Was wondering what people recommend for getting a separate spa

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BasicTek

BasicTek

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Oct 9, 2016
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Lake Mary, FL
I've learned how to manage my pool through this site and really enjoy it, and now I've been looking at getting a spa. Since I have no experience owning a spa I was hoping to get some feedback from people that do.

Here is a link to an Everlast Spa at Sam's club running $6,000. It seems to be a reasonable higher end spa with a lot of features that sound great (to me a non spa owner).

What impress's me is the look, design, built in steps, cover, tons of LED lighting, bluetooth stereo with sub, lots and lots of jets reaching from neck to toe. It comes with 2, 5 HP pumps, a blower pump, ozone/UV, and filter.

#1 Now I see challenges right away. It's 900 lbs and I have to bring it from delivery truck to back yard. I assume that would take at least 2 men and a dolly? I'm not sure 900 lbs is a lot.

#2 Once in back I was wondering if people preferred putting under the covered patio (to use spa in the rain) or under the screen to see the sky.

#3 I have to provide 240 power, I assume I will need an electrician for this and was wondering how much that might run? It's possible the run might be short if it can be done from my pool pad, but if not the main electric is on the opposite corner of the house.

#4 I've seen posts about ozone/UV and I got the impression people weren't very impressed with it, is that the expected way to sanitize the spa? If I want chlorine should I look at another spa or how do most TFP people handle this? I use SWG on the pool, and have all the testing equipment.

If there are any other gotcha's I may be missing, or if the spa I'm looking at seems a bad deal, please let me know as well. I'm just starting this venture it could take a year before I decide but have to start somewhere. Thanks!
 
Tim,

Not sure that I can answer most of your questions, but I can tell you that my wife and I bought a used spa this year and really love it!!! We have been in it almost every night since we bought it.

I hired a team from Craig's list (Firemen) who specialize in moving these things when not running into burning buildings... :p They had a special "sled" that is made of really heavy duty slippery plastic on the bottom and padding on the top.. To move the spa, they just flip it on its side on top of the sled. One man can pull the sled with a harness like a horse would have. My spa is a small 200 gallon unit that only weighs 450 lbs, but there would have been no way that I could have moved it..

I did have to disassembly a fence gate and remove a trim piece in order to get it in the backyard.

Even my little spa requires a 50 amp service. It could be that your equipment pad has that, but I doubt it. In my case, I had to run a new line from the main electrical panel to a new breaker box on the other side of the house. I did it myself, so I have no idea what it would cost to have an electrician do it. In my case, the outside breaker box came with the spa... But, I doubt it comes with a new spa. So I suspect you'll need a 50 or 60 amp breaker for your main service, the wiring, an outside breaker box near the spa, and most likely one 20 and one 30 amp GFCI breakers. Then a flex whip of some type to connect the spa to the new electrical box. My guess would be $2K, but I have no idea if that is even close to being right..

I added a salt system to my spa and love it. My pool is a saltwater pool, so for me it made sense for my spa to have a saltwater (chlorine) based sanitizer.

I do not have UV or Ozone.. While not a great asset for an outdoor pool, my understanding is that they are great for a spa, because the spa is more like an indoor pool because the cover is almost always on.

Speaking of covers.. I see the one in your link says the cover is "tapered".. My cover is concave, like a bowl and does a great job of collecting rain water... :( The previous owner told me this before I bought the spa, so I was not surprised, but the tapered cover sounds great.

Here is a picture of my basic set up..

dbtgallery.php


Thanks for posting,

Jim R.
 
Thanks Jim that really does help me a lot. I had a feeling 900 lbs was a lot more than I would be able to deal with. So I'll check on the expenses of wiring and moving as well.

One question, you have SWG for your spa, but unlike the pool we don't move water in and out, did you integrate it with the spa equipment somehow? If the UV/Ozone is a safe enough sanitizer, then I supposed I could simply add some salt to the water to get that softer water feel.

I see quite a range of features and extras available with new spa's I assume more jets is always better, LED lighting will be awesome, are there any features you especially like? There's a ton of these used on craigslist and what not, so I could certainly spend a whole lot less on the spa, but I was worried that used spa's would be much more prone to breaking...

Anyway we'll see what the summer brings, like I said for purchases of this size I typically will watch the market and options for some time to see trends sales, read reviews, etc. Thanks for all the info!
 
Tim,

I do not believe that UV and Ozone by itself is enough to sanitize your spa. I believe that they "help" sanitize the spa, but they still need chlorine or bromine..

I tend to stay on the equipment side more then the chemical side when answering questions, so you will need to do some follow up..

Let's see if one of our chemical experts can chime in...

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
BasicTek said:
I've learned how to manage my pool through this site and really enjoy it, and now I've been looking at getting a spa. Since I have no experience owning a spa I was hoping to get some feedback from people that do.

Here is a link to an Everlast Spa at Sam's club running $6,000. It seems to be a reasonable higher end spa with a lot of features that sound great (to me a non spa owner).

What impress's me is the look, design, built in steps, cover, tons of LED lighting, bluetooth stereo with sub, lots and lots of jets reaching from neck to toe. It comes with 2, 5 HP pumps, a blower pump, ozone/UV, and filter.

#1 Now I see challenges right away. It's 900 lbs and I have to bring it from delivery truck to back yard. I assume that would take at least 2 men and a dolly? I'm not sure 900 lbs is a lot.

#2 Once in back I was wondering if people preferred putting under the covered patio (to use spa in the rain) or under the screen to see the sky.

#3 I have to provide 240 power, I assume I will need an electrician for this and was wondering how much that might run? It's possible the run might be short if it can be done from my pool pad, but if not the main electric is on the opposite corner of the house.

#4 I've seen posts about ozone/UV and I got the impression people weren't very impressed with it, is that the expected way to sanitize the spa? If I want chlorine should I look at another spa or how do most TFP people handle this? I use SWG on the pool, and have all the testing equipment.

If there are any other gotcha's I may be missing, or if the spa I'm looking at seems a bad deal, please let me know as well. I'm just starting this venture it could take a year before I decide but have to start somewhere. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Hi Tim, I have had my Hot Springs Grandee for 4 months and we love it. Delivery was included and it took 3 guys with the sled that Jim mentioned. I had electrical right at the spa but it still cost 650 to put in the box and wire up the spa. Ours is out in the open, but we use it regardless of rain, snow or whatever. We did get a swg with the hot tub, works great to maintain chlorine but I still manually add chlorine after each use.
As far as managing the spa, as long as you go the chlorine route, pretty much exactly the same as your pool.
 
Alwayswantedapool said:
We did get a swg with the hot tub, works great to maintain chlorine but I still manually add chlorine after each use.
Click to expand...

Thanks Mark,
Same question I asked Jim, how is your SWG plumed with the tub? I thought these were all self contained (but I don't know as I have only been shopping them online) My current SWG is so oversized I could probably chlorinate 3 pools with it, but looking at a hot tub it's never mentioned how the water would go through your own chlorination/SWG?
 
Tim.

My Spa salt system is not like the ones made for pools. It is just a small "cell" that gets put in the water over the side of the spa. The whole thing was less than $200..

Here are a couple of pics of the unit...

dbtgallery.php


dbtgallery.php


It is called the Saltron mini... by Solaxx.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
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