Spa Frog bromine in-line vs spa frog @ease smartchlor in-line

[Ohiotubbin]

Hello everyone,

I have read a ton of posts on here as my wife and I researched hot tubs for our first tub purchase. Now that we finally bought one I figured I would join for ongoing enlightenment to a noob 1st time tub owner.

We ended up deciding on a caldera marino.  We were able to get it for $6400 finances at 0% for 60 months(allowed us to expand the budget beyond sams club or factory direct tubs).  Now is the hard part...waiting two weeks for delivery.

The question I have is whether to run the smartchlor in line system or the bromine system that are both available for the tub.  We did get an ozonator if that helps decide between the two, but no circ pump (my understanding is that the ozonator will only run a couple times per day when the jet pump kicks on for cleaning cycles...but I may be wrong).

Does anyone have experience with these specific products and which will be easier/more cost efficient in the long run?

Thanks in advance.

[castletonia]

Wow, you got a great deal!  The ozone will run during the filter cycles.  I would recommend running both filter cycles 3 hours each, so 6 hours total. 

I have sold both Marquis and Caldera over the last 5 years.  I have always had good luck with the bromine when using the 200G cartridges that are available through either a Marquis or Caldera dealer.  When using the standard 150G cartridges, I had all sorts of issues with there being enough bromine in the water.

SmartChlor has been my preference since Frog released it in January 2016.  I'm not a huge fan of bromine, so I would suggest smelling bromine prior to making your final decision.  Cost should be similar.  I sell the SmartChlor cartridges for $1 more than the bromine cartridges. 

[Hottubguy]

Killer deal especially with the financing and the ozonator. Smart chlor would be my choice. I never had very good luck with the bromine frog system with customers or in my own tub. Smart Chlor is easy. Shock here and there and watch ph because it fluctuates a good amount with smart chlor

[Ohiotubbin]

Thanks for the advice. The in-line system really appealed to me while we were shopping.  Anything that makes it less work for me to maintain 

As far as the deal goes... I’m very satisfied.  It was 1k more two weeks earlier. My wife and I were deciding between a bullfrog x7l and a hot spot relay.  I hated the vibe I got from the bullfrog dealer and my wife felt like she was drowning in that tub.  The price was a little higher as well. We were leaning towards buying the relay for a very similar price to what we got the caldera for, but it wasn’t 0% financing.  I stopped into the caldera dealer one last time on a whim and he had a tent sale going on 5500 cash or 6400 financed.  Had to sign on the spot.  I only wish I had the cash on hand. Oh well. 12 more days until I can start enjoying this.

[bradleyabell]

Thanks for the advice. The in-line system really appealed to me while we were shopping.  Anything that makes it less work for me to maintain 

As far as the deal goes... I’m very satisfied.  It was 1k more two weeks earlier. My wife and I were deciding between a bullfrog x7l and a hot spot relay.  I hated the vibe I got from the bullfrog dealer and my wife felt like she was drowning in that tub.  The price was a little higher as well. We were leaning towards buying the relay for a very similar price to what we got the caldera for, but it wasn’t 0% financing.  I stopped into the caldera dealer one last time on a whim and he had a tent sale going on 5500 cash or 6400 financed.  Had to sign on the spot.  I only wish I had the cash on hand. Oh well. 12 more days until I can start enjoying this.

If I were you I would go and get an outside loan (with good credit interest rate would be around 6%) and then cash the check they send you to get the "cash" price ($900 savings).  That's what I did and then I paid the loan off in 5 months and paid barely any interest.