Top 10 Reasons to Own a Hot Tub

1. Relaxing: think of how you can relax in a nice warm quiet bathtub. Now move that hot tub of water outside for the fresh air. Then make it larger, deeper, add the massaging actions of hydrotherapy jets and add a heater. Hot tubs are all that and more.

2. Muscle Massage: The best hot tubs offer you a variety of seat depths and designs. You should find a variety of jet styles and jet positions in each seat and the jets should be adjustable. The hot tub pumps will also typically have low and high speed, and you should be able to turn the air on/off to increase/decrease the strength of the hydrotherapy jets. This allows you to pick just the right seat, with just the right jets, at just the right strength, to massage away those stresses of the day.

3. Joint Pain Relief: The full body heating effect that you get in hot tubs feels great. I think we all know that the application of heat is a common treatment for various aches and pains. Why not do it while you float away stress in your very own hot tub spa.

4. Improve Sleep: Relaxing in a hot tub raises the body temperature and enhances your ability to fall asleep. Evening soaks help to promote restful, uninterrupted sleep, which allows you to face the next day fully refreshed.

5. Limbering Up: The hot water in hot tubs decreases muscle tension, which allows greater flexibility. You can also stretch better when you are buoyant in the water.

6. Gathering Place: Flip open the hot tub cover, start the jets, and watch how family members and friends migrate to the hot tub for a soak. What a great way to enjoy some "quality time" with the children or grandchildren.

7. Post-Op Therapy: We hear from many folks every year who are buying hot tubs to help them recover from surgery, often for back or leg problems. Some folks are fortunate enough that their insurance company will pay for a hot tub if they have a prescription from their doctor. Hot tubs provide hydrotherapy rehabilitation which may help patients get back on their feet faster.

8. Starting the Day: Imagine a morning refresher that includes a soak in your very own hot tub, while listening to the birds chirp and watching the sunrise...coffee optional.

9. Lifestyle Statement: Your new hot tub can be part of a backyard Showcase. Turn on the LED lighting and fountains, and the hot tub becomes a centerpiece for backyard parties. Even if no one gets wet, a hot tubs beautiful appearance and soothing water sounds become the center of attention.

10. Entertainment Zone: Invite friends and family members to watch home movies while relaxing in the hot tub. This is particularly fun if you have a hot tub with built in TV, such as our BellaGrande SLT. Of course you'll want a best quality hot tub stereo too, with a built-in sub-woofer.

Spas And Stuff offers great discount hot tub prices every day. Please also see our beautiful, quality outdoor kitchens for your backyard, as well as our very popular indoor infrared saunas.

Building Cheap Hot Tubs for Sale - Part 2

We offer this list, because as the saying goes, price is remembered only for a while, quality is remembered forever.
(click here to read Part 1)

Helpful Hint: check out a company by searching their name along with the words rip off, or perhaps scam. You may be glad you did.

Car or Marine Stereos instead of Proper Spa Stereos
Car stereos and most marine stereos are not suitable for hot tubs because they have cooling vents in the chassis. These vents can let moisture in that will ruin the stereo (an outdoor hot tub is a moist environment). But these stereos are attractive to cheap factories as they are very inexpensive. A common practice is to tape over the vents and hope the stereo does not overheat in the hot tub. Spas And Stuff uses proper hot tub stereos, designed for spa installation, with a sealed chassis and heat syncs for cooling.

Extruded Acrylic instead of Cast Acrylic
Continuous Cast acrylic is the industry standard for the best hot tubs. Less expensive brands use extruded acrylic to save money. Although they appear to be the same from an aesthetic standpoint, extruded acrylics are much thinner than cast acrylic. They are also prone to crack easier and will fade over time. Spas And Stuff hot tubs use cast acrylic.

Frame Construction
For best quality, a hot tub frame should be made from construction grade lumber, as ours are. We also use pressure treated lumber on all parts of the frame that would come in contact with the ground. Lesser brands will use cheap 2x2’s that are commonly used for strapping in construction and not for structural purposes. 2x2’s are generally cut from the center of the log and are more prone to warping. Some companies market steel frames. Although they look nice, they are made from a very thin steel. Properly built wood frames are stronger than steel and will not bend or rust.

Screws (non-coated or capped)
Our screws are coated to JS500 hours salt spray exposure standards to ensure that they will not rust. Many manufacturers use coated deck screws that will rust in a short period of time, and that will look terrible on your hot tub cabinet. We also cover our screws with a decorative cap to ensure that they match the hot tub cabinet.

Heater Element
Our heating elements are made form an 825 incoloy element to resist corrosion from chemical imbalances in the water and reduce the chance of calcium build up on the element. Incoloy heater elements last longer and operate more efficiently than standard heating elements.

Hot Tub Cover Quality
An area that is often overlooked when purchasing a hot tub is the quality of the "free cover." Check the specifications to ensure the hot tub cover has a vapor barrier, adequate skirt length, thick marine grade vinyl, at least a 1.5 lb foam density, and that it is tapered to provide for water runoff. Even a well insulated hot tub can cost more to heat if the cover isn't good quality.

Plumbing Shortcuts

1. Smaller piping - allows for okay pressure if the hot tubs are built with smaller jets, but you may not have nice water flow overall.
2. No clamps on jets - Just gluing the water hose to the back of the jet mount.
3. No glue on jets - Just clamping the water hose to the back of the jet mounts...our hot tub factory both glues the hose on and then clamps it, to prevent water leaks.
4. No silicone on spa jet mounts - fast method, use only preformed silicone rings to seal the jets mount to the spa shell. Our spa factory uses both liquid silicone and silicone rings. It takes longer, but practically eliminates the chance of a leak.
   

Hot Tub Water Testing
This is very important, especially if you are buying a factory direct hot tub. Our factory water tests every hot tub to ensure it does not leak and that everything works correctly. That means when you start up your new spa, it should work properly. In contrast, lower quality mass production factories may only water test every 10th or 20th hot tub.

Spas And Stuff offers great discount hot tub prices every day. Please also see our beautiful, quality outdoor kitchens for your backyard, as well as our very popular indoor infrared saunas.

Building Cheap Hot Tubs for Sale - Part 1

While Spas And Stuff has always offered great discount prices on hot tubs, sometimes we see some really cheap hot tub prices out there. While price and quality are not always a precise correlation, we thought it may be helpful to offer a list of ways a hot tub factory might cut corners in order to offer what appears to be a deep discount price. These are in no particular order, and there are so many, that we will break the information into multiple posts. As always, buyer beware, and sometimes a deal truly is too good to be true.

Foreign Made Hot Tubs
This scenario is so common, and for whatever reason, the quality of the parts and the workmanship does not seem to be the same. We get several calls a year from folks that purchased a cheap hot tub, made in (you know where) and it no longer works. Worse yet, that can't find a compatible part for replacement. When planning to purchase a hot tub, ask if it is made in the USA or Canada.

48 frame pumps instead of 56 frame pumps
48 frame pumps cost less, but take more electricity to generate the same amount of horsepower. The result is that you will likely have a higher monthly electric bill and that discount hot tub price may not seem so cheap over the years. Our 220 Volt spas come standard with 56 frame pumps.

Fixed Spa Jets instead of Adjustable Spa Jets
Fixed spa jets simply snap in place and cannot be turned on/off on an individual bases. Spas And Stuff hot tubs are only equipped with jets that can be individually turned on/off with a simple quarter turn of the outer ring of the jet. They cost more, but offer the bather greater control and variety in their hydrotherapy.

Chrome plated Spa jets instead of Stainless Steel
Chrome plated jets will quite possibly have the chrome peel over the years. On our more upscale hot tub models, we use stainless steel jets...they cannot peel.

Thin Hot Tub Shells
This can be caused by using thinner acrylic, minimal amounts of material to strengthen the shell, or a combination of both. While the spa may look shiny and new, a weaker spa shell may show signs of warping when filled with water, and of course there is the chance of cracking over time.
Spas And Stuff shells are manufactured using only thick acrylic sheet, as well as more than the recommended thickness of Acrylobond (the material that strengthens the shell).

Hot Tub Insulation: Type and Amount
Hot Tub insulation is a very big topic in that you can find many variations in the market. Some portable hot tubs have nothing but about a one quarter inch layer of expansion foam spayed on the backside of the spa shell. Cheap to purchase, but using your hot tub in the winter may prove to be ridiculously expensive. Another technique is to insulate the inside of the hot tub cabinet with board or sheet insulation. This idea is reasonable in theory, but to be truly effective, the fit has to be perfect, as well as the sealing of the cabinet. Anyone who has lived in a cold climate has probably experienced the electrical outlet that seems to be letting in cold air...the insulation was not well fitted or sealed around the outlet.
Spas And Stuff uses waterproof expansion foam on the backside of our spa shells. It is sprayed on to be several inches thick and provides an average R30 insulatingvalue. We don't put less on spas for southern climates and more for hot tubs that will be in winter climates. They are all built the same way...the right way.

Hot Tub Water Testing
In a mass production hot tub factory, or simply to keep the price down, some factories will only water test some of their spas. Spas And Stuff hot tubs are all water tested for a minimum of two hours. This ensures that all functions operate correctly and that there are no leaks in the plumbing. You'll know your spa was water tested when you unwrap it, as you are likely to find some remaining water from the plumbing down in the foot well.

Hot Tubs Sold Without an Ozone System
A common way to cut the initial price of a hot tub is to not include an Ozone Generating system. Some places charge $250.00 or more for this as an upgrade. Ozone will naturally kill bacteria in your spa water. It is not currently possible to safely add enough ozone to eliminate the need for other sanitizers such as chlorine or bromine, an ozone generator will help reduce the amount you will need and help keep your spa water crystal clear. Spas And Stuff automatically includes an ozone generator on every spa.

Hot Tub Warranties
There are four common ways we have seen companies try to make their hot tub warranty look better than it actually is.
1) The labor component is much shorter than the parts component, for example, 3 years parts, 1 year laor.
2) Pro-Rated Spa Warranties. For example, the pump may have a 3 year warranty, but the factory will only pay one third of the price of the new pump if the broken one is 2 years old.
3) Deductibles, where the owner pays the first "x" number of dollars of the warranty repair.
4) Not covering Technician trip fees. This is where the spa tech charges a fee just to drive to the home. Depending on the distance, these may be as much as $100 or more.
Our Spas And Stuff hot tub warranty is very favorable for our customers, as we do not take part in any of the aforementioned.

Check back soon for Part 2

Spas And Stuff can help you build your own personal paradise at home, an our big discount prices save you money. We also offer beautiful, quality outdoor kitchens for your backyard, as well as our very popular indoor infrared saunas, including red cedar models with the latest in carbon fiber heater technology.