Looking for Spa Pool Brand Recommendations

SachaR on 24/01/2025 - 12:03

Can anyone recommend a good brand of spa pool?(and model if you have a model recommendation)

We would like one that has decent after sales customer service and who’s units are reasonably efficient to run ie. no more than $30-$40 per month to heat preferably.

Don’t really want to spend more than $10k and we want it to comfortably seat 4 people.
We want a spa with jets not just a hot tub.
Hot springs look like they have great spas and they seem to be pretty durable but wow they are super expensive. I’m wondering though is that the trade off? Pay more and have it last 10+ years vs pay less and have it only last 2-3 before parts need replacing.

We have put off buying a spa for years due to the cost but we have had so many people rave about having a spa so want to bite the bullet and just buy one.

Thanks in advance 😊

General Discussion

Comments

  • Alan6984 on 24/01/2025 - 13:11
    +2

    we have had so many people rave about having a spa so want to bite the bullet and just buy one.

    My inclination would be to ask all (or maybe a subset given there are so many) of those people what they recommend, and what, if any, things they regret or wish they'd know / thought of before making their purchase of the spa pool (or of the house if it came along with it).

  • alanimal on 25/01/2025 - 07:47

    I have the alpine spa Matterhorn which is family sized. In winter costs me around 70pm. Gets used allot (4-5 times per week). In summer I drop the temp to 32degrees for the hot days. Not sure what the spend is there but excellent spa have owned for 8 years now.

  • amykt on 25/01/2025 - 09:29
    +1

    I also have an Alpine Spa. I did some research before buying and spoke to a spa repair man who recommended them as being really reliable. I got the base model for 4 people which was about 6k and we love it. It still looks brand new after about 7 years of use. You must get a cover lifter though - the covers get very heavy and water logged after a while and need replacing after about 5 years. The covers are about $600 to replace and we’ve just replaced ours. To be honest I barely notice any difference in our power bill. We don’t use it heaps - maybe once a week and just chuck a small bit of chlorine in after each use. We are pretty lax with our chemicals which is probably not recommended. We had an issue with our spa not heating about a year ago and the service lady is AMAZING and super helpful. Turned out the control panel just needed resetting and she sent through all the technical details. I wrote an email to them afterwards thanking them for their amazing service and on that alone I would definitely buy another Alpine spa again.

  • TheDealMan on 25/01/2025 - 12:20

    I'd recommend looking into whether or not the cost of a spa heat pump is worth it for you. You'll save considerably on the electric bill, but the upfront cost for the pump and controller will start at a few thousand.

  • tacobaron on 28/01/2025 - 15:05

    Make sure you have a good cover, and that it can be half on/half off. Crazy how much more heat retention there is with it half on compared to fully off. Plenty of space for 2 adults with it half on, then I have it all the way off with the kids.

    We bought second hand from a local refurb dealer. Had a few issues initially which really put me off that, but it looks like that was all related to him not putting in a new filter, and me being slack with cleaning the filter. I bought 2 new filters I rotate, some chemical cleaner. Switch 'em out about once a week and haven't had a blip since even when it gets thrashed.

    Main issue with the refurb is you can't access proper documentation for error codes etc as there's different parts.

  • AleBeerenhoff on 29/01/2025 - 08:40

    We also purchased from Alpine Spas (about 3 years ago) - but purchased one of their imported models (Artesian Spas) that was made in the US. We decided on that one purely because of the exceptional insulation (ie not just the frame/body, but all pipes/components wrapped with high grade insulation etc) and industry standard parts that it had. We have had no real problems with it (other than some standard things - eg UV bulb, filters etc). The one thing that we did have under warranty was sorted so quickly and easily with them. Would certainly recommend Alpine Spas - and have done so with many of our friends.
    We usually use ours daily through Winter but less often through Summer - but still just leave it plugged in and turned on year round. Didn't notice much of an increase when we started using it - am sure it did, but it wasn't "OMG what have we done". Its just a standard spa too - nothing fancy like with a heat pump etc. Just a circulation pump, heater and a blower pump.
    Main costs we have found are just the consumables - chemicals to keep the water balanced (easy enough if done regularily), and then filters, uv bulbs (if necessary) and head rests (as the chemicals/heat kill the finish on these even when being light on chemicals).
    I actually bought it for the rest of the family as it didn't interest me much at the time, but I am now the one who uses it most - totally love it.

  • DeonC on 29/01/2025 - 12:50

    Anybody used Happy Kiwi before. Their SPAs seem to be well priced?

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