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.