Knowledge base · Purchase advice
Buying a spa: what should you look for?
Check insulation, jets, warranty, service, pricing and the opportunity to view the spa. These six checks help you compare suppliers.
SUNSPA ’T GOOI Wellness at home.Before you choose
Look at what you live with after the purchase
The warranty text, the insulation and who comes when something is wrong.
Insulation determines running costs; warranty and service determine who helps when problems arise. Ask before buying.
The questions below apply to every brand and dealer, including us.
Six checks
What you ask before you sign
Six questions that separate the serious supplier from the superficial one.
For each topic: what to ask and what answer you need.
01. How is the spa insulated?
Insulation determines what a spa costs per month, more than the number of jets or the colour of the shell. Ask how the shell and cabinet are insulated and whether a well-insulating cover is included. Then ask not for a bare monthly figure, but for a worked example with the assumptions attached: electricity rate, usage, season. A dealer who can substantiate their consumption figure has thought it through.
02. Do more jets mean a better massage?
More jets do not automatically mean more massage. The pumps, seating and distribution of jets also matter. In our showroom you can compare seat shapes and layouts; the spas are switched off. We explain how the different massage systems work.
03. What warranty do you get per component?
Ask for the full warranty text before you sign, with terms per component: shell, cabinet, pumps, controls, heater. The single word ‘warranty’ says little without that breakdown. On our Sunspa lines it is, for example, five years on the shell and two years on pumps and controls. Bullfrog specifies per component and per series, and we walk through those terms with you at the quote. A dealer who does not hand over the document straight away is leaving something out.
04. Who comes by when something breaks?
Ask it directly: who stands at your door in seven years, an in-house engineer or a subcontractor behind a ticketing system? Both models exist, but you only notice the difference when something falters. With us it is the same team that installed the spa; we work across the Netherlands and register every installation on the day it is placed, with serial number and water reading. Read the small print too: warranty usually lapses after repairs by non-approved parties.
05. Is the price breakdown transparent?
An honest quote prices delivery and installation separately, so you see exactly what you are paying for. Distrust a delivery that seems to cost nothing; that amount sits elsewhere in the price. Ask every supplier what is and is not included.
06. Can you see the spa in real life?
If yes, make use of it. A seat that looks roomy in a photo can fall just wrong for your height, and you judge that far better in real life than in a brochure. In our showroom in ’s-Graveland sizes and seating shapes stand side by side, so you compare the seat, the backrest and the material up close. Take your time.
The right size
Which size spa suits me?
Choose for who sits in it midweek, not for the birthday party.
Choose the size for who sits in it on weekdays, not for who fits in at a birthday. A couple soaking together every evening is better off with a compact spa for two or three than with six seats that stay empty most of the year.
As a rule of thumb: for daily use as a couple, compact (two to three seats) is nearly always the better choice. A family using it a few times a week usually ends up at four or five. Six seats or more is for those who regularly sit with guests. Bigger is not automatically better; bigger is mainly more water to keep warm.
Torn between two sizes? Come and see them side by side. On the showroom floor the difference is clear within five minutes.
How we think about this topic
First the supplier, then the spa
Choose the supplier who backs up these six questions best.
Choose the supplier who substantiates these six questions best, not necessarily the cheapest and not the most expensive either. That need not be our spa. We would appreciate it, but above all we want you still sitting in it happily ten years from now.
You get our answers with the paperwork to match: the warranty text open on the table, the quote line by line. Come by and put these questions to us, and then feel free to put them to any other dealer you are still weighing up.
Further reading
Three articles for after these six checks
Will I actually use my spa?
The question that occupies buyers longest. What behavioural research says about keeping it up, and what makes the difference at home.
Installing a hot tub: power, base, crane
Which circuit, which base and which approach route are needed. Useful to know before you choose a model.
Cloudy hot tub water: what actually helps
How much work the maintenance really is, and in which order you measure when the water turns cloudy.
About this article
Who wrote this
Advice from our own showroom floor on the Loodijk.
Next step
Put these questions to us.
In the showroom we go through them calmly one by one, with the spas beside you. Book a consultation or call ahead to coordinate what you would like to see.