Bullfrog spa (hot tub)

[cyinne]

was at the ISF this past weekend- wife and I have been kicking around the idea of getting a hot tub for years. After stopping by the craft beer tent for a while we decided to go “shopping” at the varied industries building. First stop was at the Bullfrog Spa booth- their fair special seemed really good. Does anybody have any experiences with this brand? It uses no chlorine or salt to keep it clean- it uses uv light and ozone. It is sealed on 3 sides- ABS plastic frame- no wood. How is Aqua Oasis Pool and Spa out of Johnston to work with?

 

[Antihawk240]

Hey I know this one! Buying that hot tub will be the 2nd greatest day of your life! 2nd only to the greatest day of your life which will be the day you sell it.

Kidding- I know nothing about hot tubs but everyone I know who had one told me that joke. I'm actually only on this thread right now because I thought I was gonna see a good story about bullfrogs taking over a hot tub. Carry on carry on.

 

[frackincygy]

I can't speak from a user experience, but I have had the opportunity to tour the Bullfrog manufacturing facility as part of touring facilities demonstrating organizational excellence for work. The company truly practices what they preach and I have zero doubt the quality/customer experience from a Bullfrog spa would be top-of-the-line.

In fact IIRC, the company's 'mission' is to "Create peaceful lives" - not only for their employees, the communities they live in, but also for their customers. If I was in the market for a jet-spa Bullfrog would be #1 on my list.

 

[Mr Janny]

Hey I know this one! Buying that hot tub will be the 2nd greatest day of your life! 2nd only to the greatest day of your life which will be the day you sell it.

Kidding- I know nothing about hot tubs but everyone I know who had one told me that joke. I'm actually only on this thread right now because I thought I was gonna see a good story about bullfrogs taking over a hot tub. Carry on carry on.

You're not wrong. Former hot tub owner, here. They seem like a great idea. But they're a lot of work for what you get out of them, in my experience. Doesn't mean it's not worth it, but there are definitely strings attached.

That said, if this kind truly requires no chemicals to maintain, that would be intriguing.

 

[ImJustKCClone]

We bought ours a couple of years ago from Aqua Living in Urbandale. It's not a Bullfrog, it's a Dr. Wellness. But it has the uv light & ozone like the one you looked at. We love it - prefer to not have all the chemicals. However, you need to change out the water on occasion, especially if a lot of people use it or you use it daily. It's just the two of us using it 4-5 days a week, and with family visiting maybe once or twice a year. We drain it, wash down the walls & refill it about every six months.

 

[coolerifyoudid]

We bought ours a couple of years ago from Aqua Living in Urbandale. It's not a Bullfrog, it's a Dr. Wellness. But it has the uv light & ozone like the one you looked at. We love it - prefer to not have all the chemicals. However, you need to change out the water on occasion, especially if a lot of people use it or you use it daily. It's just the two of us using it 4-5 days a week, and with family visiting maybe once or twice a year. We drain it, wash down the walls & refill it about every six months.

Swingers gonna swing

 

[RonBurgundy]

We have an Embark spa and we like it. I do not find the chemistry maintenance to be that much of an effort, but I am also curious if the non-chemical approach would work. We use Bromine which is easier on the skin than Chlorine.

We have a lot of trees in our back yard, and despite having a privacy fence around 3 sides of the hot tub, we get a lot of leaves, grass, etc blown into the hot tub. I would be curious if UV and ozone would be able to keep up once the organics broke down.

Note that I thought the HT would be a big electric suck, but it really isn't and we keep ours on during the entire winter (covered when not in use).

My kids love it.

 

[ImJustKCClone]

Swingers gonna swing

Well, orangutans ARE arboreal...

 

[ImJustKCClone]

We have an Embark spa and we like it. I do not find the chemistry maintenance to be that much of an effort, but I am also curious if the non-chemical approach would work. We use Bromine which is easier on the skin than Chlorine.

We have a lot of trees in our back yard, and despite having a privacy fence around 3 sides of the hot tub, we get a lot of leaves, grass, etc blown into the hot tub. I would be curious if UV and ozone would be able to keep up once the organics broke down.

Note that I thought the HT would be a big electric suck, but it really isn't and we keep ours on during the entire winter (covered when not in use).

My kids love it.

We put a permanent gazebo around ours, and have a hydraulic cover on it. We live on a heavily wooded acreage - between leaves & skeeters we would start hating it if we didn't have it screened in.

 

[JM4CY]

Swingers gonna swing

don’t need a brain eating amoeba climbing up your wiener.

 

[ImJustKCClone]

don’t need a brain eating amoeba climbing up your wiener.

No problem. I don't have a wiener.

 

[JustAnotherTimeline]

I used to sell hot tubs for a local Des Moines area store. Bullfrog had some interesting engineering at the time with their jetpack system. That design should help limit plumbing leak issues. But frankly, all tubs have their own schtick in an attempt to separate what are all quite similar products.

Rather than brand, If I were buying one today I would focus on the following:

1. Only buy a brand with a lengthy history of manufacturing and support
2. Buy from a local dealer with a long history of selling AND servicing the same brand
3. No less than a 5 year parts and labor warranty on equipment AND plumbing

Iowa winters are hard on these things. You are going to want a brand with good local support and warranty if your heater breaks in the dead of winter. It happens.

Side note. If things are like they used to be (maybe they aren't, I don't know), local dealers would bring in "spa whores" who go hop from fair to fair. While the local dealer sells and services the product, the salesman gets the commission. Those commission rates were more than what I was paid on a day to day basis. Some arrangements with salesmen would include receiving a percentage of any overage above "par". While the profit margins at the fair were lower for the business, many times the price for the consumer wasn't all that different from any other day.

 

[CyCoug]

I live about 15 minutes from their factory. So they market really heavily in the area. But know nothing about how they compare to other brands.

Want me to sneak in and take some undercover photos to help you decide if they are quality?

 

[Blackhawk6515]

was at the ISF this past weekend- wife and I have been kicking around the idea of getting a hot tub for years. After stopping by the craft beer tent for a while we decided to go “shopping” at the varied industries building. First stop was at the Bullfrog Spa booth- their fair special seemed really good. Does anybody have any experiences with this brand? It uses no chlorine or salt to keep it clean- it uses uv light and ozone. It is sealed on 3 sides- ABS plastic frame- no wood. How is Aqua Oasis Pool and Spa out of Johnston to work with?

Never shop after you have been drinking.

 

[Freebird]

We have a hot tub that came with the house. We would have never bought one and thought we’d end up getting rid of it. Almost five years later we still use it all year round. It’s older so I’ve replaced some parts on it including the cover. I change the water once a year and the filter twice a year. Overall maintaining the water quality has been easier than I figured it would be. It’s a higher end jacuzzi model and overall it’s held up really well for being almost fifteen years old. We use WCI for everything and I highly recommend them.

 

[Dr.bannedman]

don’t need a brain eating amoeba climbing up your wiener.

might feel nice

 

[isufbcurt]

We bought ours a couple of years ago from Aqua Living in Urbandale. It's not a Bullfrog, it's a Dr. Wellness. But it has the uv light & ozone like the one you looked at. We love it - prefer to not have all the chemicals. However, you need to change out the water on occasion, especially if a lot of people use it or you use it daily. It's just the two of us using it 4-5 days a week, and with family visiting maybe once or twice a year. We drain it, wash down the walls & refill it about every six months.

Are you having some wild parties you forgot to tell us about?

 

[ImJustKCClone]

Are you having some wild parties you forgot to tell us about?

I would invite you & "Curt's wife", but ain't nobody wants to see our two old bods nekkid!

 

[JP4CY]

I would invite you & "Curt's wife", but ain't nobody wants to see our two old bods nekkid!

 

[ImJustKCClone]

I left you speechless, @JP4CY ?