My spa-buying story, told as it is written. How will it end?

[Haligonian]

So here's my idea.

To help future spa-buyers, maybe entertain current forum-readers, and add something to the hot tub discussion, I decided I'd document my entire spa-buying, installing, and using progress, step-by-step, as it happens. The good, the bad and ugly. Today's research and tomorrow's reliability. The plan is to add a new post to this thread for every new development and decision related to buying, receiving, and using our new hot tub. I've appreciated the advice and opinions I found in this forum. Hopefully my experience is of some value to someone considering investing in a spa--at the very least, I'll be another voice with something to say about the brand of spa we end up choosing.

Prologue: A bit about me.
My wife and two young kids and I live in an urban 110-year-old house just outside of downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada). For years we've talked about buying a hot tub. We got a membership at a local hotel's health club partly so the kids have somewhere to swim, but also so the two of us would have access to a hot tub (it's about four blocks away from our house). Using that hot tub regularly (it's a foamy disgusting mess way too often) only made us want a spa of our own more intensely.

At the back of our house we have a smallish (13' x 8.5') deck filling an L-shaped space framed by two walls of the house. This deck is about 4 feet off grade, and has two patio doors going to it. The PERFECT place for a spa.
A month ago--after much deliberation and financial wrangling--we decided to pull the trigger. We would buy a hot tub. We would tear down the current deck. We'd install the tub in the L-shaped space, and deck around it. We'd expand the deck, with stairs down from the spa level to a ground level deck--the new home of our deck seating that will be displaced by the spa.

We set a budget of about $21,000 for the whole project--spa plus deck. And we began.

Please comment and ask questions as you want, as I go. I'd rather this be a discussion than a one-way monologue!

[Haligonian]

Chapter 1: The research begins.

This forum (and other sites) were useful sources of information. I pored over reviews and opinions, which of course are a dime a dozen, and often contradictory. In the end what mattered most to us was:

-High quality. We had no interest in Costco, Walmart and Home Depot. We wanted a high-quality spa offered by a spa-specialty store with a great reputation and on-staff service.

-Energy efficiency. The climate in Halifax is temperate because we're on the coast. Summers get to 25 or 30 Celsius, winters are typically between 5 and -5 Celsius, sometimes hitting -10. Spring and fall are chilly. I'm anal about energy-efficiency in our house. So though I'm willing to absorb a dollar-a-day electricity increase, or whatever it might be, as the cost of doing business when it comes to owning a hot tub, I'd kick myself if I felt I ended up with a poor performing tub, from an efficiency point of view.

-Ease of use. My wife and I are both busy people, and if possible, I didn't want to saddle myself with a tub that demanded too much of my time from an upkeep point of view.

-Access to quality service by the dealer. Halifax is a small city (400,000 or so) so this immediately limited my choices. The city has basically two hot tub dealers--one for Beachcomber, one for Arctic Spas. This made research easier. Both Arctic and Beachcomber seemed to be respected from an insulation and efficiency POV, and both have good reputations for quality. At least both have their fans. Sure both have negative reviews, but both also have glowing reviews. Overall, each seemed to be considered as good quality choices. And both have repair service in-house.

So narrowing it down to these two was easy. But which would it be between the two?

[Haligonian]

Chapter 2: Arctic or Beachcomber?

Both these brands checked most "wants" off our list, so both were contenders. Both were Canadian companies, which was great, but didn't help us decide. So, before visiting either location and talking to a salesperson, we considered the benefits of each.

-We knew we were leaning toward a smaller spa. It would be the two of us in it 95% of the time. Sometimes the kids, but we'd mostly use it after they were in bed. And we didn't imagine inviting friends over to join us often, if ever. We were immediately drawn to the Arctic Spas Arctic Fox model for its size. Two seats plus a lounger, with room for a fourth, should the need arise. Beachcomber had a two-person spa that could never fit four, and then a full-on four/five person spa. The Fox fit that in-between space that we liked. Plus, its footprint fit the L-shaped space we had for a spa perfectly.

-Both seemed well-insulated, and had solid reputations for energy-efficiency. Beachcomber is full foam, Arctic is perimeter foam. I read the pros and cons reviews of both, and listened to the brands' pitches for both. Since both seemed like they insulated well, I liked the access that the perimeter insulation granted. I emailed a customer service rep and asked if they had any evidence of Artic's superiority of insulation, and I had a pleasant back and forth conversation online. The person sent me the results of the third-party tests they commissioned, which showed Arctic performing best against the competition. Yes, I know, I get it--you can only put so much stock in commissioned tests such as this. Nevertheless, if the stats are trustworthy or meaningful at all, it at least positioned Arctic as being well-insulated.

-Arctic Spas offered the Spa Boy "automated water monitoring and maintenance system. I was intrigued but skeptical. I read some of the chatter on this forum about Spa Boy, and salt systems in general. Mixed reviews and comments. Nothing definitive. I noted that most of the extremely negative comments about saltwater systems (rust, etc) were very old. Had salt systems gotten better over time? Since Arctic offers their own proprietary salt systems, surely their tubs and tub hardware are built to deal with the salt? The idea of a system that monitored and maintained the sanitizer was very appealing, even with the upfront cost (listed as a $2,000 option). Regardless, Beachcomber had no similar product.

Overall, the above three points had us leaning strongly to Arctic Spas. To clinch our leaning, I talked to a friend who recently bought a spa for his cottage, about an hour out of the city. He bought an Arctic Cub, with Spa Boy, and had nothing but praise for both. He said Spa Boy kept the water pristine with very little of his effort or time required.

I emailed my local Arctic rep to get a quote on an Arctic Fox, with Spa Boy. So we'd have at least a ball-park idea of what this might cost us, as we had no idea until this point--the Arctic website doesn't list prices. This led to a series of 5-10 back and forth emails in which the Arctic rep was very friendly, very responsive, very helpful. Ultimately, i got a formal quote: $9,000 all in, plus tax. That included:
-The Arctic Fox Prestige at a $750 discount, 5" thick cover upgrade with lifter, teflon heater, EcoPak (web-connect), 50amp GFCI, delivery and setup, cedar steps, all chemicals to get started, and Spa Boy, at a $400 discount.

A visit to the Arctic Spas show room was in order.

[Haligonian]

Chapter 3: Visiting the Arctic Spas showroom.

Since Arctic Spas' Arctic Fox had three things going for it that Beachcomber didn't we rented a car (we live in the city, so we live car-free--just no need for one, normally) and headed out to their showroom in the industrial park. Walking in, I was pretty sold on the Fox model. But I wasn't totally sold on the Spa Boy automated salt system. At $1600, it was a substantial cost compared to chlorine or bromine. I wanted to talk to the salesperson about Spa Boy, whether it was worth its salt, so to speak (hah!), and how reliable I could expect it to be.

I met with the salesperson I had previously emailed with, and we spent over an hour together looking at the spas, talking about the Arctic differences (perimeter insulation, etc), and about the pros and cons of Spa Boy. He was very friendly, very honest-sounding, and low-pressure. It was a great experience. There was none of the silly theatrics I had read about on forums (jumping on covers). Just a regular, friendly guy, answering my questions with useful information.

I asked what percentage of their recent sales decided to go with Spa Boy vs passing on it, and he said it's up to about 90%. About 90% of customers, currently, choose to go with the automated salt system. He admitted that in salt's early days, like 8 years ago, salt would have been a poor decision. There was a learning curve, and their salt system was constantly tweaked and improved over the years. Today, salt PPM is so low compared to the early days they see none of the rusting concerns that plagued systems a decade ago. The hardware is more robust and durable than before. And if I was still concerned, he reminded me, the Arctic heater is teflon coated, and all other exposed metal is stainless steel. Anyway, it was a long involved chat, and you could say he did his job--he had me feeling better about going with the automated salt system. I was sold, you could say. In a future story "chapter" I'll discuss what I think about Spa Boy, how it works, and how it performs over time.

We went out back to see the tub I was interested in--it was an in stock model, but not a showroom floor model. It was beautiful. Cedar skirt, granite-looking acrylic. I climbed inside (dry), and sat in it. We chatted about possible delivery dates, what I needed to have in place in order to have the spa delivered (electrical work done, a surface for the tub prepared).

I didn't bother visiting Beachcomber. I liked the Arctic Fox, the salt system, Spa Boy automation, and the staff at the location. I put $500 down.

[Haligonian]

Chapter 4: Meanwhile, we also needed a deck.

Like I said earlier, we have an L-shaped space in the back of the house formed by two house walls where we have an existing deck. It's four feet off grade, and has two patio doors opening onto it. It's the perfect scenario for sinking a tub into the deck. Two house walls offer privacy on two sides, the cover (with the lifter we were considering, that keeps the cover vertical after it folds off) would give privacy from a third side. in our urban neighbourhood, privacy is an issue. Yards are small, and neighbours are close.

Our deck builder visited to check out and measure the site (we've worked with him before at our old house, and loved his work), and I walked him through our plans. Tear down the current deck, build a platform for the spa (to raise it up to either flush with the deck surface or 18" higher than flush), install the hot tub, deck around it (leaving access for the spas access panels on all four sides), build stairs down to a lower deck platform. The upper deck would have about 3.5 feet of deck around the tub on three sides, no deck on the fourth side.

When I was at the Arctic Spas showroom, the rep highly recommended not sinking the tub flush. He made sense. So I told our deck builder we'd likely want it sunk about halfway, so 18" or so extend up from the surface.

The builder had built decks for hot tubs before, and understood how it had to be built. He also had electricians he works with for this sort of work, and he said he'd get a quote from the electrician for wiring up the spa. I told him my budget, put down a deposit, and he went away to draw up some designs for us.

Current situation: Arctic Fox purchased, deck in the early stages of getting designed. Would we be able to get the work done in time to enjoy the spa this summer? Will we be happy with the Fox? Will we be glad we splurged for the Spa Boy automated salt system? Will there be any hiccups along the way?

Stay tuned.

[htnj]

Absolutely don't recess it flush; it's awesome having it slightly elevated, getting in and out is so much easier.
I think we're about 17" above deck with our new tub.

We do have access panels built into the deck on all 4 sides, as well as a removable step that sits on top of the deck (see my post here)
http://www.whatsthebest-hottub.com/forum/index.php/topic,19913.msg197395.html#msg197395

There's a gap on both ends of the step, and the step sits on top and can just slide back and forth for super quick\easy access.

[Haligonian]

htnj, thanks for the advice--it seems to be what most people recommend, I'm noticing. Funny, initially we had our hearts set on recessing it flush, purely for aesthetics (well, and the added privacy of being closer to the ground), but we've come around. I've called our deck builder, and asked him to work a halfway-recessed tub into the design, not fully-recessed. If we need to, we'll add some other privacy screening of some sort.

[Spatech_tuo]

Absolutely don't recess it flush; it's awesome having it slightly elevated, getting in and out is so much easier.
I think we're about 17" above deck with our new tub.

Ditto, I'd design it so the deck was even with the seat that you'll step onto when entering the spa which is often around that 17' mark but varies depending on the size of the spa (height of the spa) you're going with and its internal design.

[Haligonian]

Thanks, Spatech_tuo, for seconding not sinking it flush. We haven't seen a deck design yet, but we officially asked for the design to have a halfway sunk spa.

[Haligonian]

The warranty.

Forgot to mention this in an earlier post.

Warranty on the Arctic Fox is lifetime on the shell, and 5 year parts and labour for everything else. The SpaBoy salt system is 2 year parts and labour.

Seems like a good warranty--depending on how well it's honoured, of course. The big question that persists for me is if the $1600 investment in SpaBoy will be worth it. Time will tell.

[wmccall]

Soutside of downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada).

Please comment and ask questions as you want, as I go. I'd rather this be a discussion than a one-way monologue!

I'm looking forward to reading, even if I'm a little insulted you feel you had to add Canada in parentheses to let us know that is where Nova Scotia is 

[Haligonian]

Haha! wmccall, I hate to have to do that, but no kidding I've talked with people in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts--all states very close to Nova Scotia, and had locals ask where Nova Scotia is. It was a rare question, thankfully, but it was surprising to me that even a few people, especially in Maine, didn't know. Figured I might as well spell it out, just in case!

[sergey]

I am looking into SpaBoy too ... lots of reading and chats to gathering some info.
So far it is the only system that is doing half-automation of water management

Do you know that there are annual costs involved (they never mention)
$250 for a probe every 8, 12 months
$80 for a "salt cell" - maybe every 12 month - not sure about this one.
Plus some other chemicals if required (less than regular chlorine spa)
and for-sure salt :-)

The System is just 2 years old - Not that many reviews on it

[Haligonian]

sergey, once I have it up and running I'll post my thoughts. And I'll post updates as things go.

I am definitely aware that I am taking a risk with Spa Boy--a gamble that I hope pays off. If Spa Boy performs as it's supposed to, and as the sales guy told me it should, I'll feel good about the decision and extra cost. It has a two-year warranty, so hopefully I get at least that much trouble-free use out of it.
Yes, we talked about the costs of upkeep. I expect/hope the probe to last longer than a year, as it's part of the 2-year warranty, from what I can tell. It sounds like only the electrode (salt cell) needs annual replacement, and isn't covered by the 2-year warranty. We'll see. Not that it makes a difference how many people go for Spa Boy, but knowing about 90% of Arctic buyers at this location spring for Spa Boy meant that at least I'm in good company--whether it turns out to be awesome or a bust.

Worst case scenario I'm out $1500, and I convert to chlorine or bromine, I suppose. But my fingers are crossed that I'll like it.

[Haligonian]

Chapter 5: The design.

OK, after a few weeks of back and forth with our deck builders and their designer, we have a finalized design. It's simple, but gives us everything we want:
The hot tub is private--tucked away in the "L" shape of the back of the house.
The hot tub is close to the house--just two steps from two patio doors.
We have a lower platform for hanging out on, now that the spa takes up the upper level.

Next questions: How long will it take to get the permit, the current deck demolished, and construction moving ahead?