Tanya’s Tips

The latest term you can find popping up everywhere is “staycation”. The urban-dictionary defines it as a vacation that is spent at one’s home enjoying all that home and one’s home environs have to offer. 

With the cost of gas going up quicker than the thermometer in July, most families are trying to getaway without leaving home! When you travel to a hotel what is the one thing that everyone loves besides having someone else make their bed every morning? The hot tub next to the pool and/or the sauna in the swanky spa.

Who doesn’t like to relax while away on vacation? So why not have these affordable amenities at home for you to use everyday? Hot tubs come in all shapes and sizes and range in price from $3995 to well over $12,000 depending on how big and how many bells and whistles you are looking for. Infrared saunas are the latest in sauna technology and come in sizes from 1 to 4 people with prices starting at just $2399 and simply plug into an existing household 110V plug. Even some hot tubs use 110V and they all fill by using a garden hose from your outdoor faucet (no plumbing needed). You can’t get much easier than that!

Some of you might be thinking why would I want a “hot” tub or sauna when you are already hot and sweaty during the summer months? Well a pool is nice, but can really only be used for MAYBE 4 months of the year here in New England, but you can use a hot tub year round! In the summer set the temp to be below body temperature and it will still feel refreshing and you will still get the benefits of hydrotherapy. With a sauna you have sore muscles from mowing the lawn or playing a couple of games tennis that need some heat therapy which is quite comfortable on a cool summer evening or morning. Both a sauna and a hot tub are going to provide you with years of relaxing and fun times with family and friends so start planning your staycation today!

Here is a blog entry that I found about one family’s staycation:  

“Gasoline has topped $4.00 a gallon and continues to rise. The economy sucks and inflation is eating away at discretionary money. Food is becoming more expensive. Businesses are closing. Housing prices have plummeted to a 20 year low. We are still working long and hard (unless we lost our jobs), yet we seem to have less and less every day.Our hardworking souls still need breaks and vacations, but where do we go? I get about 4 weeks of vacation per year, but last year I only took two weeks. My company, in all of their wisdom, paid me out for my unused vacation, so I had to pay taxes on it! Not only was I not able to carry over those vacation hours, I ended up paying for them in the long run. Not this year; I am taking every hour of accumulated vacation. Uncle Sam is not going to get it.

We have (had) three trips planned this year. The first one was driving to Loreto, Baja, Mexico to deliver some children’s clothes to some disadvantaged children. We completed this mission. This was good for the heart; bad for the wallet. The price of gas (significantly reduced when you heavily load your truck), 3,000 miles of desert driving with the air conditioner on, lots of pit stops, and accommodations - it would have been less expensive to fly. However, we could not have taken those needed clothes.

My wife and I had also planned on our first trip to mainland Europe(on saved frequent flyer miles!) for our anniversary. Since snaring one of those precious seats on an international flight is not the easiest thing to do, I was elated to get some wonderful connections for this long flight. It took me many years to convince my wife (a white-knuckle flyer) that it was now safe to go. We were all set. We even had our Rick Steves backpack bags. We were going with another couple who have been to Europe many times. We had planned on sharing the rental car and fuel. If you think $4.00 or more a gallon is high here, this is about the price of a liter in Europe! Along with the devaluation of the dollar against the Euro, this was going to be another trip that cost a lot more than we anticipated. Unfortunately, we canceled the trip.
Finally, we had a family trip (about five days) planned for August. A friend of mine bought an old church camp near Yosemite years ago and has renovated it for family reunions, and of course, church groups. When she offered to give it to our family for a week, we jumped at it. When twenty or so extended family and friends arrive, we will sleep in bunk beds, share in the cooking, and spend some quality time being a family again. And, more importantly, we are close to home; only a few hours drive. This will be our Stay-cation this year.We really have a great mountain home with a beautiful view, lots of trees, and lots of quiet. We have a place that really is a vacation spot, yet we always seem to find other places to go. Yesterday, my wife and I sat under our three year old cherry tree that produced extra fruit for the first time. Not wanting to share any more with the birds, we picked ALL of the cherries, sat under the tree, and ate ‘em.  We also have a hot tub where we can soak and relax. We can see planes flying overhead heading for the airport about 40 miles away. Those people are tired and weary; we are relaxed and enjoying each other’s company. It is the perfect Stay-cation!  Posted by: Rod Moser_PA_PhD at 8:20 AM

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You have realized that you NEED/WANT a hot tub, but you aren’t sure where to put it. Here are some tips for hot tub placement. A spa professional could also come to your home for a “site visit” and help you select the perfect spot.

1. You need a solid level surface for your spa to sit on. A deck with sufficient support can carry the load of a hot tub. The weight of a tub isn’t just “filled” weight it is also the weight of the people relaxing in the spa.  An existing patio of bricks or pavers will be fine as long at it is level. A 4-6″ thick concrete pad is the best, but it isn’t cheap. You can build the above or use a Spa Pad. This specifically designed system of plastic pads interlocks to create a suitable spot for your spa. You will need to remove grass, dirt and make sure that the ground is level. Putting down a layer of coarse sand under the pad is a good idea too.

2. Think about your surroundings! You don’t want to spend a lot of money on a deck or patio and realize that you can see right into the neighbors kitchen when lounging in your favorite seat in the tub. Don’t place your spa outside your kids bedroom window if you want to use your tub for entertaining at night.  Do you have a nice view? Make sure to position the spa so most of or at least your favorite seat is facing that way. Also the cover is going to open a certain way and if it ends up creating privacy from your neighbors that is great, but if it blocks your view of the lake that isn’t good. Most spas can be special ordered with a reverse fold cover. Speaking of  the cover it will most likely be on a cover lifter and the side to where the cover will end up when open will need to have some clearance- 9″ up to 2′ depending on the style of lifter.

3. In New England the best times of year to use your hot tub is fall through spring. So keep in mind that you will be walking (maybe running) to your spa when it is below 30 and there is snow on the ground. You don’t want it too far from the house! Make it convenient for you to get to your spa anytime. Not only should you think of how far from the house it should be, but what door will you use. Maybe you put the spa on the patio off the master suite, but do you want friends and family traipsing through your room to get to your spa?

4. You like the look of an in-ground spa, but aren’t sure how to achieve that look. The #1 thing to think about is access to the spa for service. Hopefully you won’t need service, but if you do you don’t want to have to rip apart your deck or stone walls to get to the tub. The side where the main controls are should be FULLY accessible. A tech isn’t going to low crawl under a deck to get to your spa. Creating a removable panel is the best way. Make sure to show your plans to your spa specialist to make sure that your design will give you years of visual pleasure and not headaches!

Every backyard situation is different so asking the professionals for guidance is your best bet! The spa specialisits at New England Spas will come to your home and walk thru every aspect of your new spa installation to make sure that it is in the perfect spot! Call today to schedule your in-home consulatation!

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Less is more when you are talking about the amount of chlorine in your hot tub water! Everyone loves sparkling clear, clean hot tub water with no chlorine smell. The best way to achieve this is with a combination of products to create the EverFresh System.

This easy system consists of:
1. ozonator
2. mineral purifier
3. a touch of chlorine or bromine 

The EverFresh System allows you to keep your PPM (part per million) of Free Chlorine or Bromine at 1-3 instead of the ideal 3-5 ppm. Less chlorine will make your skin feel better, your wallet have more money and your overall hot experience even more relaxing!

So exactly how can you use less chlorine and have more enjoyable hot tub water? It is very easy!

1. Install a CD (corona discharge) ozonator in your spa. An ozonator is the perfect addition to your spa because it is silent, maintenance free and costs only pennies a day to run.  A CD ozonator gives you the best in water purification technology by continuously injecting millions of tiny, highly concentrated ozone bubbles into the water, neutralizing contaminates on contact. There are UV units available, but the santization level is less and the bulbs are very expensive to replace. A CD ozonator can be installed at anytime, even when the spa is full of water.  The installation can be done by a handyman type homeowner or leave it to the spa professionals to install it for you. This great unit will give you peace of mind that your water is being cleaned daily with no effort on your part so get one today!

 2. In addition to the ozonator you will need to insert a mineral purifier into your filter compartment. This little unit contains EPA-registered minerals that release a silver ion into the water. This ion has no smell or feel, but bacteria hate it because they cannot multiply.  This unit lasts 3-4 months and costs only about .25 cents a day! Can’t beat that!!

3. Lastly as part of this program some chlorine or bromine should be added to achieve a level to 1-3ppm. Your test strip should read 1-3 or a light shade of purple. The amount will be something that you will determine based on your bather load. Remember if you have more people one day you will need more chlorine or bromine, but achieving the 1-3ppm range is still sufficient. Adding the determined amount of chlorine when you exit the spa daily is best, bromine tends to be in tablet form so you will not need to add this each time- only as needed.  If you are using chlorine- be safe and test and possibly treat the water prior to use if you haven’t used the spa for a few days and therefore haven’t added your dose of chlorine in a few days.  

Can’t get any easier than 1, 2, 3 to have sparkling clear, safe water for you and your family to relax and have fun in!

As with any program you will still need to adjust, pH, alkalinity and calcium levels. Also the addition of a shock, scale inhibitor and water clarifier will be necessary with the EverFresh System. For water a maintenance sheet on the EverFresh program visit http://www.nespas.com/spa-water-maintenance.html

Happy Spaahhhring!!

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With energy prices going up every day efficiency is big concern for those shopping for a hot tub and for those who already own one. Here are some energy efficient tips for those soon to be relaxing and the ones that are currently relaxing in their spas.

For those of you who are shopping for your new spa there are a few things to keep in mind.
1. Insulation- this is a must have for a hot tub especially when living in a cold climate. Now I am not talking about a flimsy blanket hanging inside the cabinet or a little layer of sprayed on low density foam on the shell- you want high density, closed cell full foam insulation throughout your spa from the shell to the cabinet panel. Remember that air is not an insulator- do you insulate your home with air? Nope- you have insulation in your walls. Not only does the full foam insulation in a spa help with energy efficiency it also helps reduce noise and keeps the plumbing supported lessening the stress on joints.

2. Pumps- besides the heater these are the guys that suck up energy. To get a great massage you don’t need pumps with ridiculous amounts of horsepower- 2.5 is usually the biggest a tub would need. It comes down to how the tub is plumbed- a spa with a smaller pump might feel stronger than a bigger pump and a bigger pump is going to cost more to run. You also don’t need the big pumps to help filter the water, a small low watt circulation pump will do the trick and be much more energy efficient.  

3. Heater- this is the other culprit for lots of energy consumption, but there are more efficient heaters. Ones that directly heat the water thru a coil are more efficient. The least efficient way of heating the water is by using the heat generated from the pumps. Using already present hot air might sound energy efficient, but think of it this way-would you use the heat from your dryer exhaust vent to heat water for a cup of tea?

So you already own a hot tub and you want to make sure that you are being efficient. 
1. How old is your cover? Is it almost 5 years old and weighs about 500 pounds? Eventually your cover will start taking on water and become not only heavy to lift, but much less energy efficient. Replacing the cover will not only save your back it will save you money! 

2. Add an additional layer of insulation with a floating blanket. This foam blanket that you cut to fit your tub will float directly on the water adding another layer of protection. It also extends the lifetime of your insulating saftey cover. Remember you still need your locking safety cover as the blanket is not to be used alone.

3. Close your air controls on your jets when not using the spa. These are the knobs that introduce air into the water stream from your jets that make it a harder or softer massage.

4. Turn the temp down a couple of degrees when not using the spa. A few degrees is fine, but turning the temp down more than a few degrees will end up costing you more money in the long run.  

5. Keep your filters clean and make sure to replace them at the appropriate times according to your owner’s manual. A dirty or old filter will cause the pumps to work harder and use more energy. Also this is unnecessary strain on your pumps which hurts their longevity.

Happy Hot Tubbing!

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