Hot Spring Means Saving Money

One of the things I hear from many of my prospective customers is how important it is to save money.  Yes, they'd love to own a spa, but they want the very best deal they can get.  Who doesn't? In times like these we all shop for the very best value we can find for every product we buy.  We take advantage of coupons and special sale prices.  Many of us will shop at every grocery retailer in town to get the best prices from each.

I hear this on my showroom floor.  My prospective new clients will tell me how they want to shop around and make sure they get the best deal possible.  Some say they will go to every spa retailer in the Denver Metro area.  Some will search endlessly on the Internet.  What many may not realize is that spas are not commodities.  While the apples at one grocer are very similar to the apples at another, it is completely different with spas.  All spa are not the same. 

In point of fact, spas can be very very different from each other.  What looks like a good deal, if that deal is represented by  only a low purchase price, is quite often not what it seems.  When all costs of ownership are considered the real deal will become apparent.

At International Hot Tub Company most of our customers are repeat customers.  Many have owned a cheap spa from one of the big box mass merchandisers, Internet spa seller or local discount hot tub dealer.    They understand that energy use, chemical use, equipment repair and service costs are much higher with these price point spas.  Over the life of the spa, Hot Spring Spas are as much as $10,000.00 less expensive to own.  Hot Spring Spas truly provide the "Absolute Best Lifetime Ownership Experience".  Saving money for their customers is one way they do it.

24 Hour Silent Circulation means Cleaner Water

Of all the features found in a spa from Hot Spring, 24 hour silent circulation is one that is most appreciated by our customers.  And by their neighbors as well.  Most spas use a  dual speed pump, low speed to filter and heat the water.  High speed is only for hydrotherapy or high pressure jet action.  The problem is the noise the pump makes on low speed.  It's a dull, low hum, that can be heard for quite a distance when its quiet outside.  The Silent Flo circulation pump from Hot Spring is exactly that, silent.  It moves over 5000 gallons of water every day through the filtration and heating equipment.  You can't hear it operating, without removing the equipment panel door, kneeling down and putting you ear right next to the pump.  For all intents and purposes, it is absolutely silent.

There are other reasons to love this feature.  First, it saves money.  The Silent Flo Circulation Pump uses less power running 24 hours a day, than low speed on a dual speed pump that runs 4 hours a day.  About   $10.00 a month less energy!  That's about $2400.00 over the life of the spa.  Even more if you pay higher than average electricity rates.

Finally, 24 hour circulation enables 24 hour ozone injection.  Ozone is a gas that sanitizes the water, oxidizing contaminant, cleaning the water automatically as the circulation pump runs.  Spas with dual speed pump usually operate only four hours daily.  Since ozone can only be injected into spa water when the circulation pump runs, spa with dual speed pumps inject 6 times less ozone.  This means they need more conventional spa chemicals to keep the water clean. 

                                                                            
Some other spa makers have incorporated a 24 hour pump into their spa lines in response to the Silent Flo Circulation Pump from Hot Spring.  Hot Spring was the first to develop it.  Hot Spring has been the industry leader from the very beginning.   No wonder Hot Spring Spa are imitated.  Imitation IS the height of flattery!

The $3500.00 special

     In an era of incredible competition for consumer dollars, premium spa dealers find themselves competing against the $3500.00 spa special from the big box stores and Internet spa stores.  It looks great.  It has lots of jets.  It has fancy L. E. D. lights. It has a waterfall.  It has a digital control, a cover, heater, and pumps.  Why would anybody pay more?
     We call these low end products "spa-like" objects.  They look good, but are not the same as a premium spa. They are nothing like a Hot Spring Spa.  While these products cost less to buy, they actually cost more to own. Much more!  These price point spas have weak warranties.  Out of pocket service costs begin shortly after the purchase.  These spas have weaker filtration and purification systems.  They'll need more chemicals to keep the water clean.  The spa cover will be of lowest quality and have to be replaced sooner.  The ozonator has a chip that needs replacement every year ( many so-called premium spa dealers sell the same).  They are delivered to your driveway.  It will cost extra to deliver it to the back yard.

     The biggest money pit related to these "spa like objects" is the energy, the electricity, it takes to heat and keep them hot.  These products are never insulated very well.  Insulating a portable spa is a process that takes time and money.  The insulating foam is expensive, as well as the equipment to use it.  At Hot Spring Spas the foam room is over 100 yards long.  Spas travel up and back in this room as they are foam insulated.   Each layer of foam is allowed to cure properly before another layer is added.  This layering creates thermal barriers and make the spa incredibly energy efficient.    No cheap spa from a discount merchandiser is Energy Smart or a Flex Your Power Award Winner.  In fact these spas are anything BUT cheap.  They are energy hogs that will cost thousands more to own than a quality, energy efficient Hot Spring Spa.  When you consider all costs of ownership, a Hot Spring Spa is less expensive than the cheap price point spa from a no service big box store or internet web site.

Honestly Green, No Gimmicks, Just Energy Efficient Hot Tubs

     It's everywhere you go.  Every commercial break in whatever media you're connected to.  Product after product is engaging in green marketing.  Green is "IN".  It's cool, fashionable, and to many, a defining characteristic of earth saving importance.  To me, it's all about common sense.  A product that can do what its supposed to do, using  less energy and thus saving money, is better than one that uses and costs more.  Common sense.   It has always been that way at Hot Spring Spas.

From the very beginning, Hot Spring has been an ultra energy efficient product.  The feature that contributes most to the efficiency of a spa is the way it is insulated.  No spa is better insulated, with layers of closed cell insulating foam.  Most spa makers don't fully insulate their spas.  Many use almost no insulation at all.  The spa makers that do insulate their spas use mainly half pound density, open cell foam.  This open cell foam is packing foam.  The light protective foam that shipping departments use to protect what they put in boxes they ship.  This foam is great for shipping protection, but does a poor job as an insulator for a spa.

The spa's hard cover is the next most important feature relating to the energy efficiency of the product.  Hot Spring makes their own covers.  They don't buy them from a 3rd party that makes the cheapest cover possible.  Spa makers include the cover with the spa, so most use the absolute cheapest cover they can find.  Hot Spring covers feature a customized fit with a patented cover hinge that locks in heat.  They fit perfectly and last much longer than the covers that come with other spas.

There are other features that help Hot Spring Spas stay hot for less.  The patented energy shroud harvests hot air from the jet pumps and uses it to help keep the spa hot.  The jet manifolds are engineered to minimize restrictions, while the jets themselves are designed to perform without the need for pumps with high horse power and thus high energy consumption.  The No Fault Heater's patented design transfers almost 98% of the heat making it as energy efficient as it can be.

                                                                                       

Hot Spring uses as much recycled material as possible in the manufacture of their spas.  Some of the cabinets and frames use recycled material.  The manufacturing plant also sports a co generation electrical machine.  It's a natural gas fired generator that produces electricity that is put back in the grid.  The machine is fluid cooled, but instead of using a radiator to cool the motor, the hot coolant is plumbed to heat exchangers to produce domestic hot water and space heat.  This lowers Hot Spring's overall power consumption. 

At Hot Spring Spas being "Green" is not just a marketing gimmick or a fashionable political point of view.  It's an honest, common sense out look on their products and their manufacturing facility.  It is one of the best reasons to own a spa from Hot Spring.

Got an Athlete in the family, Get a Hot Tub in your Backyard

I remember when my youngest boy Michael decided he wanted to try gymnastics.  He was four.  He saw a TV  show featuring youngsters practicing gymnastics.  He watched the jumping and rolling and bouncing and flipping........well, I guess it looked like a lot of fun.  He became insistent and we enrolled him in a children's tumbling class at our local rec. center.  One thing led to another and by the time he was 10 he was a member of a USA Gymnastics Club competing on the men's team. 

Men's gymnastics is the toughest, most physically demanding sport of them all.  The level of strength and flexibility necessary to perform, even elementary skills, is absurd. The discipline it takes to train four hours a day, five days a week, 12 months a year, is something most people do not possess.  There is no off season in gymnastics.  Strength, flexibility and technique must be constantly built upon.  A couple of months off could put an athlete a year behind, especially as a child.  Gymnastics is not for everyone.  For Michael it was perfect.  He embraced the training and discipline.  The gym became his second home.  His teammates became his best friends.  Our hot tub became his favorite place to find relief from the pain and aches of training.

Mike would spend time in our spa every day.  His body was constantly sore, always being pushed to exhaustion in practice.  Our spa provided the pain relief he needed.  He was in the spa mornings before school.  Again in the evenings after training.  His mother and I would watch him enjoy the relief the spa provided.  It was something that made his training more tolerable.  So if you have an athlete in your family, a hot tub in your back yard will help them deal with many of the issues that athletic competition bring.  

Michael has retired from competing and is coaching now.  He's the men's program director for a gym where he was once a team member.  His love of the sport and  the discipline he learned will be with him always.  I think that in a small way our hot tub was part of that.  We spent many evenings, after his meets, soaking in the spa, reliving triumphs and failures.  Mike spent many hours in the gym working hard and training.   Having a personal spa in our back yard for him, and our family,  is something we're glad we did.