Should I Buy a Hot Tub from Hydropool?

By Jon Filson

Hydropool Hot Tubs and Swim Spas

Published Apr 29, 2024

Choosing which brand of hot tub you will buy can be a difficult decision. There are a lot of brands for you to consider and narrowing it down to one can involve many elements.

These can include:

  • You’re getting good value for your money.
  • That the hot tub you buy will last. 
  • The dealer will provide you with advice, guidance and support after you buy your hot tub or swim spa. 
  • The company has a history and a solid reputation of making a good product. 
  • That you’re buying a high-end brand or prestigious brand. 
  • You’re getting the latest in innovative technology.

“Why should I consider Hydropool?” is a question we are asked in many ways. “Why should I buy from you?” or “Why are you the best?” We want to answer your questions, whenever we can. We want people to be assured they are getting a good deal when they buy from us, and know they are getting a good product. 

That’s also why we don’t just talk about us: If you do want to read about our competition, we have discussed many of the good brands making hot tubs and swim spas. We understand you may want to shop around and consider many of the brands available. 

During that shopping-around process, there’s a good chance you’ll come across Hydropool though, as we have been selling hot tubs and swim spas for more than 40 years. So in this article, we are going to explain what’s different about Hydropool and why we believe we are one of the best buys you can make. We’re going to outline:

  • some of what gets said about us
  • our experience
  • detail our approach to innovation
  • and explain our dealer service capabilities

We want you to know just what you’re getting into when you dip a toe into one of our hot tubs at Hydropool.

 

 

Are All the Things Said about Hydropool Online True? 

Many things get said about Hydropool online. Some are true and some aren’t, and that’s the way the world works today for any company. The same can be said of any hot tub maker. 

We wish everything said was good but sometimes the comments aren’t. For example, some say: 

  • We are a lower-end version of Jacuzzi. 
  • Others say that our hot tubs are built in Mexico. 

Those ones aren’t true. We are owned by Invest Industrial, which includes the Jacuzzi brands family. That includes several other hot tub and swim spa companies, including Jacuzzi, Sundance, DreamMaker and more. This kind of consolidation isn’t unusual in the world of spas and hot tubs. Many hot tub companies are owned by larger conglomerates. 

But we’re not a discount brand or anything close: We operate as a separate company. Also, all our hot tubs are built in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. You can drop by and visit us any time you’d like.

Some of the things people say online are true … but that doesn’t mean they are quite right or well-intended. For example, Hydropool features what’s called bypass filtration, where the water can bypass the filter in certain situations. This is entirely true. Here’s the problem: It is sometimes said we do this to be cheap or because we’re not good at engineering. 

The only instances when our hot tubs feature a bypass is to prevent larger failure. If there are major clogs that will cause the pumps to malfunction or cause further damage, water pressure will be released so that doesn’t happen and your tub or spa won’t freeze in the winter, or otherwise break. 

Here’s something else asked online frequently: Does our self-cleaning filtration system actually work?  This one is also true. It does. And the story behind how it does and why it does is at the core of the Hydropool company. 

Does Hydropool’s Self-Cleaning Technology Really Work?

The answer is yes, but to understand why it does and how we can prove it, there’s a bit of a backstory. Unlike some competitors, Hydropool began as a family business, with Dale Papke being the original founder in 1978. 

Dale’s background was in commercial pools, and when he began building hot tubs and swim spas, he took the same approach that he did to commercial pools with their assembly and technology. This would prove to be a crucial difference from all other hot tub and swim spa companies as he built the business. 

Although it was one of the first hot tub companies and the very first to make acrylic swim spas in the world, Hydropool hot tubs and swim spas were built from the start to be of the highest possible quality. Commercial pools have far higher standards than either hot tubs or swim spas meant for homes, for the prime reason that they are used by many more people.

This is why we know Hydropool’s self-cleaning feature works: It is built using the same basic technology that every commercial pool in the world is regulated to use (see below for more on how self-cleaning actually works). That’s why Dale chose it in the first place. It was the best option he had. 

Dale eventually brought his father Fred, an engineer, into the business. Together, they kept innovating, developing the world’s first-ever swim spa built in the style we know today, with an acrylic mold, in the 1980s.

Dale wasn’t an early adopter. He was an early inventor. The twin elements of innovation and quality engineering have been key differences for the company as it has evolved. 

Hydropool grew through the 1980s. Dale added partner Dave Jackson in 1995, who took the hot tubs and swim spas to international markets. 

Today Hydropool is sold in more than 50 countries around the world, meeting or beating the standards every country has set, including the California Energy Commission, the most-strict regulator in the world. 

So yes, self-cleaning works! If it didn’t, instead of growing, Hydropool would have been out of business a long time ago. 

How Does Hydropool’s Self-Cleaning Feature Work?

Hydropool has a patent on its self-cleaning hot tubs. There’s a video of how it works in actual practice.

Our self-cleaning feature, which is part of our Signature line of hot tubs, is modelled on the way that commercial pools are cleaned: One filter removes everything on the surface of the water, while a vacuum filter removes anything that falls to the bottom of the pool.

It’s the vacuum filter in particular that is most unique to Hydropool.   

Why do you need it? Because due to water’s properties, any debris dropped in your pool either sinks or floats. So you need to clean both the top and the bottom of your swim spa for any cleaning to be effective. Without a bottom vacuum, you’re only skimming the top of the water.  

Here’s the simplest way we can say it: The tub’s jets and pumps push water into the filter up top. The floor vacuum gets anything that falls to the bottom. That way 100 percent of the water goes to a filter and the water in your entire hot tub is cleaned every 10 minutes as a result. It’s as simple – and as effective - as that (it takes just over half an hour to just over an hour, depending on your size of swim spa). 

This is exactly how filtering is done with commercial and residential pools. They feature the filter after the pump, in a pressurized canister, to ensure 100 percent of the water is filtered through that system. This is how we built our self cleaning line, which we have patented. No other company has a system like ours. We think it’s the best there is. 

Our Serenity line filters water slightly differently, in line with how most of the industry does it. We put the filter in front of the pump in our Serenity line. It takes longer to clean your hot tub, but it is effective and costs you less. 

Hydropool’s Signature hot tubs can be found all over the world, including on the rooftops of Paris. 

Is Hydropool a Good Hot Tub? 

Our commitment to innovation can be shown in how our insulation has evolved from the beginning. There are three major types of insulation being used in hot tubs today: Full foam, perimeter foam, or thermal blanket. 

We have used all of them at different times and each has pluses and minuses. Today, we use a thermal blanket, which supplies sufficient insulation for your hot tub and allows easy access to it in the event of any need for service. We think the blanket is the best for multiple reasons, which you can read about here

Our competitors, most of whom have either not been in business for as long as we have, or remain as committed to innovation, use methods we have already tried and improved upon. By being in business as long as we have, we’re further along the innovation cycle than many others. We have never stopped innovating and making our hot tubs and swim spas better and better. 

Why Should I Buy a Hot Tub from a Hydropool Dealer? 

If you buy a hot tub or swim spa online or from a big box store, you may well get a good price and a good hot tub or swim spa. It’s then going to be delivered to your house and it will be left on your driveway for you to figure out how to move it. And run it. And make sure the water stays clean. And fix it if anything ever goes wrong. If you’re up for all of that effort solo, then that could be a marketplace for you to consider. 

But we will always advocate that buying from a dealer is a better experience. Buying from the Hydropool network of dealers ensures you will have ongoing support once you buy your hot tub or swim spa. If anything happens or if you have any further questions, the team of experts who work at Hydropool’s retail outlets will be able to help you. 

It’s self-serving for us to say this, we know. So we’ll ask you to consider this, from a story in Wirecutter, a respected digital publication that reviews products, which is owned by the New York Times:

… we strongly recommend working with a local, specialized hot tub dealership, rather than ordering a hot tub from one of the major retailers that carry them (Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Costco among them). You’ll have more options and more salespeople who can walk you through them. You’ll get advice on the site prep you need, as well as manufacturer specifications that contractors can use to ensure a safe setup. And your hot tub will be installed and hooked up by the dealership. The big-box stores simply drop the hot tub at the curb, and then it’s up to you to figure out how to get it into your backyard or onto your deck.

We agree with that 100 percent. We strongly believe that buying from a dealer you can trust is better than any other choice available to you. We’ve been in business, thanks to our retailers and customers, for more than 40 years. 

Should You Buy a Hydropool Hot Tub? 

We think yes. We know this answer isn’t a surprise to you. Why would be in business if we didn’t believe that, after all!

We want customers to know about our desire to do the best job there is. 

  • We want to make the best hot tubs in the world with constant innovation. 
  • We want to help our customers once they have the tubs and spas installed, through our dealer network. 
  • We have been in business for more than 40 years. 

There is a great deal of competition in the world today making hot tubs and swim spas. And we know people will consider options and see what’s out there. We know too that anyone who decides on a Hydropool hot tub is buying one of the very best that is being made today.

Ready to talk to a Hydropool dealer? Click here to find the one closest to you. 

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