110 V 220, Powerful Jets?

[Chuck The DJ]

My wife and I are just starting to look at tubs, we like powerful jets, I know that is a matter of opinion, but in reality, are the tubs that are 110 and you just plug them in, can they have as powerful of jets as one where you have to bring in 220?

Sorry if this is a basic question, but we are new to this and I searched 110 v 220 and didn't find anything...

Thanks for the help,,, 

[hottubdan]

It all depends on the spas.

[Tman122]

Agreed, a smaller tub with fewer jets that are designed right can have plenty of power on 110V. But on a bigger tub you can get more HP at 220V and that combined with a bigger pump....................well you get the idea. All depends on the tub. If 2 HP 110v can supply enough water to the right amount of quality jets it can have plenty of power. But you have to feel it for yourself to see if it feels right for you. On the other hand 4 HP on poorly engineered plumbing with lower quality jets can feel lessor.<------is this a word

[bob snader]

can they have as powerful of jets as one where you have to bring in 220?

Well, yes and no.

The big difference between 110 and 220 is amperage. You don't need to supply as many amps to get 220 to do the same work as you do 110 and the hooker about that is that the more amps a motor requires then the bigger and beefier all the electrical aspects have to be to support those amps. So to a point you can get 110 to do the same or even better than 220. But after that point it simply becomes more cost effective to to start driving pumps and heaters with 220 and leave the 110 behind

Now, as for the plug-in type hot tubs at 110, your average household outlet is maxed at 15 amps. To put that into perspective a simple 1500 watt hair dryer comes close to that maxing out that outlet. Of course that resistive heat which pulls a lot of amps but I use that as an extreme example. The point of the matter though is that you only have 15 amps to work with form your average outlet. Now jet pressure is dependent on a lot of things like how many you have connected to one pump for one thing. So if you get a smaller 110 hot tub with fewer jets then you could easily have your powerful jets. But at the end of the day there really is no comparison to a 110 plugin type hot tub and a 220 system because of that 15 amp max on your average outlet. (now I should point out that some outlets can run at 20 amps, but they have to specifically wired for this with a beefier cable)

[Chuck The DJ]

thanks,,, as renters we have to think about all this stuff..

[brillskill]

i have a 110 tub ,i will tell you this,if you have a diverter valve you can get decent pressure.(mine is in a 20 amp) as per manufacturer..but imo it no way will it be as powerful as a quality 220 tub..in my case i didnt really care about the pressure too much but if pressure is your most important option on a tub i would say go 220