Lightning Effects and Dark Shell

[5858Vince]

Hi,

My wife and I are at the picking out the exterior and shell colors on a Hot Spring Aria stage. My wife really likes the light Grey exterior with the dark Grey shell. My question is do the lighting effects (from the underwater lights) show up as well with a dark shell as they do with a white or cream color shell? I don't want to get the dark Grey shell if it significantly diminishes the ambience created by the lights.

[Jacuzzi Jim]

  The lights will still look good, but not as good as a lighter shell color

[The Wizard of Spas]

From my experience, with several different brands, there will be a difference but I do not feel its enough to move the meter.  Typically when you use the spa, its at night, when lighting is most luminescent, virtually rendering the shell color moot, as LED technology has gotten better and units having more and more lighting on their units.

Additionally, the shell colors, in my personal opinion, mean more in terms of water lines/chemical lines.  The darker you go, the more prevalent scum lines, water marks, etc. are. 

Furthermore- The finish may also play into the equation as well:  Acrylic w/quarite will have more of a textured finish and is more forgiving, vs the finishes with only acrylic.  The latter finishes will show more flaws and are more prone to fine scratches, and the former will be more industrious.

Finally, the cover will likely be on over 95% of the time.  Though the most dominating feature when you walk in a showroom is the shell, the cabinet will be the thing you see the overwhelming majority of the time.  Make sure it is aesthetically pleasing to you.

I hope this information helps.  Good luck in your decision and good luck moving forward.

[girlinhotwater]

I have a HS Envoy with the white shell. My neighbor has a Caldera spa with a grey shell. Both spas at night have cool lighting effects, but with the white shell the colors are much more vibrant. My neighbor has commented that they wish they had gone with the white after seeing mine. Sometimes though, I like to turn everything off and just stare up at the stars. One night I saw two shooting stars within 5 minutes apart! Way cooler than any spa lighting effect  The Aria is an amazing spa you will love! I love the grey exterior with a grey cover but my opinion, going with the white shell is the only way to go with lighting effects in mind.

[Compatico]

I have a HS Envoy with the white shell. My neighbor has a Caldera spa with a grey shell. Both spas at night have cool lighting effects, but with the white shell the colors are much more vibrant. My neighbor has commented that they wish they had gone with the white after seeing mine.

We're still debating a dark shell as it would look cool with a grey cabinet and cover. Haven't seen one at night yet...we'll do that before we decide. But logically a lighter colour will help with the lighting effects.

Sometimes though, I like to turn everything off and just stare up at the stars. One night I saw two shooting stars within 5 minutes apart! Way cooler than any spa lighting effect  The Aria is an amazing spa you will love! I love the grey exterior with a grey cover but my opinion, going with the white shell is the only way to go with lighting effects in mind.

We do that a lot...several times we've soaked during meteor showers in cool weather like the Draconids, Orionids, Leonids, and there's nothing better than a hot soak while watching the show.

[5858Vince]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I think we decided on light grey exterior and white interior. We live out in the country with no cities even near by, so we look forward to many nights enjoying the beautiful night sky while soaking in our hot tub.

[Racenut]

We have dark blue shell with silver jetpacks in ours, you really see the difference with the lights on.  The silver reflects a  lot more light and kinda glow compared to the darker blue. Hard to take a pic because it's gotta be dark to see it and we don't have a bunch of lights in our tub. But if it was all silver, I think you can see that it would be a lot brighter.



Our old tub was all white on the inside, I didn't want another white tub.  If used in the daytime, it was too bright and the sun glare was harsh.  That said, if I had it to do over again, I would probably get one of the lighter, earthtone, textured finishes.  The dark smooth surface collects water spots like crazy. Kinda like owning a black car, it looks great when its perfectly clean, but....

[pmang]

I have an Aria with the platinum interior (dark grey)... There really are only two lights under the water line. The rest are on the surface. I think they show up just fine (especially the blue!). If I could figure out how to post pics from my phone here, I'd be happy to show you!