On Apr 24, 7:23 am, dgk wrote:
On Mon, 23 Apr 2007 14:38:30 -0700, "Steve B"





wrote:

"dgk" wrote in message
.. .
I'm having the bathroom gutted. It isn't very large, the current tub
is five feet by 30". I'm getting a bit older and fairly physically
active (tennis, swimming, biking) with assorted aches and pains and
figured that a whirlpool tub might be a good idea. I just read the
previous few years messages on the subject but I'm not clear on a few
things.

The new tub will be 5 feet by 32", not much of a difference. It will
double as a shower. Will that contribute to cleaning woes? Is it a bad
idea to use a whirlpool tub as a shower? I understand that dishwashing
powder is the recommended cleaner. Someone I know of who has a tub
says that keeping the jets clean is a royal pain. They may not know
about dishwashing powder though. I'll inform them of my finding.

As for electric, there is a line added to the house (I can see it
going up the back wall) that feeds an air conditioner in the adjacent
bedroom and I've read that the tub would need a GFCI line. Could it
share the A/C line? Is that a code issue? I'm in New York City.

I have fuses and all the slots are taken. The house has 200 amps,
according to the two big fuses so there is plenty of power. But an
estimate of running another line is around $700 and I can do without
that.

I've read a few comments about folks not using these after they've
been installed, but nothing from folks who do use them. Is anyone
actually using them? They seem to sell a lot.

I have two of them in my house. I use both of them on the average of once
every two years. They are great for washing sheer curtains. As a
bathtub, they suck. They lose heat fast, use a lot of hot water, and are a
pain to keep clean. The water that stays in the jets gets skungy quickly,
shooting into your next bath water. Both are Jacuzzi, both were a lot of
money, and both were a total waste of money. I bought an actual hot tub for
as much as one of them cost, and I like it MUCH better. Save your money,
and if you want a hot tub, get a real one.

Steve

Ah, so you really like it! Down in the basement I have a whirlpool
attachment; my father once won it in a raffle. He's been dead for
around 20 years so I'm not sure what shape it's in. It fits over the
side of the tub and has one big jet that pushes the water. I used it
once years ago. I'd use it more often but my tub has the cat litter
tray in it. I have a separate shower.

My plan was to build a shower into the tub and move the cat litter
into the old shower (which will all be redone anyway). I figure that
the shower will keep the litter dust contained and I can just run the
shower to wash it away.

Ok, so the whirlpool tub seems like a bad idea. Maybe when I look here
later today 150 people will have written in about how they use it all
the time. In the meantime I think I'll look around to see if there are
any good whirlpool attachments for when I have a bad muscle pain. It
seems that they have gone out of style though.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


I agree with Steve B. If you want something that works well and you
will actually use, get a real spa and put it outside or in a finished
basement area. I think they are far superior to the bathtub type and
would go that route unless you can't for some reason.