Number of jets

[TMJ]

I know it is a personal choice, but I am curious, how many jets does your tub have, and do you find it enough? If this has been asked before, please forgive me.

[Chris_H]

You should look for the number of MASSAGES not the number of JETS.  
Example, the moto-massage is ONE/TWO jet(s), but gives a complete massage.

[Steve]

I use the shower head analogy here to make my point during a presentation.

You can have 50 streams coming out of a shower head but when we want a massage, we switch it over to the 4 or 5 pulsating jets. Type of jets, as mentioned by Chris, has far more to do with it than strictly numbers of jets. I would only add that the location of them and your specific need for therapy should play a factor.

I've owned a tub with 15 jets and loved it. I've also been in tubs with 60 jets and found myself staring accross at 40 of them most of the time. You'll find that most spas offer 2 main therapy seats (his & hers) and the rest are spread out.

Bottom line, there's no right answer here and this purchase should in no way be based on NUMBERS OF JETS.

Steve

[Hot Tub Guru]

There is a difference between quality and quantity.  Some tubs say they have 100+ jets but are they therapeutic?  Maybe.  But jets that spin I believe are more therapeutic then jets that just shoot straight out (pinhole jets).  So you can have less spinning jets then pinhole but more therapeutic.  Also look for spas that the jets can be changed (if newer styles come out).  Or tubs that you can add jets after you own the spa.  

Also there are companies that use a jet with 14 holes, they put 2 (or more) of these jets in the spa and count that as 28.  Another company counts that as one.  Again look for a quality vs. quantity.  

Michael
www.HeavenlyTimes.com

[HotTubMan]

This is why the wet test is so important.

My wife and I are polar opposites regarding temperature and jets.

I like it hot (104) with maximum jets and pressure (in the right spots) from large spinning jets (5" single or dual stream)

My wife likes it cooler (100-101) and dosen't care for the jets. She gets itchy and it isnt from water chemistry or even jet size.

We have both wet tested Coleman, D-1, Beachcomber and Hydropool.

I preferred the Hydropool and D-1 due to jet power and placement.

She preferred Coleman and Beachcomber. Hated the D-1.

Have you been in tubs with freinds or family? What did you like / dislike about those expereinces? Let that guide you to the appropiate tubs to wet test.

[HotTubMan]

 Also look for spas that the jets can be changed (if newer styles come out).

The number of companies that don't offer that would be a much shorter list than those that do

Or tubs that you can add jets after you own the spa.

Gee, who offers that ?
 

[Hot Tub Guru]

Quote:Or tubs that you can add jets after you own the spa.  


Gee, who offers that ?


Arctic Spas can be upgraded in the customers back yard!

Michael
www.HeavenlyTimes.com

[JJ]

My tub has some seats with several small jets, some with a few large jets.  What I find is that the small jets feel great for a few minutes, but I can sit in front of the large ones for a lot longer.

[Chas]

Good points have been made. There are spas with too many pointy jets, and there are spas with fewer jets which end up being far more usable.

Variety is the thing I tell folks to look for: you don't really need duplicate seats all over the tub. You want to be able to get a different massage by moving to another seat and then still more variety by adjusting jets, moving diverter valves, or swapping in different jet nozzles.

Wet test.

Let your backside decide.

[Bodyaches]

I have 61 jets in my spa.

Dick
SemperFi

[Wisoki]

That is unless you turn the air to the jets down, or off. Then they don't move at all. Are they designed that way, or is that something that's trying to be overcome?

You should look for the number of MASSAGES not the number of JETS.  
Example, the moto-massage is ONE/TWO jet(s), but gives a complete massage.

[Spatech_tuo]

I have 61 jets in my spa.

Dick
SemperFi

I've had my spa 6 years and I still don't know how many jets I have. Some day I'll count them but to me its like telling a blind person his couch looks nice when he's far more interested in how comfortable it is.

[vlady]

I don't think the number of jets matter.  It is the placement of the jets and if they hit the areas that are comfortable to you.  

I had a spa years ago that probably had less than a dozen jets and I thought it was wonderful because the seat that I claimed had the jets positioned just right.  Besides, you can't benefit from every single jet in the tub all at once.

[PaulMc]

  Lots of good points. It's the placement and usability of the jets that counts. The seat I like most has two air controls, one for the outside ring of jets and one for the inside set so I can control either set or both. There is a jet under the waterfall and I thought that was kinda lame. But when I turn a bit in my seat I can work on my left leg. The two on the right of me I can use for the right knee/calf.

 The seat my wife likes has neck jets that work a little better on my neck than the seat I like... due to the slightly higher placement. There's a jet at the low end of the cool down seat that does nothing for me but my son and one daughter find it hits the muscles in their lower back well. The only one I haven't found a value in is the whirpool jet beside my seat.

 For anyone starting to look I'd recommend you look at how much individual control over the jet setup you can have...  can you turn some of the jets in a group off or up or down, can you adjust the direction, do they oscillate, can I use adjacent seats if we float in the lounger or if I don't get the lounger version, what set of jets looks awesome and which don't... then do a wet test and make sure you try all the possibilities that you thought of and see if they work. You may be surprised.  

 Just like woodworking, it's not the number of tools that you have in your shop, it's whether you can make use of them.    paul

 Oh, and according to the manual, my Majesta has 35 jets, 7 different types of them. But if I was asked I'd have had to say I don't know how many it had but it has maybe 10 different sets that we use.  

[Steve]

Quote:Or tubs that you can add jets after you own the spa.  
 

Gee, who offers that ?


Arctic Spas can be upgraded in the customers back yard!

Michael
www.HeavenlyTimes.com

This brings up an interesting point. Hot tubs are more than just a pump and some random jets. These are balanced machines designed to offer certain water flow and GPM. Let's take a scenario where a spa has 30 jets and 10 more are added 3 years down the road... These same pumps are expected to offer the same GPM or jet pressure as before?

What happens is this story is told at the time of the sale and the pitch sounds great. What you're not being told is that you may have to upgrade your pump(s) so the addition of these extra jets doesn't decrease jet performance.

Steve