WHY BUY CANADIAN HOT TUBS?

A lot of first time hot tub buyers are torn between spending more on a Canadian-made hot tub or less on an overseas produced hot tub with seemingly similar quality and features. Today, we will explore a few of the reasons why you should spend the extra for a hot tub made in Canada.

Build Quality

The first reason to buy a Canadian-made hot tub is build quality. Although there are always exceptions to the rule, most North American made hot tubs are built to a higher standard of quality than those made overseas. Rather than piecing together their hot tubs from various inexpensive parts – as is standard with overseas hot tubs – Canadian manufacturers make use of higher quality components that are designed to be used together.

As an example of this, let’s look at a couple of ways that Canadian manufacturer Hydropool Hot Tubs have used better parts and engineering to improve the performance of their hot tubs.

Inexpensive 4 HP hot tub pumps can sometimes struggle to produce a strong enough current to deliver a good hydrotherapy experience; especially if the hot tub has a lot of jets. To solve this issue, Hydropool went looking for a pump that could produce a stronger current to allow for more powerful, even hydrotherapy experiences. When they couldn’t find one they worked with another Canadian company to design and produce on that could. Their 4 HP Evergreen Pumps are now able to produce a current of 180 gallons per minute (standard 4 HP pumps can only produce around 140 GPM). They do this while also consuming 26% less power than a standard jet pump!

Not satisfied with just improving their pumps, the engineering team at Hydropool also looked at the design their plumbing. Their team found that repositioning their new pumps and reducing the amount of 90-degree elbows in the plumbing produced a stronger, more balanced massage across all seats in the hot tub.

This level of attention to detail resulted in a hot tub that provided a stronger, more balanced hydrotherapy experience, while also reducing the running cost of the hot tub. This is the kind of innovation and dedication to quality that you will simply not find in many overseas manufacturers.

Environmental Impact

Buying hot tubs that are made close to where you live is also good for the environment. There are two reasons for this.

Canadian-made hot tubs are subject to much tighter environmental laws than those produced overseas.
Locally produced goods require up to 25 times less transportation than those produced in other countries; greatly reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Some Canadian hot tub manufacturers, like Hydropool Hot Tubs, have taken this one step further and have committed to reducing their carbon footprint even further. Their Evergreen program has made them the world’s first carbon-neutral hot tub and swim spa manufacturer!

Cost

Although Canadian made hot tubs will always be priced higher than hot tubs produced overseas (assuming similar sizing and features), they do have many pricing advantages over American made hot tubs. The two biggest being:

Exchange Rates

An American made hot tub that sells for $8,000 in the US will cost over $10,000 in Canada, purely due to the USD to CAD exchange rate. By purchasing a Canadian made hot tub, you can use that additional $2000+ to offset some installation costs or use it to upgrade your hot tub and get some additional features that you wouldn’t be able to get on an equally priced American hot tub.

Shipping Costs

Transporting hot tubs isn’t cheap. In fact, shipping a hot tub from California to Ontario can easily add $500-$1000 to the selling price of that hot tub. As with the exchange rate, this added cost doesn’t improve the hot tub in any way. Spending that same money on a Canadian made hot tub could get you additional lighting or therapy options, rather than paying the retailer’s shipping and brokerage costs.

Made For The Canadian Climate

Canada is a small market on the global stage. In fact, there are more hot tubs sold in California every year than in all of Canada. For this reason, most hot tub manufacturers don’t really design their hot tubs for the Canadian climate, focusing more on the warmer climates of larger markets like California or the UK. Canadian manufacturers are different. Their primary market is Canada so their hot tubs are designed and built with Canadian winters specifically in mind.

One of the biggest examples of this is the emphasis that Canadian hot tub manufacturers put on their insulation systems. Most hot tub manufacturers insulate their hot tubs by covering the inside of the acrylic shell in spray foam. In warmer climates, this approach works just fine as it properly insulates the water in the hot tub. The downside of this approach is that it leaves the pumps, heater and some of the plumbing exposed to the elements; which can be a real problem in the middle of a cold Canadian winter.

For example, if a power outage were to occur during the winter in a warmer climate like California, not much would happen. In a Canadian winter, however, the water in the exposed plumbing and pumps could freeze solid in as little as a few hours; potentially causing serious damage to the hot tub. For this reason, Hydropool hot tubs install a 2nd layer of insulation around the cabinet of their hot tubs. This added insulation keeps the air in the cabinet of the hot tub warm, protecting the plumbing, pumps, and heater of the hot tub from potential freezing damage in the winter.

Energy Efficiency

Not only are Canadian winters cold, they’re also long. Energy efficiency is, therefore, more important for Canadian hot tubs than it is for hot tubs made in warmer climates.

The 2nd layer of insulation found in Hydropool Hot Tubs, for example, not only helps to protect the hot tub from freeze damage, it also traps around 90% of the waste heat generated by the hot tub and uses it to further heat the water.

Improving energy efficiency isn’t all about the insulation though. Many Canadian hot tub manufacturers also look for other ways of boosting the energy efficiency of their hot tubs. Hydropool’s Self-Cleaning filtration system, for example, is designed to keep your hot tub clean and clear at a fraction of the cost of a standard filtration system. It does this with an ultra-efficient pump and advanced programming that allows you to schedule your hot tub to only run during off-peak energy rates.

Wrapping Up

There are many advantages to buying a Canadian hot tub. They provide a much better value than other premium hot tub brands made in the USA and offer better build quality and energy efficiency than those made by overseas manufacturers. Check out our full lineup of Canadian made Hydropool Hot Tubs here and see for yourself why Canadian made hot tubs are some of the best in the world!