Getting a Hot Tub

[DavidD]

We've decided to add a hot tub to our pool area. After researching, I really like the Artesian Rio (link to site). Although a basic no frills hot tub, It is the perfect size and the footprint will work well for us. After a bit of research, they seem to be built well using OEM parts, have decent blown in insulation, and have and have many positive reviews. It comes with an ozonator however the sales rep said it can be turned off by the internal breaker but seemed a bit confused why I'd want to . It also comes with some @ease inline system which is basically a dichlor feader with some mineral module. As a long time Pool Forum now Trouble Free advocate, no doubt I'll be following the BBB method.

Anyone familiar with this brand and/or model?
Any suggestions/advice would be appreciated.

Dave

 

[jseyfert3]

It also comes with some @ease inline system which is basically a dichlor feader with some mineral module.

It's not dichlor (or trichlor). A member experimented with using it. Initially they liked it, but after the second season the water went cloudy all the sudden and when they did an Ahh-some purge tons of junk came out. Jumping back in: Bullfrog A5L with SmartChlor

Do an Ahh-some purge before you use it! Mine most certainly has more junk that came out because we got it with out house and it was kept on with no chlorine all winter, if not longer, but people do report junk coming out of new tubs with an Ahh-some purge. 26' Intex - Planning, Install, Upgrades, and Landscaping Thread

 

[RDspaguy]

Definitely purge.
Artesian has always made a decent tub. I have not worked on any of the new ones, but they hold up well from the ones I have seen.
I like ozone for it's ability to oxidize chloramines and chlorine, not for any sanitizing ability. I can shock to high levels after each use to destroy contaminants from heavy bather load but not have to soak in a bleach bath the next day. It's like a built-in chlorine neutralizer. I'm not sure that it plays well with a continuous feed chlorine system though. Seems kinda counterproductive in that case. But I am not familiar with smartchlor, perhaps it is more stable than liquid.

 

[BravoRomeo]

It also comes with some @ease inline system which is basically a dichlor feader with some mineral module. As a long time Pool Forum now Trouble Free advocate, no doubt I'll be following the BBB method.

It's not dichlor (or trichlor). A member experimented with using it. Initially they liked it, but after the second season the water went cloudy all the sudden and when they did an Ahh-some purge tons of junk came out. Jumping back in: Bullfrog A5L with SmartChlor

Yeah, I'm not so hot on the @ease system after trying it for a couple of seasons. I was hoping it would at least be passable. After all, it'd be great to recommend something to friends that want a hot tub but just can't be bothered with daily testing / dosing. Maybe, just maybe, if you're not too picky it could work for a couple or three months at a time... to the tune of ~$90 per set of cartridges. You give up the ability to monitor CC, and since both SmartChlor "reserve" and MPS show up a CC, it's maddening trying to figure out if you just need to shock more, your CCs are actually high, or it's all peachy keen. Drove me crazy...er.

My advice, use the dichlor / bleach method advocated in this forum.