Hi Jud,

The truth is, as with most products, you pretty much get what you pay
for so, personally, I would shy away from the low end. A hot tub is a
major, long-term investment. It's not like a car that you might trade
every three or four years; once in place, it will likely stay there
for sometime to come.

Buy from a reputable spa dealer, not a mass merchant that knows little
about the products they sell or how well they might fit your specific
needs and expectations. Bear in mind, mass merchants can change
manufacturers/brands at anytime, as they typically source from the
lowest cost supplier and routinely put these products up for bid.
Likewise, I would avoid buying from anyone that sets up a tent at the
local fair ground, then pulls up the stakes to move on to the next
town. I can tell you that no matter how well built your tub may be,
there will be issues/problems that will arise from time to time and
you will, of course, require various replacement parts (e.g., filters)
over the life of the product.

Ask your friends, colleagues, neighbours, family members, whomever you
know who owns a hot tub what they like and, in particular, don't like
about their tub. Ask them how their dealer treated them. Was it with
respect? Did the salesperson ask questions in an effort to better
understand what they wanted in a tub (and actually listened to their
answers), or did they simply try to push a particular model? Did they
bad mouth a competing product or local dealer (always a good time to
make a bee line for the door). Are they happy with the after sales
service and warranty support?

Be careful not to rush into a purchase or fall victim to high-pressure
sales tactics; take your time and do your homework. Try to sort
through all the conflicting claims (trust me, there will be plenty).
And don't put a whole lot of weight on the "we have more horsepower",
"more jets", "more what have you" pitches. After all, you only want
to relax in your hot tub, not have the skin literally ripped off your
body. :-)

It's absolutely critical that you get inside as many tubs as you can
and see how each one feels. Move from seat to seat and pay particular
attention to the amount of foot room -- this is one area where a lot
of tubs fall down badly. Can you comfortably stretch out without
playing footsies with the person across from you? Get a sense of
where the water level will be, for all family members.... we're not
all built the same and you don't want to resort to snorkel kits, nor
do you want the upper two-thirds of your body exposed to air.

Some of the tubs that claim to accommodate six to eight people, simply
don't (what do they think we are, midgets on diets?). Take the number
of gallons/litres and divide by the number of seats to get a true
sense of the amount of room they offer per person. And by all means,
do a "wet test"; a good dealer will be happy to arrange a time that is
convenient for you to come in to their store and try out their
products. These dealers know 90 per cent of their business is through
referral and word of mouth, so it's in their interest to ensure you're
absolutely happy with your choice.

To be helpful, here are a few things I would personally look for in a
tub (this list is by no means exhaustive, but it should be sufficient
to get you started):

- a good, no hassle, warranty. Pay special attention to the
limitations and exclusions or "weasel words" as I like to call them.
You don't want a heater, say, to fail and then have a finger pointed
at you and be blamed for not properly maintaining the water (sadly,
this sort of thing happens all too often).

- synthetic skirting. Real wood looks good initially, but over time
it will fade, crack and become stained by water and chemicals.
Synthetic skirting continues to look good year after year and requires
virtually no maintenance (and since your hot tub is likely to become
the focal point of your backyard or deck, good appearance is
important).

- a fully foamed tub with high-density, closed cell polyurethane
foam, for four good reasons: superior heat retention, structural
rigidity (so the spa shell doesn't weaken under the weight of the
water and the stresses of people getting in and out), quieter
operation and, perhaps most importantly, to cradle and support the
internal plumbing (without this support, the weight of the water in
these long lines can put considerable stress on the joints and this,
in turn, can increase the likelihood of leaks over time). Also,
closed cell foam doesn't absorb moisture as does open cell, so it
won't lose its efficiency and it won't support mould and mildew. It's
more expensive, but definitely well worth it. BTW, ever heard people
complain about how their spa covers become heavy over time or musty
smelling? Now you know.

- an ozone system to help keep the water fresh and clear. Avoid the
type that use UV lamps as they produce relatively little usable ozone.
In addition, these bulbs have to be replaced when they burn out
(roughly 15,000 hours or every year and half), which results in an
ongoing maintenance and expense. Corona discharge systems produce far
more ozone, use a fraction of the electricity and should last the life
of your spa. And contrary to what some might suggest, ozone systems
doesn't eliminate the need for a water sanitizer -- they're only there
to help support it.

- good filtration. Perhaps one of few times when "more" truly is
"better". In a hot tub, your body sloughs-off skin cells, body oils,
hand creams, lotions, soaps, shampoos, conditioners and other things
you simply don't want to talk about. You want to get all this "stuff"
out of the water as quickly as possible and that's the job of the
filter. Keep in mind that during certain times of the year when there
is a high amount of pollen in the air, smaller filters can clog up
pretty quickly. I've purposely avoided recommending specific brands,
but I should note that Hot Spring is the only hot tub that filters
every single drop of water before it comes out of any jet, 100 per
cent of the time ; all other hot tubs employ "by-pass" valves that
allow the water in your spa to "by-pass" the filter when the jets are
turned on (they simply can't force that volume of water through their
filters due to their smaller size). Needless to say, it's precisely
when everyone is *in* the tub and the jets are on that you want these
filters to do very their best. Water filtration may or may not be all
that important to you but, for me, I want my spa water to always look
good and I want it to be as clean as possible at all times. Not to
belabour this point, but the filters in most Hot Spring spas last
seven to ten years and can be cleaned in the dishwasher; standard
paper filters, by comparison, typically last two to three years and
are cleaned by soaking in a chemical solution for ten to twelve
hours.... a huge difference in terms of convenience and ongoing
expense.

This has been a long post and I apologize for that. I guess the one
thing I would like to emphasize is that you take your time, do your
due diligence and speak to as many people as you can before you make
your purchase. Believe me, the time you spend upfront is well worth
it.

Cheers,
Paul

On Fri, 14 Apr 2006 22:53:13 -0400, Jud McCranie
wrote:

I'm not familiar enough with what the top brands are. I saw a
ThermaSpa advertisement last night and called for information, but I
don't know if they are a top brand.

There are only three people in our family, so we don't need one big
enough for seven. However, I want a lounge (most have them) and the
ozonator thing. Some of the lower priced ones seem to have too small
of a pump and heater. I read that you want 240V and at least 40 amps.
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