I’ve had two over the last decade or so.1st was a cheap 110v that couldn’t run the jets and the heater at the same time. It was, as another poster mentioned, very fickle about the chemicals. I started out using chlorine but later switched to bromine. Mainly I hate the chlorine smell, but bromine does better in hot water anyway. Even so, I was forever testing and fiddling with the chemicals. Hot tubs are touchier than pools. Warm water is a great environment for bacteria so if your ph and sanitizers are off, the water can turn nasty pretty quickly.
When I moved, I left that one behind and got a much higher end spa. This one is a 240v and has much stronger jets and can stay hot when I’m using them. I’ve also switched to something called the Frog System. Get your tub ph, alkalinity, and everything set and toss in the two part floater. The first part has a mix of minerals that slowly dissolve. The second part is the chlorine. It attaches to the first and floats underneath is. As the chlorine dissolves, the whole thing slowly rolls over. Once the chlorine cartridge is floating on top, you replace it. Every three months, you replace the mineral cartridge. It is incredibly simple to use and I’ve pretty much stopped testing the water because the system seems to be maintaining everything perfectly. I’ve had to adjust the alkalinity once in the last year and that’s it. I’ve never had to add any other chemicals since I started using this system. As an added bonus, I rarely notice the chlorine smell. I highly recommend it.
As for the people who talk about bugs and stuff in the water… you need a cover for it. If you leave it open, of course it will get nasty. You also can have problems with vermin. If there are openings in the shell, including the bottom, mice will likely get in. Whenever it gets cold out, that hot tub is very inviting to them. If they get in, they will probably start chewing wires and die horribly while costing you a bundle in repair costs. Put the tub on some sort of pad, concrete or otherwise, to stop vermin from tunneling underneath and watch for and damage on the shell where they might try to chew their way in.
If you are like me and love a long hot soak once or twice a week it’s great. If not though, you may regret getting one. They can be a lot of work
Nothing but regrets. What I imagined and what I got are two very different things. I was thinking party time and sexy date night with the wifey. Instead, it’s a big ass chemistry set that also attracts pests.
I never saw a rat outside until they set up shop inside where the pump and all the plumbing is. I have no idea how they got in there. I smelled something dead and it took a while to figure out it was in there. Unscrewed the panels on the side and found a whole nest in there and a decomposing rat. Another time, a bunch of nasty frogs got into the water even though it was covered.
Aside from that, it was a nuisance to maintain. There’s always something a little off with the water. I spent more time maintaining and cleaning that damn thing than I ever spent relaxing in it. Then the cover eventually wore out from being in the sun. That was like $500 to replace.
That hot tub was nothing but an expensive mistake.
I bought a refurbished one about 5 years ago and it had been amazing for my wife and I. We run and lift weights a lot and it really seems to help with recovery. Replace the filters and add chlorine when needed. It’s actually pretty low maintenance for us.
Never would have bought one myself, but it came with the house, and it’s one of my favorite things. It’s remarkable how physicall and mentally refreshing it is after doing a bunch of yard work or after a particularly mentally-exhausting day at work.
Ours has broken down twice, though, in 6 years, so between that and regular maintenance, it’s an ongoing expense.
I would argue that prepubescent kids are not as greasy and oily as adults are, and although EVERYONE should shower before getting into jacuzzi, practically NOBODY does unless they are forced to do so and/or extremely fastidious about it.
My parents owned one when I was young. I remember it working only a few times and almost never getting used. They spent thousands to repair it to only use it a few times before it broke again.
One of the highlights of their life was getting rid of it and reusing the space.
Hot tub chemical stores always tell you to use bromine instead of chlorine. They claim chlorine will destroy your tub. I have been using chlorine for 20+ years on 3 different tubs. Never had a problem. I suspect they recommend bromine only because it’s more expensive.
Bromine has a higher boiling point than chlorine, which allows it to stay in the hot water longer. You can use chlorine in a hot tub, but you have to add it more frequently to achieve the proper level of sanitization.
It’s a matter of long-term economic effect. Both work, but one is cheaper in the long-term because bromide sanitizers for longer at higher temperatures, such as those which exist in hot tubs. That’s the point they were making.
Chlorine also works fine, but because of the higher temperatures, you have to use more, which cost more.
I got a Caldera spa in their mid range line. It is 240V, 5 person, with a salt system and a cover lifter. It cost about $12k USD all told. I love it, but DEFINITELY get the salt system for chlorinating. It would be much more of a pain in the ass without it. As it is, I still love the thing and use it regularly. I check the water chemistry about every five days and it’s super simple to maintain. If I have a party and we are in for extended periods I have to add chlorine daily for a few days but that’s it.
For the cost of heating you can pay for a lot of gym membership. And if you don't use the gym cancle (gyms are notorious for being hard to cancle so read the fane print)
If you’re going to get one, highly recommend getting 240V instead of 110v/plug and play type. 240V are the only ones that can really keep up with the heat and give you that real jet feel in the tub.
If possible, keep it somewhere covered. We have it in our covered patio, which allows us to get use of it in any kind of weather and prevents mosquitos/other bugs coming around.
Chemical balancing can be pretty tough, we mostly keep a steady supply of bleach around to make sure it’s staying clean. One issue we had was the test strips never seemed to say the water was hard enough so we kept adding calcium hardner, but it ended up precipitating and making a rough coating on the seats (eventually we were able to clean it off). Ended up deciding it wasn’t a big deal if some values are out of range on the test strips as long as the stuff to keep people safe is balanced (ie chlorine)
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