hudler Posted July 29, 2012 Report Share Posted July 29, 2012 I have read this forum for many years and found the information invaluable while choosing my first hot tub. I just wanted to give alittle back to this great forum! After many years of research I finally purchased a hot tub a year ago in August. I bought a 2010 Jacuzzi J470 brand new from the showroom floor. I looked at many tubs and really wanted a Bullfrog tub, but the price of the jacuzzi was too good to pass up. The shop selling them was getting out of hot tubs and blowing the remaining ones out at unheard of prices. I knew Jacuzzi was a top three brand and jumped on the deal. The first question that comesto your mind is...you wanted a Bullfrog tub??? I did, they have alot of well thought out features and I like to be different....the bullfrog is certainly different, right? Back to the Jacuzzi. The deal was cash and carry so I trailered it home about two hours with the options I picked up like covermate lifter,ozone generator and breaker uninstalled. There was no remote with the tub, but after hounding the shop for a couple weeks I did get the remote! I really wanted it since I could monitor the tub from the house in winter weather. Installing the ozone was easy with help from the forum and the coverlifter was also a fun install with the wife helping. The tub wired up nicely and all was ready to go. I have used the three step bromine for beginners info on the pool and spa chemistry forum. It is a sticky over there and I have had very little problem with water since the begining. I can leave the tub for 10 days with no worry on vacation. The J470 is a large tub with lots of room for 6 or more adults. We only go in with our three kids or another couple so room is always plentiful. We have the sand colored shell, it is textured and has been really easy to clean. It looks goodwith the lights, but I think the smooth light color shell looks classier, especially with the lights. The dark synthetic skirt looks great and is easy to clean. The optional covermate 3 (?) lifter works perfect and makes using the tub so easy there are no excuses. It seems to be of good quality it worked good even in minus 30 C weather. My wife and I had not wet tested any tubs and had only been in hotel tubs so we were not really prepared for the experience when we finally got in to our new tub. The smiles and " hey you have to try this seat" went on for a few days. Everyone that tried the tub got that same look of amazement and felt the same way. UNBELIEVABLE!! I can't compare to other hot tub brands, but thejets and massage are unreal in the J470. All the power you could possibly want, incredible massage and very adjustable for each seat. The air injection works perfect and makes the seat totally adjustable. I really don't know how it could be better. The lights and waterfallreally are nice and there is a foot volcano, only a couple of people find it useful. The hump on the floor has lights and jets for your feet. The jets are nice an the hump helps to keep you in your seat. It also helps to keep people's feet from touching all the time, my wife and I like the floor bubble for all those reasons. Funny/Sad sidebar, we were using the tub with another couple about a week after I installed the tub. After a few drinks I brought the remote into the tub to play around with it. I forgot the remote in the tub and it sunk to the bottom over night and never worked again. If any of you dealers have one for sale or know how to fix mine give me a pm with details! Anyway back to the tub. We used it all winter in western Canada. It was a mild winter, but still some minus 35 days. I used the tub once at about minus 30 it stayed warm and the heater kept up pretty good. The standard Jacuzzi cover is very good quality. Our tub has a curved higher end and the cover seals very well, I never noticed any leakage around the middle seam because of the higher end. My neighbors Costco tub had tons of steam coming out of the covers middle seam during the winter. My buddies dynasty tub isn't installed yet but the cover on mine is very well made compared to his. This tub is well made and efficient. I estimate about $25-$30 per month to operate. We have long cold winters so I think that is pretty reasonable. The tub is noisy when running, it can be hard to hear people outside the tub. I don't know if they are all like that or not. It is super quiet the rest of the day, the circumstances pump is perfectly quiet. Water care has been really easy. I have a great Taylor test kit and use Bromine. I can leave my tub for a 10 day vacation and not worry aboutwater chemistry. The pool and spa forum has a great bromine for beginners post, follow it and you will never have any trouble with your water...or at least it will help you if you are struggling. This tub has been trouble free and a real quality tub, in my opinion you cannot go wrong buying a Jacuzzi brand hot tub! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chas Posted July 31, 2012 Report Share Posted July 31, 2012 Glad to hear you are enjoying your tub! Thanks for the report. I used to sell Jacuzzi tubs - over fifteen years ago - and they were massive energy hogs. They looked better than the HotSpring tubs I had on the floor next to them - in my opinion and the opinion of many of our customers! But they just didn't have the insulation, nor a small circ pump, and the covers were thin, cheap things which didn't last as long and the ones on our HS tubs. The huge jets and high-volume, low-pressure jet systems on the Jacuzzi tubs showed very well on the sales floor, and generally were real people-pleasers in the home as well, but the Moto Massage still sold more tubs for those who wet tested. There are features on both brands which appealed to different buyers, and we always got glowing reports back from customers - no matter which brand they had purchased - except for the energy use on the big Jacuzzi tubs... Of course today, Jacuzzi tubs are much better insulated! And as you mentioned, they have improved the quality of the covers a vast amount. It all matters! You'll get great enjoyment out of your tub - take care of it, and let us know if there are questions which arise out of the care and feeding, though you have had it a year now and must have worked out those details by now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hudler Posted July 31, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2012 I do have one question, I have left the circ pump alone for the first year it runs 24/7. I can program it to run less, but I am not sure if I should. The ozone runs only when the circ pump is on, I get great filtration and water quaility is good. If I only ran the circ pump say 12 hours a day during the summer would there be any advantage aside from wear and tear on the pump and electrical savings? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spatech (the unreal one) Posted July 31, 2012 Report Share Posted July 31, 2012 I do have one question, I have left the circ pump alone for the first year it runs 24/7. I can program it to run less, but I am not sure if I should. The ozone runs only when the circ pump is on, I get great filtration and water quaility is good. If I only ran the circ pump say 12 hours a day during the summer would there be any advantage aside from wear and tear on the pump and electrical savings? One really can't give a good opinion on this because you're missing one vital peice of informataiton. What is your usage? One person twice a week? Three people 3 times a week? Five people ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hudler Posted July 31, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2012 I think 4 or 5 people twice a week would be fairly accurate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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