Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I benefitted greatly from reading these reviews and I wanted to share my own to help others with such a large purchase decision. The first thing I will point out is that I live in the northeast and purchased the six person hot tub, understanding the risk cold weather presents. Where I live the temp tends to get down in the 20’s at night and mid 30’s to 40’s during the day, just to give you an idea. We are on the same longitude as Washington DC or so. The first tub I purchased was the circular blue one (6 person). I came away initially very impressed with the quality of the product, then four hours later, after it was assembled and full of water, I realized it had a slow air leak. I read more reviews and found folks commenting about the inflate valve needing to be tightened, so I tried that with the wrench they provided, filled it up with air again (which is quite easy with the ingenious set-up they provide), and found it was still leaking. The valve seemed defective to me and I lost confidence. I packed it up and returned it the next day. The seller was great to work with and made it as easy as possible. If you have to return one, however, expect it to be difficult because you will never fit it back in the original packaging, and the total weight (100 plus pounds) can be hard to handle when returning via UPS Store. The seller was again very easy to work with and provided a second package label, this one for fedex pickup for the second box. So I went back to Amazon to determine replacement, because I had not given up on the product. This time I settled on the gray six person, after learning it was a newer model. This time I tightened the inflate valve before I started. This also gave me the chance to put more insulation underneath the tub. Ours sits on a concrete slab outside. I used thick wool blankets on top of the bubble sheet provided. I think the R10 foamboard would probably work great as well. I also bought a second top, and put in on top of the one provided, with more blankets in between. This helps keep the heat in, and helps the heater operate more efficiently. The top provided is nice, but I have observed the inflatable center portion isn’t large enough to plug the opening completely, so you have this ring around the outside between where the inflatable part ends and where the walls begin. Yes, it is still covered with some material and secured, but I think heat is getting out more easily here. My second attempt has turned out great. We have used it every night and really feel it is worth every penny after about two weeks. Here are a few pointers: 1). Know that their advice is not to use it under 50 degrees. If you decide to, fine, but please temper your expectations. It is 100 volt powered, which means your heater capacity will be limited. Traditional hot tubs work off 220, giving them more power out of the gates. For us, it did take three days to get over 100. After three days, we got in at 102 when I had initially set it to 104. 102 felt great to us, and it did lose about 1 degree every 10-15 minutes. If you turn the bubbles on you will lose temp even faster. Ultimately after about 45 minutes it was down to 99, then hit 98 shortly thereafter. This next part is important: the heater has a cycle setting that has it shut off (the screen says END) after 72 hours if the desired temperature was not reached within that time frame. We found this in the instructions, and I will reiterate others in saying you will need to read them many times to fully comprehend them. I am not sure why but their ordering and grouping approach around the information is a bit random, so it took me a while to fully comprehend. The quick start type instructions also have info not found in the long form instructions. What!? Anyway, after the first use, we dropped down to 98 or so again, put the top on etc, and then realized that overnight the tub had stopped heating because within 72 hours we never got as high as 104, our initial setting. Lesson learned. I can say that after this, I turned it back on and the heater did get to 104 within two days (coming up from 84). The heater is more than capable you will just have to be patient before the first use, or shoot for a lesser temp just to get it to reach it before 72 hrs. We settled on 103 ultimately, because 104 was borderline too hot for us. 2). The hype about the bubbles is true. They are great. Even in winter you can use them for 10-15 minutes or so. We do this before we get out, after enjoying the initial heat. 3). Your total cost of ownership, if you follow my model, comes with added costs. You also have to buy chemicals (chlorine, and others) to maintain proper sanitation. The intex drink holder is also great. 4). Fully charge the battery on the remote unit before trying to use it. You will get nothing but problems and resets, etc if you do not. Follow the instructions and charge it fully. I learned this the hard way and lost some time as a result. 5) For the E81 error, make sure you are following the specific instructions in the right order. One step out of order will have you get caught in a cycle of frustration. 6). You will feel a little unsettled without some sort of seat. We haven’t gotten anything to try out there yet so I cannot offer a recommendation. I also don’t find that I need the headrest (I am 6’1”). Overall, this is the tub for you if you are ok getting in and experiencing a slow temp drop, and understand that it won’t really be ready to use for several days (again this is a winter scenario). It is very well built and performs to the specs provided. For the price I believe it to be an excellent value, especially if you are wanting to try a hot tub without investing a traditional unit. I will follow up if anything changes. Hope this helps. Update: I am a year in and still love it overall. Again, it's all about expectations. Being so cold here it struggles a bit in the winter (we've had lows of 10 degrees recently). We are still using it about four - five times a week. We completely changed the water and cleaned it once. Keeping the chemicals in good order is key. I noticed reviews talking about the E90 error code, which relates to bad water flow. I have gotten that a few times and each time it gets corrected by completing the following, in this specific order: 1). Leave the unit as is (beeping and showing e90) 2). Take off the top/cover 3). Remove and clean both filter units (also replacing the filter itself) 4). Put the filters back on (don't overtighten) 5). Reset the unit at the outlet (test, then reset) 6). Power the unit back on 7). Turn on the heater and set your desired temp. 8). Wait a few and monitor to confirm ok. You should be good to go from here. If I think of anything else I will report back.