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Hot Tub Buyers Guide
Buying a hot tub is a nightmare...
The truth is, there are so many side track issues, exaggerations and outright misinformation perpetuated by manufacturers and retailers alike that even an intelligent, diligent researcher does not have a hope in hell of making an educated buying decision.
Part of the problem is a lot of the retailers don’t really know that much about the hot tub industry or what really makes a great hot tub. For the most part, they are just regurgitating the pitch they got from the manufacturer when they bought the line of spas they are selling.
First let's talk about the real issues that will make the biggest difference to your hot tub buying choice,
like shell construction and making sure you have a quality parts list that is easily sourced on the open market, then we will reveal the sales pitches that are all about side tracking you... I call these the spin issues, these are the hot buttons that customers want to hear - like how easy it's going to be or how low chemical it's going to be.
The Stuff That Matters:
Insulation
The insulation systems used on hot tubs often have the best spin marketing misinformation surrounding them because hot tub manufacturers spend a lot of time creating sales pitches so that they don't have to spend a lot of money on quality insulation systems. This is pretty easy to get to the bottom of, all you have to do is ignore the fake news from marketing literature and look at the science behind efficient insulation systems.
Luckily for you, the research has been done again and again and the technical data is there from the regulated home building industries in every cold climate country in the world! They are Unanimous!!! What matters with a good insulation system is the R-Value. So what is this magic R-value thing??? R-Value is just a way of rating insulation systems, the higher the R-Value number, the better the system is at keeping heat from escaping!!! Simple!!! Trust me, no hot tub manufacturers bullshit pitch about some new tech they have, is going to change that reality :)
"foam systems are more expensive but if you go with a cheap perimeter system you will be losing heat and money every moment it runs..."
When it comes to Good high R-value systems in hot tubs nothing beats filling the entire hot tub cavity with foam insulation. But what type of expanding foam they use is critical! If they use a high density closed cell foam, as a lot of brands do to help support cheap thin shells from cracking, then you are in for a real nightmare when it comes to repairing leaks because these polyurethane foams get really hard and make finding & fixing leaks expensive and lengthy. So make sure they are using an open celled foam which will not only allow easy access for repairs but will also hold its R-value over time!
These foam systems are more expensive but if you go with a cheap perimeter system you will be losing heat and money every moment it runs. If you live in colder areas, it also leaves you far more vulnerable to frozen pipes and damage should you ever lose power. I always advise people to insulate at least as well as the house building code in their area mandates, which in most Northern countries is R-25. Several “miracle” hot tub insulation systems use materials and methods like radiant barriers that have been basically banned for use as a primary insulator in a house. If it isn’t good enough for your house, it isn’t good enough for your hot tub.
Components
Now I will only say this a million times so listen close… components, components, components,
components,
components,
components,
components...
In case you missed that folks, it is all about the components; these are the parts like jets, fittings and heating & control systems. When we build a hot tub or swim spa, we can buy good solid parts with decades of proven reliability that can be easily bought from multiple sources and are competitively priced like Balboa heating & control systems, CMP jets, Waterways jets, pumps and fittings or we can buy cheap low quality Chinese made parts and this is where it really gets messy!
"They started making parts that just fit their appliances and they made sure the quality was low and the failure rate was high. It's called proprietary parts..."
You see the main point of using cheap parts is not just to save money on building the hot tub, it's much much worse than that because the real reason is to take away your freedom to get parts for your hot tub and to make massive profits selling you these crappy high failure rate parts again & because they are specially made to only ever fit their hot tubs and therefore they can control the cost and screw you for years to come!
This is not new, it happened about 15 years ago in the appliance industry. Do you remember when washers, dryers and dishwashers lasted for 20 years and could be easily repaired and parts were reasonably priced and super reliable? That's because once upon a time all the appliances used basically the same parts or close enough that they could be substituted between brands. And, when something went wrong, you could call your local appliance repair guy and he would show up, fix the unit no matter which brand it was, right there & and give you a reasonable bill... then away you would go with years more before something went wrong. Then these smartass corporate bean counters came up with a plan to screw you...
They started making parts that just fit their appliances and they made sure the quality was low and the failure rate was high. It's called proprietary parts & obsolescence and it's a nightmare for you and me. Now when your 3 or 5 year old appliance fails, the service guy shows up, usually he has to go away and order a special part that should cost $50 but costs $300 because you have no choice. It's the only place he can buy the part and if he is an old school appliance repair guy, he will tell you that the unit isn't even worth repairing and mumble about how crap all the appliances are now. So then you will throw it out & go buy a new one and the cost to you and the environment of having this “designed to fail crap” filling landfills and eating up resources to remake again & is astronomical!!
This is now becoming prevalent in the hot tub industry, a lot of the big corporate brands have adopted this corporate profit strategy and are making huge profits off of you at a massive cost to the environment. Several countries are bringing in legislation to stop this but in North America there is no sign of help from the government...
Make sure the hot tub you buy is sustainable and uses quality parts that you can get easily at a fair price!
Dealers
When shopping for a hot tub, retailers will try and scare you into thinking that a local dealer is critical and event sales people will play it off as not important. So who is right??
It really depends a lot on where you live and which brand you buy. The reality is, the idea of a local dealer is kind of dated...
What you need after delivery is timely information, apps like SpaStar, put that all on your phone! And you don't have to wait on hold or hope they are open, you can get the information immediately 24hrs a day. The next thing you need is accessories and chemicals, which are all available cheaper online delivered to your home and the SpaStar app will have that right on your phone as well.
The last thing you need is service when it breaks and if your area has a lot of independent service people, like the west coast and certain other areas, then you have a rich resource of specialists at hand. These independents who specialize in just fixing tubs are usually better than retailers because retailers focus on sales, these guys do one thing only... they fix hot tubs… and service can be requested with a click of one button on apps like SpaStar. Now all of this is assuming you are not buying brands that intentionally use proprietary parts that are made to just fit their hot tubs; to intentionally limit your freedom to get independent service and right to repair. But the reality, these brands are not a great option anyway not just because of the proprietary parts scam but also because they are overpriced, over marketed, middle of the road spas, tricking you into thinking they are some next generation build quality through tricky marketing spin and pseudo science.
Our Private Buyers Service and Consulting Service can help you through this mess of misinformation and advise you to make sure you are buying from the right source for your area and your brand selection.