Help Which One

[Brulan1]

I gotta disagree with statements made by Brulan; “24hr circulating pump puts ozone 24/7 with a uv bulb wich is more expensive to operate than a plasma cell ozone that coleman offers, and also 24hrs of ozone could prove cancerous. Plasma doesn't lose its potency as quick as UV does. Do you think a 24hr pump running all the time that never shuts off would last more than 2 yrs.? Do you think that the circulating pump actually filters the water 100percent or just the water within the vicinity of the pump? Actually the whole body of water isn't being circulated unless people are in the tub pushing the part of the water not being filtered into the area of a circulating pump. Why would you want something running 24hrs. I just cannot understand that logic. Oh-well I guess people have to learn for themselves”

WRONG, WRONG, WRONG.

My spa has an ozonator and 24-hour circ pump, and DOES NOT use ultraviolet! There are two primary methods to genetate ozone for these applications, UV, and corona discharge (also described as electrodes, and plasma). The corona discharge in considered by most to be superior,

“also 24hrs of ozone could prove cancerous”. Then why is ozonation one of the technologies continuously pushed by EPA? Ozone id merely a fast acting disinfectant. The biggest problem is it has a VERY SHORT half-life.

“Do you think a 24hr pump running all the time that never shuts off would last more than 2 yrs.?” YES, YES, YES. The biggest problem well designed machinery has is shutting them down and restarting. Major equipment runs great when its operating, shut them down, and they may not restart. Another reason I favor a 24-hour circ pump is they are relatively quiet. I get 24-hour circulation and filtering, with little noise (and minimal power consumption). Last – I think there’s a reason my spa’s warranty has 5 yea5rs full coverage of all pumps and plumbing components, including the circ pump.

Another question, for Brulan: what spa company do you work for? It seems pretty obvious you’re biased to a couple of companies, and I think we all would like to know where you're coming from.

I've sold Coleman for 22 yrs, and back in 1982, I've tried hotsprings, vita, cal and a couple of others before I came to coleman and stuck with them ever since. I love all spa's but I prefer ones over others

[Canadian Kahuna]

Hello to all!!!! This is where we stand as of today. We've checked out artic, hot springs, sundance, d1 and masters spas. My wife and I seem to be leaning towards the artic spas. Were just not sure of which model. [ frontier, kodiak, klondiker] Were going to spend all day at the IX center tuesday and figure out which of the lounger layouts we like best. I'll keep you all informed as to how the process is coming. steve

If you do go with an arctic, i would suggest the frontier due to the raised sides that help keep wind off you and stop from water overflow. I personally own a Cub which does not have this feature, but was limited in the size of tub i bought due to space limitations of my yard. The kodiak was also one i looked at, but i don't have the room for an 8' tub at this point . . . i'm so jealous, lol. Big thing though, arctic does have different levels of seating (as most tubs do) so be sure you and your wife hop in to see how the tub "fits". This goes for all brands. The nice thing about the frontier is it has his and hers loungers (one is deeper than the other) as well as the bucket seats (one deeper than other) which is a great feature. Just spent the other day drooling over the frontier, hopefully only a few years away when we buy a larger house and larger lot that will overcome my space limitations (hmmm, could always rip down my nice heated, wired garage . . . actually, big boys playroom . . . . nah, wouldn't have anywhere to sleep when the wifey gets mad haha). Hope you find a tub that meets all your needs, good luck!

[turbottt1]

I agree with you on the frontier except for one thing. My wife and I did climb in one the other night. When we both were in the loungers it was a little cramped. I'm 6'6" and my wife is 5'10" not a lot of leg room for either of us. Were going to check out for the first time the klondiker which if I remember right has two seperate loungers . The other school of thought is the kodiak which has only one lounger and more ind. seating. I think once we get a look at all of them side by side and get to climb in them our discission will become clear. We were not really looking for such a big tub but as we do our reseach it seems that a 8' fits all of us better. We seem to be leaning towards the artics because WE LIKE THE DEALER!!!!!!! It also has the jetting where we like them and need them. steve

[Roger]

“Do you think a 24hr pump running all the time that never shuts off would last more than 2 yrs.?” YES, YES, YES. The biggest problem well designed machinery has is shutting them down and restarting. Major equipment runs great when its operating, shut them down, and they may not restart. Another reason I favor a 24-hour circ pump is they are relatively quiet. I get 24-hour circulation and filtering, with little noise (and minimal power consumption). Last – I think there’s a reason my spa’s warranty has 5 yea5rs full coverage of all pumps and plumbing components, including the circ pump.

I just replaced a 7 year old circulation pump.......the pump is 150 bucks, uses the same amount of electricity as a 75 watt light bulb and lasts 7 years.

[SmilinBare]

>>When we both were in the loungers it was a little cramped. I'm 6'6" and my wife is 5'10" not a lot of leg room for either of us.<<

When we set out to buy a tub, I expected to end up with one considerably bigger than Arctic's Frontier AND, on the advice of a friend, I wasn't interested in any sort of lounger. I'm 6'4" and my partner is 6' and we are pleased with the Arctic Frontier we purchased. Sure, the lounger space is a little bit tight when we're both in them but, since we're tubbing together, who cares? I was surprised by Arctic's lounger design. While the other manufacturers' loungers didn't work for me, Arctic's does. It doesn't float me up off the bench whereas I was constantly readjusting myself in other tubs.

I am in the tub EVERY night for at least 25 minutes...sometimes as long as 40 minutes. My partner joins me, maybe, one night during the week and usually both Saturday and Sunday nights. Every so often we are joined by another couple. The choice we had was between the Tundra and the Frontier. If we were twenty years younger and still partying as hearty as we did back then, we'd have probably selected the Tundra. But for a coupla quieter 50-year-olds, the Frontier fits our needs.

BTW, the extra raised lip on the Frontier (maybe the Tundra, too) keeps oversplash from occurring and, subsequent, icing up on the walkway around the tub perimeter. A very nice feature.

[turbottt1]

[Details on the frontier. which model, how long have you had it, equipment, etc. Were looking at the legends series with northern lights, exotic jet package, artic ozone.

[Canadian Kahuna]

[Details on the frontier. which model, how long have you had it, equipment, etc. Were looking at the legends series with northern lights, exotic jet package, artic ozone.

I looked at the northern lights package, but they aren't worth it IMO. Sure it's nice to have changing colors that look cool, but how much does it cost? If you can get it as a "freebie", then go for it. If you check arctics website at http://www.goarctic.com they usually have a voucher for some kind of freebie on thier tubs that you can print out and hand to your dealer BEFORE they order your tub. The last time i checked, it was a voucher for free northern lights. Also, if you are going to get the most effect out of lighting, it helps to have a tub that is one of the lighter colors to enhance it. If you can't get the northern lights as a freebie, there are other options. My dealer couldn't add the northern lights for free since arctic had already given him specials on my tub (tons of added goodies) for a trade show deal (no biggie, i was still happy). So instead, i bought this light that installs just like your regular hot tub light (very easy to change, front side panels open, unscrew mount, pop out old bulb, pop new one in . . .). This light changes colors (scrolls, flashes, stays on solid colors, etc) all for about 40bux. The blue light that came with my tub is still my favorite (guess that old vision of blue water is comforting) but i still switch to green, or red, or purple or various other modes depending on my mood (or to show off the tub to friends).

As for ozone, i didn't go with the peak ozone, but am thinking of upgrading to it later. I haven't had any problems with my water without it yet. Ozone is supposed to help, along with your regular sanitzer regime, to kill off many harmfull bacteria and virii. That's about all though, it does not replace sanitizers, but does help in keeping water clean and clear, and possibly helps you use a little less chemicals.

And for the loungers, there is only one in my tub as well (unlike the frontier). I find that there is no fight between my wife and I over the lounger or any other seats as we both move around a bit during our soak to benifit from the jets in each seat. If you plan on entertaining guests often, maybe skip out on the lounger to give you more seating (i find i can fit 4 very comfortably in my tub, 5 would be pushing it even though it's a 5 - 6 person tub). We went with the lounger in ours because it is mainly my wife and I in each night, occasionally our oldest daughter, and if we have guests over, it's only usually another couple. My father in-law owns an 8' tub (different brand), but without a lounger since he entertains to more guests (a lot of the time it's him, my mother in-law, my wife, my sister in-law, myself, my neice and my daughter). If he had a lounger, there'd be no room for all of us. So amount of people you will have over and how often should help you determine how many, if any, loungers you want. Arctic does have comfy ones though, don't they? I'm 5'11", 280lbs and fit very comfortably, submersed without floating, in mine (big reason i bought the tub, i like the lounger . . . wife likes the bucket . . . good compromise).