The Four Things That Actually Matter When Choosing a Hot Tub
Updated: 2 days ago
There are perhaps four decisions that matter when you buy a hot tub, and jet count is not one of them. Here is the order we would think about it in.
One: the seat
Sit in it. This is the whole answer and it is the one thing you cannot do online.
Lounger seats are shaped for an average body. If you are five foot four or six foot four you are not that body, and a lounger that does not fit means a large part of the spa you paid for is a part you will never use. Roughly half the people who walk into our showroom certain they want a lounger choose a bench instead, and they are happier for it.
A bench seats everybody upright, fits more people in the same shell, and nobody floats out of position. A lounger is wonderful for one person with a specific back, and awkward for everybody else.
Two: how many people on a normal Tuesday
Not at the party. On a Tuesday.
For most households the honest answer is one or two. A spa sized for that gets used constantly, costs less to buy, less to heat and less to fill. A spa sized for the twice a year gathering costs more on every one of those counts in exchange for a night that rarely happens.
Also treat brochure seat counts skeptically. A tub advertised for eight holds eight adults the way a car seats five. Count the seats you would actually want to sit in.
Three: where it is going, and what is underneath
A filled spa runs four to six thousand pounds. It needs a properly poured, reinforced, level pad, or a deck specifically framed for that load, which most decks are not.
It also needs a dedicated circuit installed by a licensed electrician, which is a real line item of several hundred to a couple of thousand dollars depending on your panel and the run. Budget it with the tub rather than discovering it afterwards.
And measure your gate before you buy. Fitting a shell through access is not something to find out on delivery morning.
Four: friction
This is the one nobody asks about and the one that determines whether you use the thing.
How far from the back door. Is the path lit. How hard is the cover to move at ten at night in January. Can you see three neighbors' windows from the water.
The people who use their spa four nights a week put it close to the house, with a cover that opens easily and some privacy. The people whose spa sits idle put it at the end of the yard and told themselves they would walk out there in the cold.
What about jets
Placement beats count, comfortably. Thirty well-placed jets will do more for a bad lower back than a hundred and forty aimed mostly at your calves. When you sit in a tub, notice where the pressure actually lands relative to where you hurt.
If your therapy needs are likely to change, Bullfrog's JetPak system is worth seeing. The jet cartridges lift out and swap between seats, so you can re-spec the massage later rather than buying a different tub.
New, display or certified used
New gives you the new and your choice of colors. Display model means it lived on our floor, filled and running, and was then drained and cleaned, so the history is fully known and the discount is large. Certified used means it came back in, got stripped, tested and repaired, and only then went on sale.
The parts that matter, the shell, the jets, the seat geometry and the insulation, do not depreciate at the rate the price does. Put a certified premium spa against a new entry-level one at the same money and the used one usually wins on therapy.
Come sit in several
We are at 3289 TX-101 in Bridgeport with Bullfrog, HotSpring, Jacuzzi, PDC Spas, Master Spas, Cal Spas, L.A. Spas and Endless Pools on the floor, certified used from around $6,488.
Shoes off, coat on, nobody follows you around. Call 936.333.0770 or email sales@txspaguy.com. We do the pad, the deck and the delivery too, so it stays one conversation.
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