.

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  • 3 months later...

What reasons does your wife give for not using it much?

I think it is something like what you suggest. For the tub experience she likes 102 deg (I would prefer 99). But to swim this is too warm. Yet the insulation and cover is so good that even overnight and turned off, it loses only 1 or 2 degrees.

Still, the other problem may be just that she works too much. As a doctor who's dealing with serious medical issues, teaching others, and trying to direct medical policy, she works from 7:30 to 6:30 most days, and 6-12 hrs many wknds. When she comes home bone tired after looking over an intern's shoulder - trying to direct surgery - the hot temp is great. But the next morning it's too hot for a swim (she's up at 5:30).

When we first bought the spa (may I say that GWB cut our taxes to make that easy), it was the swimming feature she wanted. But the giant hot tub took over, determining how we would set the temp.

All this suggests that WE need a talk on how we want to use the thing. I am quite happy with cooler temps. Does she value more the big burn or swimming?

Instead of keeping the swim spa at 100+, and then trying to lower it when she wants to swim, why not do the opposite? Keep it at warm but swimmable temp, then raise it for occasions we want the burn. Also, this may save the electric.

NOTE: With our solar system, for the house and 1300 gallon swim spa, we paid just over $100 electric for the past YEAR. (We had a big March though I don't know why.)

Comments welcome.

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