About Buy Spa Canada
Hot Tubs are made with similar components. Balboa is a leader in supplying digital controls and control systems to the hot tub industry. If you have a quality spa, chances are Balboa electronics are found within.
- Other spa electronics are made by companies such as Gecko and the new company Newport.
Hot Tubs Canada
Hot tubs in Canada are used all year long including during the winter outdoors.
The feeling of hot steamy water surround by fresh snow is an invigorating way to get the blood flowing and the muscles relaxing.
You don't have to be just getting back from hockey to enjoy a nice hot soak and you feel better and more relaxed as do your muscles.
So what are some considerations for Canadian hot tub owners?
There is alot of information on the market about why one spa is better than another.
There are review sites online that actually charge the hot tub manufacturers to be included in their positive reviews - hardly objective.
So what is a "spa-noob" supposed to know about hot tubs prior to making a purchase. See our sidebar on demystifying hot tub purchasing.
Cheap Hot Tubs in Canada
One of the main questions we see is, "do I need to spend a fortune for a quality hot tub?". Beware, say the hot tub pundits, of buying low cost spas because you will have problems in the long run instilling fear in the hot tub buying public.
Price is not the indicator of quality in the hot tub business. A very high priced spa represents a very high profit margin for the various layers of distribution and sales people in the hot tub business. The fact is that mostly all hot tubs are made from the same exact materials and components.
The Shell
The arguably best materials for the spa shell are made from either Aristech Acrylics or Lucite Acrylics, and then you have all your other materials of varying quality and staunch supporters of that particular shell material. But the vote by most hot tub manufacturers to select a spa shell acrylic goes to either Aristech or Lucite.
Now why would all of these manufacturers choose the same material to make their spa shells with when many of them, cost considerations aside, can select the best material for the job? Because they are the most experienced manufacturers of acrylic from which the rest of the hot tub is then created.
So there are many other factors that go into the building, quality and workmanship of an individual spa, but you can find a Lucite Acrylic spa for $15,000 and you can also find a Lucite acrylic spa for $3,000. So we hope to offer our opinion on why there are such large price disparities and which features you may really need or want vs. the ones that are less popular and more costly.
Quality brand name acrylic spas begin in the $3,000+ range. For under $2,000 you may find "hot tubs" with sub-par shell material such as polyethelene or other cheaper plastic which may discolor or not provide the structural integrity a hot tub needs to operate in Canada. Of course for under $1,000 you can even find blow up hot tubs made of raft vinyl or other inflatable type. In most of these, you don't even sit in a seat, but on the floor which is often a thin sheet of vinyl - not very comfortable, but in this case you get what you pay for.
Where the large disparity begins is with quality Lucite or Aristech brand spa shells that are then plumbed and have various components, electronics (most notably Balboa) where the price tag is faster than the eye with a visually similar model costing $4,000 in the one corner and $14,000 in the other corner. Many consumers may just be paying for inefficiencies in the supply chain between hot tub manufacuterer and hot tub seller.
DIY Hot Tub Sourcing
They are billed for the overhead of radio advertising, big store displays, colour literature, marketing dvds and full time salespeople. If a buyer could just know what they wanted and needed without all of the hoopla, thousands can be saved by procuring the hot tub directly from the actual manufacturer with a minimal amount of fuss = wasted dollars and the end result being a brand new, quality custom made hot tub sitting in the driveway and ready for installation.
If in the U.S. or International
send inquiry directly to: info@buyspa.ca
If you are in Canada, you can email us with your inquiry for further details and