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Salt water hot tub

JM4590

Private
Full Member
Minuteman
Jun 28, 2013
657
988
Midland,Va
So….entering into my pre-geeper years (62), and looking to rest / massage these tired muscles. Scoping out a hot tub. I can’t find a legit answer on salt water tub vs conventional. Those who sell salt water say they are THE shit. Those who sell conventional say salt water tubs ARE shit. Anyone here have any experience with either. Looking at Caldera and Cal spas. 2-3 person. No sex parties with the neighbors in a 6 person…..just me and the Mrs.
 
So….entering into my pre-geeper years (62), and looking to rest / massage these tired muscles. Scoping out a hot tub. I can’t find a legit answer on salt water tub vs conventional. Those who sell salt water say they are THE shit. Those who sell conventional say salt water tubs ARE shit. Anyone here have any experience with either. Looking at Caldera and Cal spas. 2-3 person. No sex parties with the neighbors in a 6 person…..just me and the Mrs.
Pics of the Mrs.....????







JK.......somebody was going to ask....lol
 
So….entering into my pre-geeper years (62), and looking to rest / massage these tired muscles. Scoping out a hot tub. I can’t find a legit answer on salt water tub vs conventional. Those who sell salt water say they are THE shit. Those who sell conventional say salt water tubs ARE shit. Anyone here have any experience with either. Looking at Caldera and Cal spas. 2-3 person. No sex parties with the neighbors in a 6 person…..just me and the Mrs.
I’ve had saltwater pools and I currently have a saltwater pool, but I have never had a saltwater hot tub. I’ve always used bromine.
 

No, the salt is used to create a brine in the water.
Water is passed through a chlorine generator which turns the brine into chlorine treated water.

The chlorine levels last much longer than with regular chlorine bleach or HTH crystals.
Also, by using salt and the chlorine generator, you don't end up with overly high levels of chlorine, since the generator only produces what's needed.

In the end, the water doesn't feel or taste salty or bleachy.
 
Hot tubs (HT) have tougher chemistry b/c they're hot and relatively small. Casselton is right on how salt water systems work. Because the chlorine generator keeps working all the time, lower levels can be used compared to adding bleach every few days. Shock oxidizer should be used after every HT use. The difficulty is that hot tub water should be swapped out pretty frequently even if you do use active disinfection. Gunk just accumulates too fast and makes people flavored soup. The soup is prime breeding ground for stuff like Legionnaire's. The basic process with HT/pool disinfection is to lower the alkalinity with acid, then add chlorine. Bleach is effective, cheap, readily available and easy to reestablish after draining the tub to waste. Powdered chlorination products work well to and include stabilizer chemistry (preserves the chlorine from UV/sunlight degradation). In a pool (5k gallons++) borax can be worth it's help keep the alkalinity and pH buffered (balanced). I like this page for instruction and the calculator. https://www.poolcalculator.com/
 
Ive got a Hot Springs. They have a standard setup and a salt water setup. We have a standard. Its easy enough on the chemicals once I swapped to liquid germacidal bleach. We use MPS after every use and the germicidal bleach once a week give or take. Water is always crystal clear. Ours has an ozinator and a little cartridge in one of the filters and they say the combination of that takes care of like 90% of the water sanitizing.
 
If we ever need to replace ours I’ll get a Hot Springs salt setup. Almost pulled the trigger on one ($12k) about 6-7 years ago but decided to buy an almost new used tub for $4k and kick the can a few years. It’s still going strong. I use the Pool Math app for the chemicals. It works really well. It’ll do salt water or conventional hot tub numbers.

Google Nitro's Approach To Water Maintenance. Pretty good info on balancing a pool or spa at least a good place to start.
 
I just got a Hot springs Jetsetter LX with the salt water system at the beginning of December. Bought it in the fall on a good special, and took me a bit of time to prep, deliver and set up. So far so good. I’m in it pretty much every day, I jump from cold plunge into hot tub and back. It’s a small 2-3 person tub, I wanted small for the same reason as OP. Its only ever me or me and the wife, no need for a big tub. Makes it easier to clean/drain/refill. Still uses some chlorine as directed by the freshwater IQ sensor, but less than a standard tub and the salt water makes it less chemical smelling and a nicer experience, feels better when you’re done than standard tubs.

**I’ve also been putting epsom salts into my cold plunge for about a year, I have no hard proof that it is better for me but I do feel better afterward, could be real or could just be in my head/mental. Been cold plunging for 2+ years and just now incorporating the cold/hot protocol. Sauna is next.

For the OP, I’ve only had it 4 months but at this point I’d give it the thumbs up, only complaint is that I wish it was a bit deeper for when I’m sitting, I’m 5’11” and unless I’m laying down in the lounger section it seems a bit shallow. Not much feedback on the jets, I rarely use them. The wife does and she said they work good. Oh yea, and definetly not cheap. But the older I’ve gotten the more I’m trying to prioritize my health much to the chagrin of my wallet. Plunges, hot tub, organic food, etc. I figure I’m a good investment……And I hope the hot tub is too.
 
If we ever need to replace ours I’ll get a Hot Springs salt setup. Almost pulled the trigger on one ($12k) about 6-7 years ago

Mine was 15k all in 2018. Today the tub by itself retails for 23k. NOW that tub comes with the salt water system which I think would have cost me another 1500-2000 in 2018. I didnt see what else it came with(cover, speaker system, etc...) for that money so maybe its not as crazy as it seems. I had to pay extra for the cover(1k bucks) and for the blue tooth speaker system(1k bucks) and delivery/setup(few hundred).
 
Mine was 15k all in 2018. Today the tub by itself retails for 23k. NOW that tub comes with the salt water system which I think would have cost me another 1500-2000 in 2018. I didnt see what else it came with(cover, speaker system, etc...) for that money so maybe it’s not as crazy as it seems. I had to pay extra for the cover(1k bucks) and for the blue tooth speaker system(1k bucks) and delivery/setup(few hundred).
Damn. I can’t believe they’ve gone up that much. They’re sure nice though.
 
Damn. I can’t believe they’ve gone up that much. They’re sure nice though.
I would have to look back at my sales sheet(I keep shit like that for a long time for some reason) to see how they broke down the price. I would guess the tub itself was 12-13k plus cover plus bluetooth speakers plus delivery/setup. But of course they tell you "oh this and that is free" yea right, they just bake it into the total price.
 
I would have to look back at my sales sheet(I keep shit like that for a long time for some reason) to see how they broke down the price. I would guess the tub itself was 12-13k plus cover plus bluetooth speakers plus delivery/setup. But of course they tell you "oh this and that is free" yea right, they just bake it into the total price.
I think it was 2016 when we were in the market. Tub (7’ square) was 10, salt was another 2. Wasn’t really into speakers and stuff so whatever delivery and probably a cover was then on top of that. I just bought a new cover for ours last year I think it was almost $700.
 
Keep it simple. And yes there are many salt water spa's, generally on two body systems that share a heater between the spa and pool.

Personally my belief is salt cells are just added $ and complication that is completly un neccesary. They are also maintainence intensive. Its also hard to find a cell designed to properly chlorinate such a small body. If you get your salt levels off, the cell wont work.

The desired salt level is around 3000-3500PPm any thing below 2200ish and above 4000 the cell won't work and can actually be damaged, trying to maintain that level in a small heated spa... LOL good luck. BTW the ppm of ocean salt water is 10x what you maintain in a pool system, no benifits, just another way to market chlorine generation and make $$.

Keep it simple, use a chlorine tab and simple timers, much easier to control and way cheaper. Most of the control systems are finicky are fucking expensive to replace. You don't need a super computer and a wifi app to operate a pool. but the people who work in the industry would love to sell them to you.

if you can smell chlorine... the level is way too high regaless of how you introduce it into you system. Acceptable levels are between 2-10 Ppm, you shouldn't be able to detect it.
 
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All good info, thanks! Just had a dealer reach out and offer the Hot Springs Jetsetter LX …on sale….are you ready?….17K 😳…..little much for me for a two seater 😝

Yea that price is bonkers. But I will say there is a reason Hot Springs spa's command the money they do. Do I think they are worth +10k over what they cost 7-8 years ago, no, but I also dont regret spending the money on mine.