Thinking about adding an ozonator to the tub, worth it

Started by Rick Dominguez · · 2 replies
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#1
Sitting out here with the jets going low, half a beer in, trying to decide if an ozonator is worth bolting onto the spa pack or if I'm just chasing something I don't need. Six person tub, been running FROG @ease for a while now and water's been easy, but a buddy at the hardware store swears ozone cut his sanitizer use way down and made the water feel softer somehow. I'm skeptical of anything that sounds like a cure all, learned that the hard way with other pool gadgets over the years. Anybody actually running one day to day, is it a real difference or just another thing to maintain and eventually replace. Not trying to overthink a hot tub, amigo, just don't want to buy a part that ends up in a drawer.

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#2
Gene actually looked into this for our spa a couple years back, same spot you're in, wondering if we were missing out on something. What stopped us was that the FROG @ease was already doing exactly what you're describing, water stayed easy and we weren't fussing with it, so an ozonator felt like adding a part to solve a problem we didn't have anymore. He read enough to figure the ozone cell is just one more thing that wears out and needs replacing down the road, and for a six person tub you're not exactly saving a fortune on sanitizer either.

If your buddy's water feels softer to him that's great, but in my experience the softer feel people notice usually comes down to the sanitizer system itself more than the ozone on top of it. You already said the FROG has made things easy, so I'd ask yourself honestly what problem the ozonator is actually fixing before Gene starts drilling holes in a spa pack that's working fine.
#3
Marlene, only thing I'd push back on a little is the drilling holes part, a lot of these setups just tap into an existing fitting or get added inline without turning the spa pack into swiss cheese, so that part scared me more than it needed to when I first looked into it too. But the bigger point you made, asking what problem it's actually fixing, that's the right question and I don't have a good answer to it myself. FROG's already doing the job, water's not cloudy, not working hard to keep it balanced, so I'd just be adding ozone on top of a system that isn't asking for help.

That's where I landed too, sitting here thinking about it. If the @ease was struggling or I was burning through cartridges faster than I liked there'd be a case for it, but chasing softer water that may or may not even be the ozone talking, for a six person tub, feels like the kind of part that ends up unplugged in a drawer by next spring. Gonna leave the spa pack alone for now, amigo.