As more and more companies begin to manufacture swim spas, it is becoming harder and harder to know which one to buy. No two swim spas are exactly the same and when comparing swim spas you will likely have good reasons to buy either of them. So what do you do?

Today, we will equip you with a few questions to help you narrow down your swim spa search.

Will You be Using The Swim Spa Year Round?

The first thing you need to ask yourself when picking out a swim spa for your family is if you’ll be using it year round, or just in the warmer months. One of the major advantages of swim spas over traditional pools is that they can be used even when the outside temperatures dip below freezing.

While all swim spas are safe to use in the winter, some will cost you a fortune to do so. If they’re not properly built for winter, swim spas can cost $500 or more per month to run when the temperatures dip below 0C.

If you’re going to be using your swim spa year round, make sure that it is built with winter use in mind. Some things to consider are:

• Is the swim spa well insulated? Specifically, look for insulation around the cabinet of the swim spa. Swim spa pumps and heaters generate a ton of waste heat. Insulating the cabinet of the swim spa traps this waste heat; increasing energy efficiency while also protecting the pumps, electronics and exposed plumbing from the harsh winter elements.
• How energy efficient are the pumps? Even if they’re well insulated, swim spas can be expensive to run if their pumps require a ton of energy to run.

Hydropool swim spas are made in Canada. They know how cold it can get and build their swim spas to run year round, without costing you an arm and a leg. Their Hydrowise system insulates both the shell, the cabinet and the floor of the swim spa. Their Evergreen pumps also run on an average of over 25% less power than other swim spa pumps; while producing equal or better flow rates.

How Big Should Your Swim Spa Be?

Swim spas come in many different sizes; typically anywhere from 12′ long to 19′ long. One of the most important things you should do to narrow down your available choices is to pick the size of swim spa that is right for your family. How do you do this? Start with your backyard.

How Big Is Your Available Space?

Before looking at swim spas it is important to know how much space you have in your backyard. Measure out your available space to see how much available space you have for a swim spa. There’s no use looking at 19′ swim spas if you only have enough space for a 14′!

How Many People Will Be Using It?

Once you know how much space you have, you’ll next need to figure out how much space you’ll need. To do that simply add up the number of people that will be using the swim spa at a given time. If the answer is just 1 or 2, you can pretty much buy any size of swim spa you like. In the interest of saving money, a 14′ swim spa would probably be best. Any larger and you’re just spending money for more area that you don’t really need.

If on the other hand, you have a couple of young kids that will regularly have friends over for pool parties, you should look for a swim spa that has a large swimming area to give them room to move around and play. The 17fX from Hydropool swim spas, for example, has one of the largest swimming tanks you’ll find in a swim spa.

How Tall Are The People That Will Be Using The Swim Spa?

Even if there are only 1 or 2 people using your swim spa, if one of those people is quite tall (over 6′ 2″) you’ll likely want to get something larger than a 14′ swim spa. This is because a 12′ or 14′ swim spa simply won’t be long enough for them to comfortably swim in. Upsizing to something like the 16fX from Hydropool will allow them to swim comfortably, without the swim spa taking up too much extra space.

How Are You Planning On Using The Swim Spa?

One of the biggest factors to consider when buying a swim spa is how you and your family will actually be using it. The two most common are:

1) Fitness

If you’re planning on using the swim spa for fitness, you’ll want to pay special attention to the swim systems used by the different manufacturers. Unfortunately, most swim spa manufacturers still don’t know how to make a good swimming experience. Most use large hot tub style jets with underpowered pumps that result in a weak, turbulent swimming experience.

The problem with most swim spa manufacturers is that they simply don’t have the experience required to create a good swimming current. Most have only been manufacturing swim spas for a few years and haven’t done the research that more established swim spa manufacturers have.

Hydropool swim spas have been making swim spas for over 25 years. While they started in much the same way as other swim spa manufacturers, they quickly learned that hot tub jets simply don’t work as swimming jets and began working on their own patented swimming system. The result of all of that research and development is their V-Twin swim current system; one of the most powerful, smooth, and controllable swim current systems in the world!

The exclusive V-Twin swim current system is able to move over 700 gallons of water per minute; enough to create an 18 km/h swim current! Not only that, their patented V-Twin jets spread the current out over a wide area while also cutting out turbulence created by the pumps. The result is a smooth, powerful swim current that anyone can enjoy!

2) Fun & Relaxation

While swim spas were originally created to be the ultimate fitness pool, more and more people are buying them simply as a fun or relaxing splash pool. If this is the case with your family, ignore all of the fitness options out there and look at three things:

Does the swim spa have enough room to fit your family?

As we covered earlier, you should only be considering swim spas that have enough room to fit everyone in your family.

Does the swim spa have enough seats when we want to relax?

Along with swim jets and a swim tank, most swim spas also have therapeutic massage seats like those found in hot tubs. If you’re planning on using the swim spa to relax and de-stress after a long day, you’ll want to make sure that there are enough seats for you and your partner to relax. If you’re planning on regularly having friends over, look for a swim spa with 4 seats to accommodate the extra people.

Is the swim spa easy to maintain?

Nobody likes to spend their free time maintaining their swim spa, especially if the whole point of buying it was to relax! The reality is that most swim spas are made with filtration systems meant for hot tubs. While these systems work just fine in hot tubs, they’re not designed to properly clean the amount of water found in swim spas. The result is a swim spa that needs to run constantly, is hard to keep clear and requires constant cleaning and maintenance.

Fortunately, not all swim spas are like this. Hydropool’s Self-Cleaning swim spas, for example, use a highly efficient pressure side filtration system designed for use in in-ground pools. The result is that all of the water in the swim spa is filtered in less than 45 minutes. This not only keeps the water in the swim spa clear, it also drastically reduces the amount of time you need to spend cleaning and maintaining the swim spa. For this reason, most Self-Cleaning swim spas only require about 5-10 minutes of maintenance per week!

Wrapping Up

With so many choices now available to potential swim spa buyers it can be tough to decide which swim spa is right for your family. Asking yourself the questions outlined in this guide should give you a great start. For more swim spa buying tips, check out this article to help you get the best possible deal on a new swim spa.