Original > Hot Tub Forum
Best 110vAC spa money can buy?
MarKee:
Make sure to consider the Marquis Spirit, in my opinion the best looking small/medium size 110v on the market with the curved front side. Sounds like you’ve checked out a lot of the brands, but try to see the Spirit model in person if you haven’t already.
ratchett:
--- Quote from: MarKee on November 01, 2019, 01:56:20 am ---Make sure to consider the Marquis Spirit, in my opinion the best looking small/medium size 110v on the market with the curved front side. Sounds like you’ve checked out a lot of the brands, but try to see the Spirit model in person if you haven’t already.
--- End quote ---
For sure I did look into the Marquis Spirit as I'd heard some good things about it. Personally I don't care for the aestetics of the Spirit. However the Vector21 series from Marquis was much more attractive to me - the Vector21 65L looks pretty slick, but I'm getting a sense that the Vector21 series is not the premier product from Marquis, but more of a step down mid-grade level product.
Also I'm noticing most 110AC tubs are 15amp which make sense given that's what most people would have in a home. A dedicated 115AC 20-amp service for a tub seems to be limited to the HotSpring Jetsetter. Which has me curious - why did the Hotspring engineers decide they absolutely needed a 20-amp service? Is that extra 5amps used for additional electronics? To handle the power of the pump? I'm honestly curious since I know a 110AC spa is going to have serious limitations compared to other tubs with multiple pumps and whatnot running on a 220
bud16415:
Well you have waited 20 years I won’t suggest you wait 5 more years until the addition is built just to have the benefits of a 240V tub. On the other hand a five year old 120V tub doesn’t have much resale value and a quality tub regardless of voltage should last 20 plus years if taken care of.
We bought our first tub about 5 years ago and when shopping for it I was the cheep one and suggesting a starter tub maybe even a 120V to keep things simple and she wanted to go with what we both knew we wanted and enjoy it for as many years as we can.
So my suggestion might be bite the bullet and get the 5 year tub now and just move it when the addition is on.
Some things we have learned and we do live in a very cold place in winter but even during our warm summers our tub gets used a lot and we have it on a lower setting in the summer but one degree winter or summer in the water temp is noticeable and even person to person we sometimes wish we had half degree control. I personally want the ability to have heat and jets run together even in summer.
Our tub is 50A and it is broken down between two 240V GFCI breakers a 20A and a 30A the 30A is the pumps and the 20A is just the heater. It is how Caldera / HotSprings does it on some models. So for that reason alone I feel I wouldn’t have the pump power I want on a 20A supply.
Ether way you go 20 years is a long wait (I know) jump in you know you are going to love it.
The Wizard of Spas:
We have a lot of dealers in Florida and we expanded our "plug & play" line to better fit that market. I think the biggest thing about plug & play is power: If you like the output on a unit like that, you do reap the benefits of a cost-effective spa due to your climate.
In my years of being in this industry, I do caution that a lot of plug & play units tend to be the least of the quality in terms of what a brand offers. This is indeed a broad, generalized statement so I understand the self-apparent issues in noting that. Regardless, I'd be sure to continue to research the build, quality of components, build techniques, etc. that are available in that line and ask how it may differ from the more standard lines that are offered by the brand. As an engineer, I am sure you're already on top of that!
As others have noted, this is not the most efficient of spas in terms of monthly energy bills, as 220v will certainly be cheaper long-term. I've seen the power cords fry over the life of the spa and need to be replaced (this is true for the myriad of brands I have sold over the years so I am not picking on anyone specifically). Just be aware.
If you're ok with all of this, then that is your answer. Usually I'd caution against an initial plug & play purchase with a new spa planned on in 5 years or so, but indeed a warm climate like yours alleviates many of the issues one could find with going plug & play.
I hope this helps. Good luck moving forward.
BullFrogSpasMN:
--- Quote from: ratchett on November 01, 2019, 08:04:55 am ---
--- Quote from: MarKee on November 01, 2019, 01:56:20 am ---Make sure to consider the Marquis Spirit, in my opinion the best looking small/medium size 110v on the market with the curved front side. Sounds like you’ve checked out a lot of the brands, but try to see the Spirit model in person if you haven’t already.
--- End quote ---
For sure I did look into the Marquis Spirit as I'd heard some good things about it. Personally I don't care for the aestetics of the Spirit. However the Vector21 series from Marquis was much more attractive to me - the Vector21 65L looks pretty slick, but I'm getting a sense that the Vector21 series is not the premier product from Marquis, but more of a step down mid-grade level product.
Also I'm noticing most 110AC tubs are 15amp which make sense given that's what most people would have in a home. A dedicated 115AC 20-amp service for a tub seems to be limited to the HotSpring Jetsetter. Which has me curious - why did the Hotspring engineers decide they absolutely needed a 20-amp service? Is that extra 5amps used for additional electronics? To handle the power of the pump? I'm honestly curious since I know a 110AC spa is going to have serious limitations compared to other tubs with multiple pumps and whatnot running on a 220
--- End quote ---
it basically comes down to the size of the pump and heater and how the manufacturer decides to allocate the power....it appears the Jetsetter uses a 1.65HP Pump so they need all of that 20 amps, even the Nordic line I sell uses a 1.5HP pump and needs 20 amps as well...don't quote me on this but I believe the only way to get a 15 amp 110v tub is to use a pump size smaller than 1.3HP which is what the 110v A5L uses at 15 amps...anything larger will require 20 amps which makes sense for the Jetsetter, they wanna get the biggest pump they can on 110v to move that moto-massage jet which is a high GPM jet.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version