Master Spas?

[D.P. Roberts]

I know many people here have been disappointed (or downright offended) in the Master Spas traveling shows. The bogus rebate scam of a few years ago was also a horrible idea.

Sales and marketing aside, does Master make a decent tub?

I know that many customers have had positive experiences with Master, and it's considered a quality brand by many people on other forums. So, if you were looking at a Master Spa from a reputable dealer, how would they rate?

[tony]

I know many people here have been disappointed (or downright offended) in the Master Spas traveling shows. The bogus rebate scam of a few years ago was also a horrible idea.

Sales and marketing aside, does Master make a decent tub?

I know that many customers have had positive experiences with Master, and it's considered a quality brand by many people on other forums. So, if you were looking at a Master Spa from a reputable dealer, how would they rate?

I have a neighbor with a Master spa from a reputable dealer. He seems very happy with it. Master has a nich...big power. If you want a spa that will literally blow you away, Master may be for you.

[TravelingSpaGuy]

Master does make a powerful tub, thats about the only thing I can say good for them because of how unethical the company is and how much its dumb shows have hurt the industry and sent them running to costco to be saved. But nice power and a good swim spa is what they got going for them, the steel frame is more of a sales tool then anything and they dont insulate there spas very well using stirofoam )however spelled_)

[DHarker]

My wife and I had been looking at SPAs for years before we finally purchased a Mater SPA at a show a couple of weeks ago. We found the sales person at the show to be no different then every other sales person we ever talked to (Hot Springs, Dimension One, Vita SPA, Turtle Bay) you name it. All of the manufacturer reps will give you their jargon on why their tub, their pumps, their filtration system is better then everyone else’s. For us, when it finally came down to buying one it came down to one thing. We were ready to buy one. We are not sure if Master is going to be better or worse then anyone else’s although there are some good reviews about them and they always rank near the top in all the consumer list that we have seen. We knew it probably was not a good idea to buy a SPA from the big box home improvement stores or the club stores like Sams or Costco they are mainly in the business of buying cheep and getting the most they can for it. Therefore we felt a pool supply dealer was probably the best way to go. After that it boiled down to looks, feel and power. After all SPA design is not rocket science. We liked the idea of the ECO Pure filtration system in that six filters had to be better then one or two. We liked the idea of having more power then we needed and being able to adjust things back. Some of the tubs we tried were a joke when it came to their high speed pump setting. We liked the Corona Ozonation system over the ultraviolet, however most manufacturers are going to this. Beyond that we knew that the dealer in our home town has been around for thirty years and has a good reputation for selling quality products and the warranty of the Master SPA is hard to beat. So far we really enjoy it but again time will tell.

[Tubbyhouse]

We purchased a Master Down East at a show in Illinois after thinking about Spas for many years and so far we have enjoyed it. It takes a bit to get used to the chemicals and filters but time will tell. I am hoping that we will be able to use it in the Winter with Illinois freezing weather. We had an enclosure built to our specifications so we cant remove the tub anyway. Takes time to learn all the ins and outs of water sanitation etc. I just bought a new set of master filters and switched them with the old ones and soaked the old ones overnight and put them aside for the next switch. Tim will tell.

[Dipstick]

Sales and marketing aside, does Master make a decent tub?

NO!

[TinyBubbles]

Sales and marketing aside, does Master make a decent tub?

NO!

Dipstick, I've seen alot of negative posts from you. Are you in the spa business? If yes, what product line do you sell. If no, where do your opinions come from. Thanks.

[Dipstick]

Dipstick, I've seen alot of negative posts from you. Are you in the spa business? If yes, what product line do you sell. If no, where do your opinions come from. Thanks.

I am in the business but only a service tech. I base my opinion on what I see in the field. If someone asks for opinions on a certain brand and I have knowledge of that brand I will give my opinion.

This poster asked about Master and I told him/her what I thought from what I have seen in the field.

I do have a warped sense of humor that most folks will not get and if you do not it may come across negatively.

[TinyBubbles]

Thanks dipstick. I assumed you weren't a consumer. As far as your sense of humor, or lack there of, sometimes humor doesn't come across in an internet post.

See how that works

[Tubbyhouse]

Buying a Hot tub is really a long term purchase. I could have gotten big box hot tubs for a lot less than I paid for the Master, but so far I am happy and enjoying it. Once I built the enclosure is would be impossible, probably to change or buy another. I will have to enjoy it. We will see how we enjoy it in the freezing winter. I bought out chemicals that were being closed out at target and am set for a long time. Got them for about 20cents to a dollar. That is all I have to say.

[Got-soaked]

Master Spa owners, have you monitored your electric bill and have you noticed a substantial increase in electric consumption $$$ since you powered-up your master spa? My neighbor and I both own Master spas, I have the LSX1050 and he has a smaller model that is 7ft X 7ft. He has his electric bill averaged over a year and makes the same dollar payment every month and over the last 10 months since he owned the tub hasn’t noticed his bill increase. I told him about my electric bill doubling and now he is interested in placing a kilowatt meter on his spa’s breaker. I told him to look at the electric bill at the KW usage and not the dollar amount.

I have to agree, Master has some very strong pumps the LED lights and radio setups are very nice, and the seats are comfortable, The jest are difficult to turn on or off if not impossible but The BIG negative is the huge power consumption $$$ along with the flimsy sides of the spa. My Master spa dealer agreed to replace my first tub because of the numerous issues the tub had, the main issue being the power consumption. The new tub arrived two weeks ago with a new cover that has 2 pound foam (very nice cover) and the sides are so flimsy the cover now pulls the side panels out of place. I have been monitoring the power consumption and this tub is about the same, to date I have been averaging 25 KW per day which equates to 75KW per month. I live in Delaware so the winters aren’t extremely cold and to date has been in the 60-80 during the day and dropping to 55-65 during the nights. My other tub doubled my electric bill during the winter months and I was paying $200 - $280 to heat my hot tub. The first tub could not maintain 102 degrees in 30 degree temperature. And yes, the tub sits on pavers, protected by a 2.5ft sitting wall and the heater was on rock and roll (so was the electric meter).

Since my new replacement tub has several water leaks, skirt being separated by the weight of the cover along with the tub being an energy pig I have asked the dealer if I could return the tub and get a refund. Remember, I have had this tub for 17 days and it is another lemon.

The Carlstadt GTI build team met at Carlstadt last week for a line by line review of the detailed deployment plan. The developing of the plan is approximately 90% complete.

Within the next two weeks GTI will be in a position to share with IB the deployment dates for RMDS and CBB.

And yes, both my neighbor and I bought the tub at a local tent expo (expo? Master spa was the only dealer) and at the time was an uneducated spa consumer. I currently waiting on the

Master Spa dealer to see if they will honor my request for a full refund. The dealer said he is passing the request onto Master Spa and will get back to me, that was 5 days ago.

I‘ll keep you posted.

[RickJ]

I have a Down East tub. It's 8' X 10'. I bought it used, and installed it about this time last year. After reading Got Soaked posts about power consumption, I took a look at my last utility bill. Last year, without the hot tub, I used about 15 Kilowatts per day. This year, during the same period, I used about 30 Kilowatts per day. So I'm guessing my tub is drawing around 15 Kilowatts per day. That was with an average outside temp of 65 degrees. Last winter, I think my highest electric bill was around $200. That was in January or February, with an average outside temperature of about 10 degrees.

I also have an old, waterlogged cover. Once I replace that, I believe that my energy usage will decline.

I don't think my tub is using too much energy. But I really don't know how much energy other tubs use.

[Got-soaked]

I have a Down East 8'x10' spa, similar to the master spa. I installed it last fall, and watched my electric bills go up around $100-$150 per month compared to previous years. I just assumed that is part of the cost of running a hot tub all winter long.

One thing you could check on your tub is how long your filter cycles are set to run. If you have it running for a long time, that will increase your energy use. Also, I know on my tub there is an economy mode, where the heater doesn't run except during filtration cycles. That's another way to lower the electric usage.

To reduce my electric bill for this winter, I replaced all of the white 3/4" beadboard insulation around the skirt with the pink 1-1/2" insulation. It wasn't too hard to do, I just used the old pieces of insulation as a template to cut the new insulation. I'm hoping that helps reduce some of the heat loss out the sides of the tub. I'm also going to be buying a thick cover (probably the extreme cover from RHTubs). You might want to inspect your cover to see how much heat you're losing through the top.

I've thought about trying to fill the air gap around the tub to create a full foam tub effect. Has anyone used the expanding foam that they sell at Home Depot? It's usually for cracks, but I've seen some stuff online that is for wall insulation. My thought is to spray it into some plastic garbage bags so that it will expand into the gap without sticking to all the components. Then, if I ever need to remove it, I can just pull out the bags of foam. Of course, I wouldn't do that around the motors and electronics, just around the other three sides of the tub.

RickJ -

I'm confused by your two posts 1) states your electric consumption jumped from 15KW to 30KW per day the other states your electric bill jumped $100-150. 15kw a day equates to 450kw per month. Are you paying 33 cents per KWH? $150 divided by 450kw = .33

What I’m I misunderstanding?

[RickJ]

RickJ -

I'm confused by your two posts 1) states your electric consumption jumped from 15KW to 30KW per day the other states your electric bill jumped $100-150. 15kw a day equates to 450kw per month. Are you paying 33 cents per KWH? $150 divided by 450kw = .33

What I’m I misunderstanding?

Well, in my first post, I was going from memory. And I remember that last winter, I was paying around $150-$200 per month for electricity, compared to around $50 per month in previous years. I haven't looked at all of the actual power bills.

In my second post, from this thread, I actually looked at my most recent power bill from October. It showed that during the same period last year, I used 15 kwh per day, compared to 30 kwh this year. I was just trying to give a recent comparison. I was also trying to give some kind of baseline for you to compare your tub against. Dollar-wise, this is about $50 more than last year. Now, if I go and look at bills from last winter, I'm sure that my kwh consumption would be much higher.