Hot Tub and Spa
Brand Reviews

In the same vein as a trip report, I thought I'd write a soak report and maybe start a new tradition? Anyway, here's our first venture into our new Optima.

At noon on Day 2, we tested the water and the chlorine had dropped to 3ish ppm (this after a super shock of 4TBL dichlor at 11pm the night before.) We let the kids get in. Figuring that, if they burned up like a chloramine, we would just add some more dichlor and invite the neighborhood kids to get in too.

They played around for over an hour. The water temp was 90. My son asked Dad to turn the heater up so Dad does this for the first AND LAST time this summer. In 30min the water was up to 100degrees! Well, that got the kids out of the tub finally. Mind you, we live in Raleigh NC...and it was about 93 here yesterday. The temp stayed pretty much at 99 the rest of the afternoon. The kids took another stew about 3:30, still complained it felt hot but stayed in almost an hour.

I got home from work 5pm and Joe (who had waited to get in his first time with me, how sweet!) and I FINALLY got in for the first time. It felt great for about 15min, then I was looking for the cool down seat as it was hot. After 30min, I felt better out of the water than I did in it, so I got out and ordered pizza. I loved all the water action, it was just hot and not refreshing.

Nightfall came and Joe and I took another trip outside at 9pm. Put a bootleg Beatles cd on(called Love Songs, how appropriate.) Water was still at 99, so we rigged up our garden hose to hang from the gazebo, put the nozzle on misting and realized that we are pure geniuses (well, maybe our genuis selves stole the misting idea from ZZ's post here about said misting) The misting kept ALL the bugs away, and the cool mist complimented the hot water perfectly. After about 1hr, our water temp had fallen to a very comfortable 96. The air temp was 78-80degrees. It was a very nice evening. We stayed in, kidless, for 2HOURS! Then the kids worked their way out of the ropes, chains and the locked closets (just teasin, never know who may read this, oh and I was teasing about burning them up with dichlor too, btw) and showed up in their suits claiming it was their turn again.

All in all, its been a perfect first 2 days. There are so many things we would not have known if we didnt read all the posts and info here and on other tub forums. Things that our dealer either was misinformed about, didnt know, or scoffed at. Thx again to all who contribute info here, its truly a great help to newbies.

Our pH has been an ideal 7.6 all along with both water test kit and strips. The Alk was low at 60ppm and we added 4TBL Alk increaser (not SpaUP cuz that says it will raise pH too and that was just fine) and now the Alk is holding at 100. The strips work just ok...it seems that the strips tell me my Alk is 40-60 but the liquid test measured it at 80. Same deal when I fixed the Alk, the strips were still lower than the drops by 20ish. I'm really glad I got the $15 water test kit at Walmart. We added 1 1/2tsp dichlor last night before bed, CL measured at 2ppm after 30min, so we are gonna go with this as a daily dose. We are also going to do 2 mini shocks each week instead of one big super shock and see how it goes.

To sum up what we've learned:

1. Every 19yr old marriage, no matter how blissfully happy, should buy a hot tub. Its a whole new world of bliss.

2. If you miss your kids cuz they watch tv and play on the puter and Xbox and seem to want to be anywhere where that you are not, buy a hot tub and you will spend more time with them than you really ever wished for!

3. Everyone is correct, during the first hour that you soak, you can barely recall how much money you spent, and whatever you did spend, its worth far, far more than that...but dont let anyone at Sundance know this.

4. The LED lighting would be very cool, wish we had it and we are planning to buy it today!!

5. Blowers are excellent...I love the bubbling cauldron sound effects. Don’t underestimate the soothing powers of a whirlpool jet or the fun of an air blower.

6. Spa Gloss makes it slippery for the first day of soaking, then it wears down with our suits/skin.

7. Buy a water test kit to use along with your strips.

8. Having a hose with a misting nozzle and a place to hang it near your tub, is a must during the hot summer.