Arctic Spa vs other Spas

[dflearning]

I am looking for a hot tub and every salemen I call or talk to has the best one on the market. What are the top brands? I am looking for a 8*8, low heating bill and something I hope will last 10+ years without many issues. Any suggestions.

I have looked at Arctic Spa's some and they quoted me $7,500 for the Summit Signature (2007 model) with the Heater Upgrade, Polar Cover Upgrade, Microban Protection Upgrade, Exotic Jet Package, Forever Floor Upgrade, Delivery and Setup Up, BaquaSpa Kit and the 3 steps stair my wife asked them to throw in all included.

Is this price good, what other spas should I look at?

Will I be happy with Arctic Spa?

Any other advice would be appreciated.

Any certain color easier to maintain or enjoy?

Also, I really don't need the most expensive or the most jets, just cheap to run and reliable.

Thanks for your time.....

[MarKee]

I would definitely shop around and see what is out there.  You might check out these other brands:  Hotspring, Caldera, Marquis, Dimension One, Sundance, Jacuzzi.  Of course every place you stop is going to tell you that their spa is the best, I would narrow it down to 3 or 4 brands, wet test them all and buy from the brand and dealer you feel most comfortable with.

[dflearning]

Do you know anything about Arctic?

[tileman]

I am looking for a hot tub and every salemen I call or talk to has the best one on the market. What are the top brands? I am looking for a 8*8, low heating bill and something I hope will last 10+ years without many issues. Any suggestions.

I have looked at Arctic Spa's some and they quoted me $7,500 for the Summit Signature (2007 model) with the Heater Upgrade, Polar Cover Upgrade, Microban Protection Upgrade, Exotic Jet Package, Forever Floor Upgrade, Delivery and Setup Up, BaquaSpa Kit and the 3 steps stair my wife asked them to throw in all included.

Is this price good, what other spas should I look at?

Will I be happy with Arctic Spa?

Any other advice would be appreciated.

Any certain color easier to maintain or enjoy?

Also, I really don't need the most expensive or the most jets, just cheap to run and reliable.

Thanks for your time.....

Welcome.

There are some happy Artic spa owners who frequent this forum. Give them a little time and they'll chime in.
In the meantime, go to rhtubs.com (if you haven't been yet) and search the review section. There's 10+ reviews on Artics. It's a good place to start.

As far as other spas go, what other dealers are in your area?

Tileman

[wesj53]

Hi df and welcome to the land of hot, bubbling water! I am an Arctic owner of 2 weeks but researched for the right tub for our family for about 2 months. My wife and I wet tested about 12 makes and models and finally narrowed our decision to the Tundra and the Artesian Piper Glen (a "sleeper" company I would also definitely recommend to you). Artesian IMO gives you a lot for your money and is a brand that is not talked about as much here vs the major firms, so I like to mention them and give them some free pub! We finally chose the Arctic due to it's high quality of workmanship (which no one will dispute here) and the variety of features they offer. I don't want to list them all for fear of boring readers who have seen my posts before. Go to Arctic's website and read and educate yourself.

I agree with the other 2 posters though. It's best for you to visit as many dealers as are in your area, wet test as many models as possible (it's really a fun experience if you don't mind wearing only your swimsuit in front of other customers) and decide which of the units feel the most comfortable to you in terms of seating and jet configurations. If you have a particular area of the body that needs therapy, make sure the unit you end up with has plenty of jets for that area. Also, try and stay from units with too many small jets as the larger ones definitely feel much better if you're staying in your tub for longer than 10 or 15 minutes. Also, when you are wet testing, make sure that all seats are active at one time. Some 8' brands have only 2 pumps and don't have enough power to jet all seats at the same time using the water divertor.

In terms of energy usage, this is another subject I would rather not delve into with great depth. The question of full foam vs. the Arctic Heatlock type system will generate a lot of emotion with people from both sides getting upset. So it's really not worth opening Pandora's box. If you want my personal opinion, I can PM you if you desire. Arctic did commission an energy study which you can also read about on their website.

Bottom line, we love our Tundra thus far and hope to have pictures of our setup this Friday (when my college kids can help me with the process. (Dad is kind of dumb when it comes to those kinds of thing.) By the way, I must finish by saying Arctic IMO has the most beautiful cabinet in the market, made from Canadian western cedar (real wood, imagine that!). And we chose the Moonscape shell, which is mainly white, with speckles of brown and tan (matches our tan cedar home). Most people would agree that lighter shell colors reflect the LED lights better than darker shades. Look for my pics right after turkey day! Good luck whichever way you go!

[anne]

I'll chime in as another happy arctic owner (for 9-10 months now), but most of what I would have said has been said. So, briefly to capture the take-home points:

Yep, every dealer has a line about what separates their tub from everyone else

You must wet test and take your time to see what is important to you, regardless of how dealer A says that his jets are better and dealer B says that his filtration is better and dealer C says "you can have this price, but I need commitment now."

Markee threw some other brands out there, and if you look around this forum enough you'll get a feel for what is "considered" quality.

I love my Arctic and wrote a review which is in the review section. No other tub I wet tested, and I tested about 8 brands, had as many of the characteristics important to me as my tub. It was also more affordable for all of its bells and whistles as a floor model. I would not trade it for any other tub, but thee are also owners of every other brand out there who'd say the same about their tub.

Pick your price range, and narrow it down to the brands and dealers who you'd like to work with, then the work is over: you WILL have a quality unit if you do this. Then its like being a kid in a candy store- pick what makes you happy!!!!

Good luck

[bosco0633]

My turn, I researched tubs for over a year.  I wet tested many brands however, I kept comparing to the arctic line.  After a year of research, I decided on the tundra signature series.  I like you by the sounds of it, was not overlly interested in air therapy and extra jets so I chose the signature as a good midline option tub.  

My tundra has been virtually issue free since August 2005.  

Your questions were related to arctic so I will go from there.  Artcic makes a great therapy tub, I find that the seating is geared to individual seating.  This is known as a more contoured fit.  If you are looking for a tub to facilitate parties, then I would say arctic may not be for you.  You should look at a more open seating system. I prefered the contoured seating after wet testing many brands.

You are looking at the summit model signature series.  33 jets two pumps alot of power.  Make sure you go ozone, not the upgrade just the standard one.  I originally purcashed the sumit, but opted for a deeper tub.  I love the setup in the sumit, however, once I tested the tundra, I was sold.

As for color, I would say it is all preference.  One thing that I decided to get was the deluxe northern lighting package.  This was the 5 led lights.  Because of this, I went with a light color shell to illuminate the lights better.  What ever color you go with, prefer to get the style that is treated with microban.  That is the ruffer style finish.

I know alot about the arctic design, and am happy to PM you as well.  Please do not reply about the sales people jumping on the cover or claims that they are the most energy efficient tub on the market.  You will start a war.  Do a search here on FF vs. TP. and you will see what we are talking about.

The bottom line, arcitc makes a great tub with excellent customer service and support.  The tubs look great and feel great as well.  As for energy efficiency, I will say that any tub you look at from a respectable company will be energy efficient.  Even if arctics claims that they are the most energy efficient was true, you are talking pennies a month differnece on you bill.

I hope that this helped you out a bit.  Arctic is a great company, a newer company compared to some other companies out there but over a decade and running strong.  You do not have to worry about them being a fly by night company.


A couple of things to remember while searching for your tub.

Pick a price range, Wet test before you buy, look for a dealer you trust because this is huge issue down the road.  Also consider warranty support from the company that you choose.  

[Spiderman]

Welcome and let the quest begin!!  Try out as many tubs as you can/desire to try out.  I got hooked on HotSpring's MotoMassage (a HotSpring exclusive), so our search really only entailed which HS spa to buy.  We really didn't look at any other brands, other than Great Lakes Spas, which we weren't too impressed with.  You'll end up with the spa that is most comfortable for you and your family, etc.  

On a seperate note, I personally thought it was "suspect", if you will, when Great Lakes, and others offered to "upgrade" the cover, heater, whatever.  Is this just a marketing thing or are their "standard" covers not that great?  I ask this because HotSpring (and many others) have one cover which works whether you're in Arizona or Upper Michigan.

[drewstar]

There are many folks on this board who have an Artic and are very happy with it.

However,  the top brands, I'd say would include (off the top of my head, with little coffee in my system)
Hot spring
Sundance
Caldera
D1


There are others, and I'm sure others will chime in an correct me, but hey, I'm not trying to sell you, just inform you.

As far as energy efficeny, among the top brands, even though they all claim to be the most efficent, there's no soild proof that one is better than the other, and it seems that the quality makers all have similliar energy efficencies.

The big thing with Artic is that it uses Thermal pane technolgy to insulate the tub, (some other quality manufactuers also use this method). While the others, such as Hot springs and  Sundance use Full Foam.

Wet test, shop around. Research.

What other tubs have you looked at?

[In_Too_Long]

You mentioned jets are not important, so I guess you will be a soaker and not a massager. If that is the case I would look for a hot tub that has a 24 hour filtration pump that skims your water without your jet pump on. Comfort is most important of course. But looking at $7500 for that tub i can't help but think there are several top name brands that would fit your criteria for up to $2000 less. But once again this is a purchase for you and your family so make sure everyone likes it because we want you to be happy soakers.

[sledjunkie]

Prices will vary from dealer to dealer. Don't worry about the dealer and the comfort level of them too much. After you have your tub you'll soon forget even where you bought your tub. Make sure you get alot for your money. Many dealers will take you for everything you got..

Play hardball. Many of these salesman are jerks..

Stick with the major brands and you'll be fine regarding quality and efficiency.

[East_TX_Spa]

Play hardball. Many of these salesman are jerks..

What did they do to you that was jerkified?  I would really like to know, if you feel comfortable answering this...I just want to make sure I don't act the way they do.

Giblet Gravy

[Tman122]

I am looking for a hot tub and every salemen I call or talk to has the best one on the market. What are the top brands? I am looking for a 8*8, low heating bill and something I hope will last 10+ years without many issues. Any suggestions.

I have looked at Arctic Spa's some and they quoted me $7,500 for the Summit Signature (2007 model) with the Heater Upgrade, Polar Cover Upgrade, Microban Protection Upgrade, Exotic Jet Package, Forever Floor Upgrade, Delivery and Setup Up, BaquaSpa Kit and the 3 steps stair my wife asked them to throw in all included.

Is this price good, what other spas should I look at?

Will I be happy with Arctic Spa?

Any other advice would be appreciated.

Any certain color easier to maintain or enjoy?

Also, I really don't need the most expensive or the most jets, just cheap to run and reliable.

Thanks for your time.....

Arctic makes a great tub, but there are others just as good and energy effiecient. As said before don't fall for the sales pitch, narrow your search down to 2-3 even 4 manufacturers and wet test because comfort is the most important factor. All the quality brands will last for over 10 years and be about the same to operate.

[drewstar]

Prices will vary from dealer to dealer. Don't worry about the dealer and the comfort level of them too much. After you have your tub you'll soon forget even where you bought your tub. Make sure you get alot for your money. Many dealers will take you for everything you got..

Play hardball. Many of these salesman are jerks..

Stick with the major brands and you'll be fine regarding quality and efficiency.

 Are you gettting soft? Many of them?  I thought you belived *all* of them were crooked?

You're right. Screw the dealer. If you have any questions or problems just get onto a message board and ask. You'll find tons of help, espscially from all those crooked jerks. They are just hanging around here waiting to help you out.

Sled, have you done the 6 month pump cleaning yet ? (Dismount the pump, open the case/and windnings, and clean with 50-50 mix of vinegar and bleach? Most dealers do this free, but I assume you'll be doing it yourself?

[sledjunkie]

Andy , good one..