Originally posted by GreenCloud
thnk u for help...will be asking more later
I have seen the wood fired..but. what i have seen was just like a TuB..no jets.
I need jets...Or i should say..she wants jets
SP im thinking the Propane powered 100,000 btus is the way to go..BUT ..now i need a$3,-7K spa?..and just junk the electric heater inside of it?...ouch
Wondering if you can buy a new spa minus heater?
if you read the post I made earlier, you'll see that you don't need to remove the electric heater at all. just set it's thermostat to lower than your gas one and it never comes on.
I picked up my spa for $1500. it was an older cal-spa that had been re-conditioned. the $600 gas heater (also comes in a propane model, and you can choose between pilot-light ignition or 'mini-volt'. mini-volt is way less hassle to operate but you do have to run power to it for the igniter) just pipes in-line between the pump and electric heater. the heaters have their own thermostat or you can convert it to use the spas controls (I decided converting it would be more cost and trouble than it was worth. I just set the dial on the heater and leave it alone anyway.
you can also shop around a bit and find blank shells for a reasonable price ($400-900). then you can decide how many jets of what type and configuration you want or can afford to run. if I had it to do over again I would have went this route. it would have been much easier to just build what I wanted from the start than to convert someone else's design to fit my needs.
you should also check craigslist. about once a week I see tubs on there that people will let you have just to haul them off. most have shell blemishes or minor plumbing problems but sometimes it's just people upgrading and wanting the old one gone.
you could get a really nice set up with a new shell (the new plastic shells that are scratch resistant solid plastic with anti-bacteria treatments built into the plastic, are way cooler than your old fiber-glass with gel-coat over it models.) and then pick up a damaged unit from craigslist to take all of the pumps and controls off of, and just scrap the damaged shell.
one word of warning on used tubs though. I've learned the hard way that cal-spas are just a little off of most other brands so their parts are rarely interchangeable without a heavy dose of modification, and you can only get their parts through their authorized dealers. so if you go with a fixer-upper, I'd avoid the cal-spa unless it's just too sweet a deal to pass up.
