General qustion on current spas, usage and salt or freshwater systems

[Personal Poster]

Hello

I'm trying to figure out what sort of hot tub I might replace my 2000 HydraSpa with.

The HydraSpa is still working beautifully, is on city water. They didn't have salt systems in those days.

This is a supposedly five person spa that maxs out at three people.

Over the years, I have replaced every water pump three times, the air pump once, am on the third control panel and heater.

I'm handy and have a working knowledge of electrical codes, did most of the repairs myself.

I plan to continue utilizing this spa until it becomes impractical to do so. At nineteen years in Service, that day may come sooner than I would like.

My wife and I are in the spa five or more days every week. It remains one of the best purchases I have ever made.

So, in twenty years I figure there are a number of technological developments. We now have "salt water" systems. Waterfalls are nice, but I could easily live without that and lights.

I'm seventy three now, and not as agile as I used to be, and uncertain how many years I will continue to be able to work on the system.

In scanning this forum, I have seen where some posters state " they float out of the lounge seat" or otherwise have usage problems with a current model.

Since that has never happened to us, I wonder why that happens to some and want to be knowledgeable about current models. 

Note: although it is not as pretty as the current models, the old hydraspa has had several pumps replace with higher horsepower and really does a super job of massage and relaxation.

my wife and I often are in the spa to where it shuts off on timer (20 minutes) so we don't keep it super hot because we want to stay in it a while.

The current spa sits on a 13" x 9' deck over ten feet up. The HydraSpa is 76 x 80" and perfect for two people. Anything larger will take a crane to put up on the deck, which I would like to avoid if possible.

Question: what benefits or disadvantages do you think a salt system would offer over standard freshwater?

Question: what sort of spa do you think we might do as well or better with?

I feel somewhat like an old reprobate that doesn't want change, but in all honesty I am more concerned about decreasing massaging ability and enjoyment than other areas.

Any thoughts you have will be appreciated.

[ratchett]

9 hours ago, Personal Poster said:

Since that has never happened to us, I wonder why that happens to some and want to be knowledgeable about current models. 

So not all lounger positions are the same shape.  Although they all are typically designed for the average american height (5 foot 10 inches from what I gather).   Shorter people tend to have a problem with loungers.  Although floating isn't always simply about height. It also depends on your body mass index (BMI) - basically the more fat you are the more likely you will be to float out of the lounger. 

My wife and I are about 5 foot 11 inches, we're average build (not athletic, but not overweight).  We find the lounger extremely comfortable. It's my favorite seat in the spa!

That said, no two lounger brands fit the same, so you really need to "wet-test" a lounger from that brand to determine if you like how it fits you personally.  You can do all the research in the world (I know, I tried to answer without wet-testing), but you will never know for certain if you "float" out of a lounger without trying it out. I cannot tell you how happy I am that I don't float out of the lounger - I start and end my soak in that seat!

 

9 hours ago, Personal Poster said:

Question: what benefits or disadvantages do you think a salt system would offer over standard freshwater?

So the idea behind a salt system is that salt produces enough chlorine to keep the spa sanitized.   The advertising (especially by the Watkins Hotspring and Caldera brands) make it sound like a salt system is lower maintenance and easier to maintain as long as you replace the salt-cell thing as often as specified (every 4 months in the Hotspring and Caldera system).   

To me, it seems like a gimmick by the manufacturer to patent a technology so no other brand can sell it.   

Many people buy the salt system thinking it's a "chlorine free" option.  The reality is that these systems actually produce MORE chlorine than other industry standard methods of water sanitation.   Additionally the salt chlorine generator typically doesn't have enough "output" to get your system going initially. That means you spend the first month with your spa (and every time you refill) trying to balance the water and get chlorine up within proper limits (by adding pure bleach to the spa) until the salt system can "take over".   This leaves many customers with a bad experience thinking the "salt systems are terrible" when the reality is their dealer is absolutely terrible and failed to provide adequate start-up instructions.

All the hassle would be worth it, if your skin didn't STINK like chlorine afterwards.   I did a wet-test in a Hotspring Highlife Aria spa with a salt system and let me tell you - my skin stunk like chlorine really bad until I showered.   It was not a pleasant experience.

Personally after months of researching the topic, I opted to go with the more industry accepted system - an ozonator to produce ozone which is used by water treatment municipalities across the world.   By using a continuous circulation pump and an ozonator, my spa uses much less chlorine.  In fact I add half a teaspoon of dichlor chlorine pellets to the filter compartment AFTER my soak and that's it.  24 hours later that water has essentially zero chlorine in it, and that's totally fine!  (note my system also uses a silver mineral stick which slides into the filter compartment - that must be changed every four months, but that's easy to do).  

The thing about an ozonator however is that they only work when water is flowing.  Many budget-brand spa companies try to toss in an ozonator for the marketing, but they don't include the necessary circulation pump which is required to keep water constantly moving through the ozonator so it can work it's magic.

I truly enjoy the fact that my skin doesn't stink like chlorine after getting out of the tub.  I can literally go straight to bed because my skin has no chlorine smell. 

 

9 hours ago, Personal Poster said:

Question: what sort of spa do you think we might do as well or better with?

Since my wife and I were planning to use the spa exclusively, and since we have no children and don't entertain guests often, a smaller spa was good enough.  Rather than buy a larger tub with more seats, I personally opted to spend my money on getting the best 3-seater I could buy.   My dealer is located right next to the largest retirement community in my state and let me tell you, the tub I bought is apparently the #1 best selling tub they sell to that community - it's the Hotspring Highlife Jetsetter  - that's because it's small, easy to install, easy to maintain, and low profile so it's easy to get in and out of (I don't even need steps to enter my spa!). 

If you have never tried a HotSpring Spa's unique moto massager jet, you really need to try it out!. You can't compare it to any other jet design on the market! I didn't think I would enjoy the MotoMassager as much as I do, now it's my favorite seat in the spa. In fact I love turning off every other jet so I can send maximum pressure to that lounger and get an amazing massage - those two streams of water whipping up and down your back make for quite a deep tissue

 

Final piece of advice - the dealer you're buying from is just as important as the brand you choose.  I thought I wanted a Jacuzzi spa until I visited my local dealer - they were absolutely terrible.  Inexperienced, no on-site service technicians, and their prices were nearly full MSRP on everything including service/maintenance parts. 

I visited several different Hotspring dealers and found one I really liked - they only sell Hotspring spas, they are a small family owned business servicing spas for over 20 years, and they were also competitively priced (about $3k CHEAPER for the same make/model spa as another dealer I had visited).   So be sure you look around at the dealers to make certain you like them - a good dealer makes all the difference in experience with a spa.

My dealer for example does not charge call-out fees for the first five years. They will come out and fix anything broken in that time at no charge to me (unless I broke it myself haha).  I'm not a spa technician and I don't want to be. It's great to know I have a team of experts ready to assist should I encounter any problems with my investment. 

And as usual, WET TEST BEFORE BUYING!  Never buy a spa without testing at least a similar spa from the same product line - if a dealer won't let you wet test, walk away.  

[castletonia]

I cannot tell you what to buy.  However, the brands I would consider would be the following: Arctic, Artesian, Bullfrog, Caldera, D1, Hot Spring, Jacuzzi, Marquis , and Sundance.  I am a dealer for Hot Spring and Caldera and have been a Marquis dealer, but I consider all of the above to be premium brands.  Visit each manufacturers website and put your zip code into the dealer locator to see what your local options are.  Then research those local dealers and go from there.  Loungers are a personal preference as each lounge is unique and every individual is as well.

As for Saltwater, again, preference.  I am a huge fan of it and sell a lot of it however you need to know the following: it is chlorine based and is not chemical free.  Generally the start up procedure is more involved but once you are past that it should require a bit less upkeep than chlorine and bromine systems.  If the salt system is properly set and maintained, chlorine odor should be significantly reduce if almost non existent.  Also, Hot Spring, Caldera, and Arctic are the only ones offering salt.  At the end of the day, I like it but I also know that finding the right hot tub and dealer is more important.  You can always change your water care routine but you cannot change the comfort and therapy that your hot tub provides.

[Personal Poster]

 

Thank you for your informative responses.

It looks like I am doing pretty well with the spa that I have. My wife takes care of the water, we use bromine for sanitation. We also use one of the liquid kits for testing instead of the strips.

My spa originally came with Ozone/UV, and when the ozone generator died, I didn't replace because we couldn't tell that much difference with it. It did not operate all of the time

We have had no odor or skin problems with just the bromine.

We use the spa pretty heavily but always shower off before going into the spa, and then a good rinse off after we get out. I have noticed that some guests seem to find it a hassle to rinse off before getting in and will often opt out when we say a quick rinse off before getting in is a requirement.

A master bathroom door opens onto the private deck where the spa is. Makes it very convenient to use.

We absolutely love the usage we have so I will continue replacing parts until they are no longer available. As I get older, and not as agile, my wife is a sharp cookie and can usually make it into places I cannot. She has taken care of several close fitting situations successfully for me.

I'm about 5' 11" now, was taller but have shrunk. My wife was 5' 0" so is probably a bit shorter now.

The old saying is "if it ain't broke don't fix it!"

I shall take that to heart and keep on keeping on as best we can.

Thank you so much for taking the time to make such useful and informative replies!