SD Majesta vs HS Vanguard

[alwaysperky]

Oh I know. I didn't press them with any of those of questions. Don't  those sorts of sales tactics drive you nuts?  And as far a credibility goes, can I believe any claim they'd make on quality, filtration or price?

I did however wonder if there was something to the idea that one spa would cost considerably less to operate than another based on whether they had a pump going all the time, or just some times. (All  other things being equal.)

If it's a matter of $5 bucks a month, it may not be material enough for Evergreen, or anyone else to consider.

[J._McD]

Oh I know. I didn't press them with any of those of questions. Don't  those sorts of sales tactics drive you nuts?  And as far a credibility goes, can I believe any claim they'd make on quality, filtration or price?

I did however wonder if there was something to the idea that one spa would cost considerably less to operate than another based on whether they had a pump going all the time, or just some times. (All  other things being equal.)

If it's a matter of $5 a month it may not be material enough for Evergreen, or anyone else to consider.

I agree, it is not really the $5 bucks, or is it $60 a year, or over 10 years $600 bucks, but it's the thought and that's salemanship.  Keep in mind, I sell product too, but it is the twist of the sales presentation that make us think about the differences.  

To split hairs between HS and SD is a challenge in itself, but no shopper wants to "buy" the wrong thing, again that's the salespersons job, to sell them on his brand.  The significant differences in filtration, I believe to be insignificant, but a salesperson can make it into a major difference.  

The same with electrical consumption, I think their statement is thought provoking, and I would like to know exactly what they mean by what they say.  It raises the issue in the consumers mind, but how do they back it up.

I, for instance, can say with confidence that I will guarantee chemical consumption for your Hot Tub to be less than $100 a year, or we will pay twice the difference, and we will stand behind that statement.  But, does that make my Hot Tub better or does it address the concept of dealer services and proper water management?

[ebirrane]

I, for instance, can say with confidence that I will guarantee chemical consumption for your Hot Tub to be less than $100 a year, or we will pay twice the difference, and we will stand behind that statement.

It's all salesmanship and it's all worth the same!    If you have a family of 5 living in your hot tub, you will both use  more than $100 in chems a year AND have more than $20 a month in electrical costs.

My HS dealer guaranteed less than $20 a month operation and *did* offer to hook the spa up to a meter for some period of time (1-3 months??) to prove it, and showed letters and readings from other customers who had taken him up on the offer.  

HS is one of the best insulated tubs on the market.  Heck, over last summer my electrical bill was only between $5 and $10 more than the previous summer (of course we keep the tub temp down in the summer to around 97).  

So what? You might nott miss the extra $5, $10,  or even $20 more a month you might pay for a different tub's consumption.  You might buy a less efficient tub but use it less, or a more efficient tub and use it more.  If you pay $130 per year in chems, you shouldn't worry too much about it.

My car requires 93 octane. I hate paying extra for it, but I don't hate it so much that I would rather have another kind of car.

The value of the HS claim is that they stand behind their product and excel in the areas where *they* feel the engineering is needed. It gives you some trust if the things important for your shopping are the things important to their engineering model.

That is why wet test is king and the one thing everyone can actually agree on. If you buy a HS tub to save $5-$10 a month on electrical costs and maybe $30 a water change on filters but don't like the tub layout that's foolish.  Buy it because you like the motomassage, or the open seating, or the therapy zones, or... go buy something else!

If you really can't decide between two based on several (really, several) wet tests, then you start splitting hairs.

BUT don't start splitting hairs with replaceable micro-filter versus the washable tri-x filters, the cost per month to operate, etc.. etc..  that's getting into the minutae where the salesmen live, and it is minutae that evaporates within one week of whatever you buy.

Start with the dealer himself. All tubs will have problems.  HS and Sundance owners alike have had problems on tubs they bought in the past year here.  The dealer is who takes care of you.

People make mountains out of molehills and there are alot of dealers on this board selling or practicing pitches or learning about the competition.  Just because there is a good and/or responsible dealer on this board for a brand doesn't mean that your local dealer will be a joy to work with.

Buy the tub that you want to sit in for 3 hours with friends.

-Ed

[shabba34]

Is that $20 a month for a 110 volt spa, or is it $240 volt spa?

I do not believe any 240 volt spa could honestly make that claim.  How do the establish how much it does cost you on a month to month basis, winter or summer, and is there any cost to you to evaluate the electrical consumption. ?  I think they come out a put a meter on the system, but are they going to leave it there for how long?

Monthly cost of operation has a direct correlation to volts x amps = watts and 1,000 watts is a kilowatt and that is what we pay for.

the largest electrical consumers in the operation of a spa are the cost of filtration run time + the cost of heating the water + the use of the hydro therapy functions of the spa.

The circ pump is efficient but it has to turn over the gpm to filter the water clean, solid foam hold the heat in but you still have to replace lost heat, and when you turn those pumps on high,  :-/

I guarantee less then 12 dollars a month on all my HS models including the Vista and Envoy.  Although being FLorida makes a difference, not that much.  Many many HS dealers have written guarantees that state if your spa cost more than the guarantee states, the difference will be paid out to the customer over the next 2 years.  pretty strong selling point if you ask me.  These dealers are in the northeast, midwest, all the cold climates, and the spa still cost 12-15 bucks a month thru the dead of winter.  All other dealers carrying other manufactured spas should have there own guarantee if they claim such great energy efficiency.  Some customers that buy chems from me own different brands, X, Y, Z, and most of them claim 40-60 bucks a month depending on usage.  Thats outrageous, especially in FL.  makes you wonder what goes on throughout the rest of the country.
Oh, by the way, my guarantee states if you use the spa every day for 30 min per day, between 100-105 deg, otherwize cover being on, that spa will cost you less than 12 dollars a month.  The difference is unnoticable.

[East_TX_Spa]

Same here.  About $15/month on Vista and Grandee.  Less than that on the smaller spas.

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