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Posts Tagged ‘Spa Parts’

Hot Tub Supplies – Tax Deductible?

November 1st, 2010 by

form-502 Hot Tub Supplies – a Tax Write-Off?

According to the 502 publication of the IRS some medical costs can be deducted when filing income tax. In its opinion letter Index No.: 213.05-00, “Section 213(a) allows as a [tax] deduction the expenses paid during the taxable year for medical care of the taxpayer, spouse, or dependent. Under § 213(d)(1)(A), an expense is for ‘medical care’ if its primary purpose is the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease.

If a medical professional has diagnosed a medical condition that can be cured or relieved with hydrotherapy or swimming, a consumer may be able to claim a hot tub purchase as a tax deduction. Because a hot tub or spa is of a particularly personal nature, the consumer must establish that a hot tub is primarily for the cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease before the cost can be deducted.

ThermoSpas, a national hot tub manufacturer and retailer, encourages those suffering who may benefit physically or mentally from warm water therapy, to discuss the benefits of a hot tub or pool with a qualified medical care professional.

Capital improvement expenses can be deducted for the installation of special equipment in the home. The purpose of its installation should be for medical care of either the spouse or any of the dependents living in that home. Those improvements that increase the value of property can be included partially as medical expenses. If the improvements have absolutely no effect on property value the entire cost of installation can be considered as a medical expense. Consumers may need to have property appraised to determine if the value has or has not increased.

Consumers who have purchased a hot tub or spa for medical benefits to contact both medical and tax professionals before deducting the cost of the hot tub or any related equipment.

NOTE: You must have a Doctor’s prescription to write off a spa or hot tub, hot tub covers, spa chemicals or supplies. And, before you run out to buy a spa, check with a tax professional in your area to be sure that your hot tub can be a write-off on your Federal or State tax returns.

 

Home Made Hot Tubs

October 5th, 2010 by

excavator-hot-tub

 

I am always amazed the extent people will go to enjoy the warm soothing waters of a Hot Tub. I stumbled upon a group of people who figured out the best method of making a Hot Tub while camping.

Now I admit this is not the first time I have seen this. For example the guy who turned the front loader of his bull dozer into a Hot Tub heated by fire, or the people who used an old cast iron tub with a fire under the tub for their heat source.

What it does tell me is people love sitting in a hot tub and people are nuts. I appreciate both facts equally.

Here’s another photo of some innovative lads who have built a spa out of cases of beer, with a vinyl liner.

heineken-spa-hot-tub

And here’s a nice hot tub, large enough to share with a close friend. Fully off-the-grid, too!

redneck-hot-tub

Ha Ha! Too funny….

 

- Jerry

 

Spa Ozone – Using Ozone in Spas & Hot Tubs

September 21st, 2010 by

ozone

Ozone is a great way to sanitize your spa or hot tub. It kills quickly and cleanly, with no byproducts – doesn’t affect water chemistry, and can be produced for just pennies per day!

Most new spas will have an ozonator, with lower end models offering it as an option. You can add a spa ozonator at any time to an existing spa. Ozone will reduce the bromine or chlorine needed, and give a noticeable shine and clarity to any spa or hot tub.

inventor of ozone christian-friedrich-schonbein

Ozone was discovered by German scientist Christian Friedrich Schönbein in the 1840s when he identified a unique odor during electrolysis and electrical sparking experiments. He recognized the scent as the same odor found after a lightening flash and named the substance ozone.

Ozone is created when oxygen molecules are split, by a high-energy electrical discharge, resulting in two individual oxygen atoms and those individual oxygen atoms unite with remaining oxygen molecules to produce a three-atom molecule of ozone.

The weak bond holding ozone’s third oxygen atom causes the molecule to be extremely unstable and thus, very effective as an oxidizer.

An oxidation reaction occurs upon any collision between an ozone molecule and an organic molecule, such as bacteria, viruses, fungus and algae, where the oxygen atom held by the weak bond splits off and only oxygen is left behind.

Ozone Benefits

  • It’s a natural purifier as no harmful chemical by-products are created during purification, making it environmentally friendly.
  • Eliminates chloramines, chlorine by-products that can cause skin irritations and illness, and their off-gas odor.
  • Oxidizes hydrogen sulfides, iron, manganese, arsenic and most chlorinated hydrocarbons found in water.

Ozone Facts

  • In 1906, the city of Nice, France built the first water purification plant to utilize ozone.
  • Safe for mammals and marine life, ozone is used in zoos and aquariums.
  • Ozone has been purifying bottled water since 1982.
  • Since 1984, all Olympic Games competition pools have been sanitized with ozone.
  • In 2001, the FDA allowed the use of ozone as a direct food additive and ozone can safely be used as on food equipment surfaces.
  • In the pool and spa industry, ozone has been used for more than 75 years as the most powerful oxidizer for a swimming pool or spa.

Want to learn more?  http://delozonespa.com/

del-spa-ozonator Spa EclipseDel MCD-50 ozonator for spas

Spa Cover Season is Here….

September 21st, 2010 by

thank-you-for-calling

Fall is Peak Season For Spa Covers

The transition from August to September is always known here at HotTubWorks by the ringing of the phone lines.  The ringing starts early and pretty much never ceases all day. We always consider it great news despite the increase in work load, because it represents much hard work paying off.

The production side is ready after thousands of hours retooling itself to make the product and faster, operations is ready to prove out it’s progress in moving the spa covers through the system and into shipping, reaching the client faster.

Customer Service has been instrumental in improving the site, Drake even made a few Spa CoverVideos to help with the options clients ask about. It’s been a remarkable team effort to evolve a segment of the company which was pretty healthy to begin with. I love being a part of something that everyone is so committed to making better, even when it’s not broken. It’s a rare and unique culture that actually strives to be the best, even when it’s just spa covers.

Spa Pump Crazy

September 20th, 2010 by

spa-pumpsCrazy about Spa Pumps!

Five years ago we added spa pumps to the site.  It’s been one of those journeys that has come very slowly, not a silver bullet anywhere to be found. We started with the best brands available, which was not an easy path, as many of the suppliers have been buying each other out.

When we started to stock spa pumps, we realized we need to test every one because it was apparent our suppliers did not, so we built a water test station, to make 100% sure we had great product before the client ever received their spa pump.

We hired a friend and former colleague from the Sundance Spas engineering department to build our work stations and create the testing protocol. It was one of those projects that seemed not to make any sense on paper, yet I knew we had to invest in, to be the best source online for spa pumps.

Sales have always been good, yet it’s taken a lot of energy with very little profit, since spa pumps are heavy to ship and the warranty costs seem to never get covered by the manufacturer. We have always been liberal with our return policy as if we were the buyers ourselves. The spa pumps just always seemed to be needing more work. So, one more time, a couple of All-Stars here jumped in and got deep into the project.

Jim and Brian spent months researching, studying everything they could to figure out what we needed for our clients, how to source correctly, the engineering of spa pumps. They went further, studying how to create the best value for our clients, and how to make it easy to find the right spa pump on our website.  These two, as always did us proud and our clients right by creating the most complete offering of spa pumps at the best prices, and a method so clients can get through the challenge of finding what they need.

They even made spa pump videos.

My hat is off to these guys who come to work everyday and care about what they do for us and for you. It’s an inspiring group.

- Jerry