Hot Tub Forum
Original => Hot Tub Forum => Topic started by: jmarr2210 on February 04, 2010, 03:41:04 pm
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I am investigating the possibility of installing a hot tub in Angel Fire, NM. It is a very cold climate with long durations of time below freezing in winter as well as overnight temps below freezing 8-9 months of the year. I am trying to get some comparisions of heat loss of various MFG. I have testamonial data from users of a couple of brands that are common in the area, but want to consider some others. Where can I get some apples 2 apples comparisions of heat loss?
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Welcome to the forum. As an outsider, I'd say the hot tub industry is not the place to look for apples to apples comparisons. Even so called independent research or ratings have to be called into question.
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Unfortunately, the industry isn't regulated in regards to energy consumption. You will not be able to find apples to apples comparisons. The way one manufacture figures their efficiency is different from the other. Even supposed side by side comparisons have been conducted under different parameters so the results are questionable.
However, if you stay with some of the top manufacturers, you will be fine. The top manufacturers are very diligent in building energy efficient hot tubs. Some of those brands are Jacuzzi, Hot Spring, Caldera, Sundance, Marquis, Dimension One. There are certainly others that fit in this category, but this list will give you a good start.
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You don't have lots of choices around Angel Fire, I'm delivering one to Chama and one to lower NM in 3 weeks because neither customer could find someone down there they where happy with.
Taos has a dealer that sells Nordic I believe...The bottom line is that you need to do something that has as much insulation as possible and that has freeze protection.
I deliver all over the mountain range there and find that the simpler the controls, the more insulation and the less gadgets you get the better off you are in some of the remote areas
The CEC (California Electric Code) had energy draw comparisons on the different spas but there were lots of discrepancys. When we compared them we found different brands with the exact same covers showing different "R" values. Likewise there were brands that used the same heaters, the same equipment packs and the same motors showing different wattage use.
All in all the CEC was the only non industry soliceted testing but it wasn't policed and manufactures only had to sign an affidavite stating their testing was correct and from a certified source. No one ever checked up on them to see if anything was true.
One last comment there is that if you had a spa with a 400 gallon capacity you could fudge by 50 to 80 gallons and get a differant reading.
The bottom line is that there really is no test results you can hang your hat on out there. My advice is to find someone that can give you references and/or historical data from their spa.