I just bought a hottub for our house! It's official - I'm now a true Californian.
I ordered it a little while ago and it will be here in 3-4 weeks. It's gonna be great.
Posted by Doug Allan (Member # 2247) on :
COOL! (well you know what I mean)What kind are you getting? L.A. Spas?
I almost did that last month. In the end, my wife wanted a tub with jets, & I wanted the outdoor, always full variety. She didn't like the idea of "chemicals" to kill the bacteria, or expense to keep hot all the time. I would settle for the jetted tub... but thats an entire remodel job I wasn't ready to rush into... plus I was told to consider that the jets never really drain fully between uses, & therefore can stagnate until they get flushed into your next bath YUK!
So, I still want the outdoor spa, but I have to provide some more convincing studies on the safety of the chemicals.
Posted by Kimberly Zanetti (Member # 2546) on :
Doug, Check out this one I got from Costco...it uses an "Ozonator" to keep the water clean rather than chemicals. It's also $500 off this week!
I 2nd your motion on the ozonator. The bonus is the water has a fresh air fragrance rather than that puky chlorine smell. It's wonderful! We have to tweek ours with chemicals from time to time but no where near than if we didn't have it.
A small tip for those wanting hot tubs, do NOT install them too far from your house. We did that in our other place inside a gazebo with climbing roses all over, it was exquisite but too much trouble to walk out to. (especially in snow LOL) This time we have it connected to our veranda right by the back door. Much better!
Posted by Si Allen (Member # 420) on :
Doug.....the outdoor spas are not expensive to keep hot...IF you get an insulated cover for them. They are very well insulated, and only cost $10 t0 %15 per month to keep running!
Like Donna said, keep it close to the house. PS...go for the 220volt model...cheaper to run and heats up much quicker.
Posted by Doug Allan (Member # 2247) on :
good tip Si.. I wouldn't have guessed that the 220 v. ones cost less to heat. (the lack of snowy weather helps too) Great news on the "ozonator" (words like that have the right new-age ring to them to calm the chemical paranoia before I even get to the facts ) I've got just the place picked out under the Gazebo I recently built... but mine is adjacent to my house.
Posted by Si Allen (Member # 420) on :
LOL when ya get into it, all the day's aches, pains and worries seem to disappear!
A glass of wine and a cig...pure pleasure!
Posted by Doug Allan (Member # 2247) on :
lol... like some tofu with that wine Si Posted by faye welsh (Member # 2524) on :
congratulations,kim. you are such a sweetie,you deserve it. i think it will be heavenly! pleasure awaits!!good luck!fiddles Posted by Neil D. Butler (Member # 661) on :
Kim, My wife and I bought ours over 3 years ago, and as donna says we have it on the deck tucked away on the side of the house, it's great. Actually we were in it last night with friends until 2 oclock in the morning. We have in inclosed on 3 sides for privacy and as a wind break. It's a "Soft Tub" it plugs into an ordinary Outlet, ground fault that is and is super efficient and also Portable... there's actually no heater in it... can you believe that? It heats the water off the Pump, that is to say it uses the heat that comes from the pump to heat the water, and we have it set at 106 degrees. It is a 6 person tub, but you can fit 7 in there. You are gonna love it!
Here we are ,all our neigbours... we have the best Neigbors in the world.
Posted by Lotti Prokott (Member # 2684) on :
Pardon the ignorant question from the northern hemisphere, but why on earth would anyone living in a hot climate like California or Hawaii want to jump into a HotTub?? Up here, I can see that, but you, wouldn't you rather COOL down from the day? Posted by Todd Gill (Member # 2569) on :
I was kinda wondering the same thing Lotti....But I bet it would be neat in the cooler winter evenings in California.
Hawaii? I don't know. Does it ever get cold there?
Have a great time with that new hot tub...I bet it will provide hours and hours of relaxation after a hard day's work.
[ March 13, 2004, 03:42 PM: Message edited by: Todd Gill ]
Posted by Doug Allan (Member # 2247) on :
Todd, when you own your own... you can turn the heat down to your liking
Lotti, when I'm hot, I like to cool down... but I still don't take cold showers & cold baths... it does get fairly cool on the sloaps of our 10,000 ft. volcano. I don't live that high up, but high enough to need jackets & be able to enjoy my fireplace on the patio, & require up to a few blankets at night.
a pic I posted the winter before last: Posted by Kimberly Zanetti (Member # 2546) on :
We'll tend to use it as a little pool during the day in the summer. At night, we'll just heat it slightly and enjoy the bubble part.
Posted by Mike Pipes (Member # 1573) on :
Hehe...
Even on the hot days here in the desert, a hot tub is still cooler than the air!
After a day of working or being out in the sun, getting in a hot tub at night is still relaxing cause nothing works on the muscles like hot water and massaging jets.
You'd be surprised to know that an unheated pool in the desert is actually TOO COLD to enjoy getting into. The dry air here causes so much evaporation of the pool/tub water that the temperature cools down quite a bit. 75/80 degree water is a shock when it's hot out, and anything less than your body temp is a potential hypothermia risk given enough time continually submerged in it.
Posted by Lotti Prokott (Member # 2684) on :
Ok, I'm convinced.
Now I want one, too! Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
Ours is 220 and it costs around a buck and a half a day to keep it hot.
Posted by Todd Gill (Member # 2569) on :
Well I'll be dog-gonned....I never would have thought that about Hawaii. I have these pictures of Magnum P.I. in my head.
That's interesting....and a fireplace to boot! I learned something new today.
Have a good one...
Posted by Kimberly Zanetti (Member # 2546) on :
Todd, It's 6:45pm here on March 13th and it is 76º outside. Got to about 88º today but just a couple of weeks ago, we had a fire in our fireplace. It's more for atmosphere than anything else but it's nice to take the chill off the living room without turning the heat on in the whole house. All the houses here have fireplaces.
Mike's right about the pool. Sometimes it's so hot outside that the water in the pool is way too cold. It's a shock to your body.
Posted by Bob Ficucell (Member # 1460) on :
>Doug, Check out this one I got from Costco...it uses an "Ozonator" to keep the water clean rather than chemicals. It's also $500 off this week!<
Ozone is not a very effective, it only lasts in the water 22minutes after you shut the pump off! Then you have NOTHING sanitizing the water! If you have a concern about chlorine, use bromide. Bob PS.Iv'e been a poolman for 16 years here in So. Cal. FYI
Posted by FranCisco Vargas (Member # 145) on :
That did it! I want a HOT TUB too! I was in one not to long ago and it was a trip, pretty relaxing among other things about it. Even soothes back pains. Kimberly, you're a lucky gal!!!
Posted by Janette Balogh (Member # 192) on :
Congrats Kimberly!
So glad for this post. We'll be getting one too this year, and all this input will help in making our decisions with it.
Thanks! Janette
Posted by Doug Allan (Member # 2247) on :
Bob, thanks for the "poolguy" tip
I just searched out this SITE I had found last month when researching for "ammunition" to convince my wife to relax & agree to buying a spa. I found the same page again which is a thread on a spa BB. The info seems to be varied, but for the most part backs up Bob's comment. It also failed to give me any "ammo" & took the wind out of my sails on ever convincing my wife that the "chemical factor" was minor enough that she could overlook it (overlook worrying about it, I mean)
Posted by old paint (Member # 549) on :
tood i was on maui, and the weather at the waters edge is always a balmy 80....we drove up to the top of the volcano 10,002 feet...and i FROZE MY A** OFF!! had sweatshirt and long pants on....and the wind cut thru ya like a knife!!!
Posted by Jillbeans (Member # 1912) on :
Good for you Kimberly. My brother bought one a few years back-dunno the particulars-but he has occasional parties in the winter. It is on his back porch, which has a roof but no walls. He and my other brother and my one sister sit out there for hours in below freezing temps, yakkin & drinking cheap beer. I can't do hot tubs since my late 30's when menopause reared its ugly head. Too many hot flashes! Enjoy! Love...JILL
Posted by Steve Burke (Member # 2674) on :
Just to compare, Kimberly,
Last night at 6:45 it was about 28 to 30 deg F. We would NEED the heated one- unless you wanted a mini ice rink...
LOL Neil I see you bought one of those foam-sided ones. I am tempted myself, and now that I see a happy customer I'll keep that one in mind- they are so much cheaper that regular ones, aren't they? PS all you need now is a draft tap on the wall behind you.
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
I asked my chiropractor for a prescription for a hot tub so that it can be considered a medical need and reflect so on my taxes. We did that for years and I doubt we do it any loner...don't know why though.
I find the benefit for my back is tremendous, and it's a place we can visit and have family time that is most always quality time. It's easy to get in the car and talk about the bills, but the hot tub is far more condusive to talking about feelings and dreams and problem solving. We have prayer time in the hot tub every morning too.
Over the past twenty years there have been very few times our tub has been used for social purposes other than for our family. The high chemical objections are usually the levels required for public pools, and those levels are not needed for your home tub. You need enough to keep the water clear. Even with the ozonator chemicals are still used for balancing the PH. Many of the folks I know with ozonators express dissappointment with the short life and expense of the bulbs.
I'd rather have my truck break down than my hot tub!
Posted by Peter Schuttinga (Member # 2821) on :
You'll love it. We've had a tub for 11 years now, sits on the back deck, 5 steps from the back door. Figure it costs us around $20 per month to keep heated. Some things to be aware of. Those nice covers are expensive to replace. I built a gazebo style roof over ours to keep the snow and rain from puddling on the cover. Water and snow weighs down the cover in the middle, which over time will cause it to sag too much eventually destroys the foam/cover. Foam inserts are around $350 and a cover around $550. Secondly, hot tubs do have a constant 'humm' to them, something you may not have noticed in the store. We placed our tub on our wood deck, which is only two feet of the ground. The pump motor (which is always running at low speed by the way), does vibrate, and the wood from the deck picks up the vibrations/sound. I would have preferred to have it on a cement pad (this summers project). We use a bromine floating dispenser, works very well in keeping the chemical balance in the water just right. We keep our tub around 102-103 F. This is still safe for younger kids, and allows us to stay in for around an hour if we are so inclined. Don't fall asleep in the tub, you'll end up very wrinkly! Soap residue (or deoderant) on your body or on your hot-tub atire can cause a fair bit of foaming in a hot tub. I have a pair of shorts that I wear in the hot tub that are used only for the hot tub, I rinse them after each use. Bromine will affect the elasticity and colour of your shorts over time. To clean the tub (every two to three months) I use baking soda, which works very well. Eating in the tub will garantee a 'ring around your tub' especially peanut butter. Making snow angels after being in the hot tub is ill adviced, it is very painful. Sitting in the tub on a moonlit night when there is snow on the ground is just the coolest thing.
Enjoy kimberly, I still spend an average of 4 nights a week in ours, helps relax me and I sleep like a log afterwards.
ps those jetted tubs use a lot off hot water to fill up, and they do not stay warm for very long, especially when using the jets. I don't think they have heaters in them?! My friend built one into his previous house, they only used it a few times, citing the above reasons. In his new house they have a hot tub.
Posted by Neil D. Butler (Member # 661) on :
Yes Steve a Tap on the side of the house would be great.. But I'm not too far from the fridge.. then again there's all kinds of snow by the side of the tub to keep the beer cold.
On a safety note, ALWAYS USE PLASTIC GLASSES When having a sociable in the tub, Glass is not the thing to have around the tub.
Rick hit the nail on the head, My wife always says when she's in the tub, the pressures just fade away, it feels like we are a millon miles awyy on a resort somewhere.
And far as chemicals, nothing cleans better than chlorine, just use it as directed, it's not difficult to keep the ph balances and the alkaline levels where they should be, I always shower when I get out anyway, and I'll tell you I change the water every month or so anyway.
I think I'll have a dip tonight, it's -2 degrees today, no wind, Perfect for a soak.
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Enjoy!