Hot Tub Vision For The Future

[New NW tub owner]

If dishwashers were sold like hot tubs, the dishwashers would cost $3,000 per copy, be manufactured by 200 different companies, produce widely inconsistent results depending on which model from which manufacturer you bought, cost anywhere from $1 to $100 per month to run, and require that you purchase parts and service only from the manufacturer of your model which you could only buy at a store operated by one of his dealers.

What's needed first for hot tubs are consistent standards, established by an independent hot tub standards-setting organization, for energy efficiency, shell construction, structural strength, piping assembly, electrical connections, control configuration, and shell penetrations that all manufacturers would have to meet before their tub could carry a seal of approval from the standards body.

Next, there needs to be consolidation in the hot tub manufacturing industry that would allow a few surviving large manufacturers to produce hot tubs in much larger volumes and achieve manufacturing economies of scale.

Finally, the overall design of hot tubs needs to be simplified and made more reliable to improve the out of the box experience for the consumer. With current technology, it should be possible any consumer to take a tub home, connect it up, fill it with water, add chemicals to the dispenser, turn it on, and have everything happen as it is supposed to without the need for any support by a hot tub dealer. This is the standard that we expect for refrigerators, washing machines, televisions, and other household appliances and there is no reason why hot tubs should be any different.

So what should consumers do? Give your support to any hot tub manufacturer who supports the idea of independent hot tub industry standards and testing. Request that Consumer s Union perform independent hot tub testing. Contact your local electrical utility and municipal government and request their support for the idea of minimum energy efficiency standards for hot tubs, as hot tubs are a significant user of power on the electrical grid. Tell them, for example, that all hot tubs should be required to include a timer option to perform their heating only during off-peak hours when electrical demand is lower.

What should hot tub makers do? You should begin investigating ways to merge with other manufacturers to increase manufacturing volume, improve manufacturing efficiency, and lower manufacturing costs. You should join with other manufacturers to form an independent standards-setting organization for hot tubs whose purpose would be to establish standards that all manufacturers would meet. And you should plan on a distribution model for the future that does not exclusively require a network of costly dealer-operated stores staffed by an army of sales and service people.

[Tom]

I hope that the poster will do some research on his own. IMO, many of the ideas presented above are well under way in the industry, either voluntarily or as a result of market pressures.

[East TX Spa]

Liberal/socialist propaganda and nothing more.

Our capitalist society works great at weeding out weak, substandard, unethical companies and their products. Those that make, sell, and service quality spas are thriving. Let the people have freedom to choose what they want and not be limited in their options....and may the best companies continue to thrive!

Terminator

[Tom]

Our capitalist society works great at weeding out weak, substandard, unethical companies and their products. Those that make, sell, and service quality spas are thriving. Let the people have freedom to choose what they want and not be limited in their options....and may the best companies continue to thrive

Another strong vote for market pressure.

[Tom]

What's needed first for hot tubs are consistent standards, established by an independent hot tub standards-setting organization, for energy efficiency, shell construction, structural strength, piping assembly, electrical connections, control configuration, and shell penetrations that all manufacturers would have to meet before their tub could carry a seal of approval from the standards body.

Now, why don't you want auto manufacturers to go that route? My car requires a highly specific air filter, oil filter... why, every little bit is brand and model specific. About the only generic thing in my car is the air purifier. How horrible. Yet all these different cars seem to have met required standards for emissions and safety, some better than others.

[Helios]

If there was no competition, the few hot tub suppliers could determine the price point. A hot tub is a luxury not a necessity; those that want them would have to pay a very high price with your theory.

[thestallion]

There is a naive and child like mind set to much of this persons (New NW tub owner) thinking, it is socialist example which has proven itself across the world to be the surest way to stop innovation, raise prices and lower quality.

[Chas]

I'm sure NW, that you don't even realize how socialist/Marxist you sound. The exteme liberal slant to your post is in direct oposition to the capitalist market-driven world we live in. A world which has proven one thing over and over: capitalism works every time it's tried. Give people a quality product that meets their needs , fulfills their desires, and they will spend money to get it. Take that same product, water it down by committee design, legislate who can use it, when they can use it, how much it is supposed to cost to use it, in other words, put it in the hands of the government, and nobody wants it.

Price will level out according to quality and value, and the market will balance itself with input from supply and demand.

I'm sorry you feel there needs to be some sort of agency to regulate the industry. The government can stay out of my life and my wallet thank-you very much.

Have you not seen the socialist failures in other parts of the world?

So, do you think that your opinion, based on owning one spa, is now going to shape the world? Watkins sells tens of thousands of spas each year, and they have done so for decades. Three decades to be exact. My own family - my own backyard - has seen twenty times as many spas as you and yours. From half a dozen different makers or more. And in the market, now fed by over a hundred different brands, and supplied by big-box companies as well as small dealers, Watkins Manufacturing is still the leader. Whether you like that brand name or not, it cannot be denied that they outsell all the rest in every part of the world. Because they exist in a free-market economy where intelligent people can make intelligent choices.

You ask for a plug-and-play appliance. Fine - go buy a Watkins product or another major name-brand tub: they are all as close as you are going to get. Of course, just as you need to have some input/care for any appliance, whether we are talking about a water filter on the input to your ice-making refridgerator, or knowing which type of cleanser can dull your Granite counter tops or your ceramic cooktop, you will need to balance water chemistry and clean filters. And I don't know if you have a DVR, HD TV or similar products in your home, but there are now more appliances which require a handbook than those which do not.

You call for radical changes in design: "the overall design of hot tubs needs to be simplified and made more reliable..." Says who? I like the tub I have. The one I'm getting next year is going to have more features. Funny, because you also seem to think that this should be priced at the low-end of the scale. Sorry, but you do get what you pay for, and if you want the simplest tub to own, the most reliable, you are going to have to pay a little more to get it. But - that tub is available from any number of the major name-brand makers right now.

You just haven't had the joy of owning one.

Yet.

[D.P. Roberts]

You know what else needs to be regulated? Clothing. People have made that comparison quite frequently - Nikes cost only $2 to make but sell for over $100, and that's ridiculous. There are hundreds or thousands of manufacturers & brands out there- they need to be consolidated to just a few. They should only be sold at Wal-Mart. Men would have a choice between blue jeans or khakis, women will have three different colors of skirts to choose from. Men can choose between a white dress shirt or a blue polo. All of this will reduce prices and shopper confusion.

There's a reason why these two industries haven't consolidated - they're both intimately tied to the fit, feel, and expression of the human body. And when it comes to deciding what looks good and what's comfortable, everyone has a different opinion.