In a full foam spa, the only place to locate the air pump is in the equipment
area, which is vented to the outside. Some are located in the foam, and
draw air from the equipment compartment through a tube.
When full foam spas run their air blower it destroys what little efficiency
they have. All of the air is drawn in from the outside of the spa, which
is always colder than the water temperature .
During the winter, these poor designs can reduce the water temperature by 1 degree every five minutes. The spa heater is now unable to keep the temperature up. All of those charts showing the "average use" of electricity are worthless with the blower running.
About ten years ago there was a spa company that used to put electric heaters on the blower pump. The heater would get wet and start all sorts of problems. Sometimes it would electrify the water. You won't see this on spas any more.
In Thermally Closed, the air pump is located inside the thermo- pane
area, where the heat from the jet pumps is warming the air. You can actually
use the blower and not lose any heat. The air coming in is warmer than the
spa water.
After a few minutes the air temperature inside the cabinet will go down.
Of course, after about twenty minutes, the air will turn cold, but by then
you are long done with the air therapy.
I use my air blower all of the time. I love the way it feels on my
skin, invigorating! Just great!
According to medical science, the lower legs and ankles and feet are the farthest from our hearts. That is why the ankles get spider veins, the legs often get varicose veins. Not a happy thought!
Gravity and the actual weight of the blood circulating causes higher
blood pressure and what is referred to as "stagnant blood". There really
is no stagnant blood, rather it is blood which is not circulating as fast
as it should.
When you immerse your legs under warm water, the blood, which is a liquid
of almost the same weight as water, becomes almost neutral in weight. The
pressure inside your legs is reduced and the effects of gravity are greatly
lessened.
The only thing missing is the blower therapy, which is specifically designed
by doctors to increase blood circulation in your skin, legs and feet. It
is sort of like taking pillows full of warm water and rolling them around
your body and legs.
A spa with a blower actually helps to reduce spider veins. Mine have greatly reduced since I started using my blower regularly and I am not getting any younger.
When a salesman says: "What good is an air blower?"; you now have the answer.
This is another area where poor and gimmickry designs prevail in just about all of the other brands of spas.
When a therapy seat is designed, the designers don't seem to give any thought to the fact that the human body is placed in front of the jet patterns. It seems they just want it to "look good". ( Many people buy spas without actually trying them. I heartily recommend taking a "wet test.")
If you don't know about jets, you can be easily duped. An array of jets which look like they are wonderful, can be useless and annoying.
The worst pattern I have seen is the seats that have many, (up to thirty
or more), small penetrating jets, with all of the water from one pump forced
into that seat. What looks good may just be a form of abuse. A spa user
has to hang on to the sides of the tub just to stay in the seat. If you
have an iron back, you might like that sort of "jet action", but it's too
much for most people.
Years ago, a test on elderly people was performed in a spa having this
set up. All of the elderly people had bruises on their backs in exactly
the same pattern as the "bullet" jets in the seat.
First of all, directing all the power from one jet pump into one seat is just plain poor engineering and the spa pump is too small to operate all of the jets at the same time.
Another very poor design is large full sized vibrating jets placed in the upper neck area. The neck muscles are small! Who wants to have their neck beat with a vibrating large nozel? You want small jets for small muscles!
This type of engineering is to keep the costs of manufacturing down. When you see up to thirty jets in an empty tub that has only one pump, it looks like it is really going to give you and your guests a good amount of therapy.
Not exactly!
Did you happen to notice the handle on the upper lip of the spa shell? That handle is the control for what is called a "diverter valve". You will not see any of those on a fine quality spa.
When the zones are turned, only part of the jets operate. The rest of the seats are "dead" with no jet action. Until you turn the water diverter valve, either you or your friends don't get any therapy. When you try the center position, all of the jets are weak and worthless.
As a service repair person, these water diverter valves are a real nightmare. They often get stuck after about five years, which coincides with the end of your longest warranty!
After getting the repair estimate, many customers just leave the valve
in one position and never bother to turn it again.
Many full foam spa companies are still putting them deeply embedded in foam,
so the repair person has to dig and dig to get to them.
Because these diverters are valves, much like a faucet valve, they have neoprene, or rubber O'rings and gaskets. They leak after a while. If it is a small leak embedded in foam, then the foam will become saturated and worthless for support and insulation.
I have opened up these spas to find a huge area of saturated foam, with only a tiny drip of water coming out of the diverter valve.
If you want to "GET ZONED" find a better way!
Don't forget to ask the salesman about how fast these spas freeze!
So far only one company has figured that out, Haven Spas&TM;. This company has replaced hype, gimmicks, jargon, (and just plain lies) with intelligent engineering.
They don't use diverter valves which reduce the need for a pump and increase the chances for leaking and extra repair costs. Haven engineers jet the spas with the proper amounts of jets to match the water flow and pressure of each pump.
Thermally Closed spas that we offer use totally adjustable jets throughout the entire spa. You can control the jet pressure to your liking. Ultimate control!!
The standard pattern for Haven jets is to follow the needs of the human body exactly.
The upper jets are "small adjustable" style. They are called "tension ease jets" and that is exactly what they do! These jets are slightly more penetrating. If you have ever been to a massage therapist, you know that the best therapy is to apply pointed pressure to the tension spots in your neck and upper shoulders. That is exactly what these small jets do. You can adjust the pressure to your comfort on each and every jet.
As we move down your back, the muscles get bigger, and so do Haven spa jets. That is not a coincidence. You can adjust the pressure and the type of jet to fit the needs of your body!
The mid way jets are slightly bigger in their orifice, and are
less pointed in their therapy. They use a lot of fully adjustable spinning
jets, which feel like vibrators massaging you.
The lower jets are the full sized jets, both straight nozzles and spinning
vibrator jets. The muscles in your lower back just love this sort of massage.
This is much better than taking a fire hose and putting a garden
spray nozzle on it, as done in other brands of spas.
I have been in many different brands and types of spas and the therapy
in the Thermally Closed Haven beats them all. I particularly like the two
water pump models, although the Silver Vista series are the best one pump
spas I have ever felt.
If you wish to email the author, we respond to all email, any questions about spas or spa operation are welcome email ja@spaspecialist.com
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