This post is sponsored by Freeflow Spas.
When we bought our house, it came with a hot tub. The sellers made it part of the deal that they could leave said hot tub where it sat, and we soon learned why. It was dead as a door nail from day one! There was something wrong with the overly-complicated electrical setup, and soon this massively-heavy beast of a machine was acting as a makeshift sanctuary for wayward frogs and snakes. It HAD to to be replaced, but we didn't have a ton of money for this task or the first clue about how to install a hot tub.
We did a little digging and learned that not all hot tubs are created equal. At first we thought we'd minimize potential electrical failure by installing an in-ground hot tub, but it turns out those are inefficient and expensive to run and there are still no guarantees about the setup. So we started really thinking through our needs. What we wanted was something easy. Something we could move, since our property is persistently under renovation and the pool layout isn't set in stone right now. Something that wouldn't be a nightmare to service or replace if something did go wrong. Something that didn't require a specialty 230-volt plug, since that was totally shot after the last hot tub fiasco.
Turns out, such a hot tub does exist! After hours and hours of research, we kept seeing the name Freeflow Spas pop up in the forums. Lots of hot tub techs were recommending them as a reliable solution that have fewer issues than other hot tubs due to their ultimate simplicity. Their unique manufacturing process produces a strong, molded one-piece hot tub shell that doesn't require a support frame. That equates to less expensive manufacturing costs, which in turn equates to a relatively inexpensive hot tub. These are about half the price of traditionally-produced ones! They've been awarded numerous awards for their business model that breaks the mold (heh) on an industry that remained unchanged for far too long.
Freeflow Spas' lightweight portability was the first major selling point for me. After needing a seven-man crew with a lift to get our previous tub out of its spot, it was such a relief to discover that Nate and I can actually move this one all by ourselves! Second, it can plug into any standard household 110-volt outlet. If we change our minds and decide we want it in the back patio instead of next to the pool? No problem! Fancy a living room dunk? Kind of a weird choice, but it's feasible. Finally, hot tubs from Freeflow Spas have a spray-in foam and insulated thermal cover for awesome heat retention. No energy bill spikes here!
I did even more investigating, because bringing a big piece of equipment like this onto our property is something I take seriously. Turns out, Freeflow Spas is owned by the same company that owns Delta faucets, Behr paint and Kraftmaid cabinets. Those are all high-quality items that we love and use in our home on a daily basis. Finally, they're based out of Vista, one of our neighboring towns here in San Diego. I was SOLD.
We chatted with the customer service people and arranged a time for them to pick up our old tub and replace it. That removal looked like a hassle, but the installation? Literally plug-and-play. The boys were in the hot tub running all the nozzles and buttons in no time.
One controls the jets, one controls lights, one turns the temperature up and one turns it down. Easy squeezy. A turn of a knob on the side controls how fast the jets go, and another knob shifts jet operation from the front jets to the back jets or lets us have all of them running at once.
These jets mean serious business, too. We got the Monterey Spa, one of the largest in the Freeflow line, and it has a whopping 22 hydrotherapy jets with stainless steel trim. It seats up to 7 people and has a built-in ice bucket for party-ready fun at a moment's notice.
It even comes with a cool waterfall feature!
Some Boy dubbed himself the official pH manager. We subscribed to a service called pHin that monitors our hot tub 24/7, sends chemicals in pre-measured pods right to my doorstep, and alerts me in an app when it's time to add a pod. Maintenance was one of my biggest concerns about the hot tub – seeing as how the previous owners clearly didn't maintain theirs – so this was a huge relief. There's even an option in the app to contact a technician in my area in case any issues arise that I can't take care of myself.
I'll admit that I definitely took too long getting around to replacing the hot tub. I should have done it immediately, but I kept telling myself that it would be a complicated job. Even once I learned that there was a simple solution, I beat myself up about the condition of our space. The renovations aren't finished, this dead grass needs to be pulled, our deck needs to be installed, the fencing is dying for some updates.
And then I realized that while I was making plans, my kids were making memories. So I just went ahead and did it – not ready, not pretty, but real. Functional. Progress. We've had SO MUCH FUN laughing and splashing and watching the sun set (and even watching it rise a couple times) from the comforting warmth of our very own hot tub. I can feel our family dreams coming true one little tubside chat at a time, and it was so much easier than I imagined.
We're sharing another post soon showing off the cool multicolored lights in this hot tub and sharing how we spruced up this space a bit with minimal effort. Stay tuned!
Do you have a hot tub?