Spas & Pools

Pocatello has the bones of a great hot tub and fireplace town — cold dry winters, a university full of sore athletes, Pebble Creek fifteen minutes away, and Lava Hot Springs down the highway. It also has wind through the Gap, water out of the aquifer, and inversions that change which stoves you can burn. Here’s the Gate City guide to hot tubs, saunas, and fireplaces — and how we deliver all three from Idaho Falls.

A new home in a planned subdivision, an HOA with thick CC&Rs, a backyard that’s still dirt, and a family that wants a hot tub in it — that’s Meridian, Eagle, and Star. Here’s how to get the HOA’s approval without a fight, meet the city’s setbacks, prep the pad and power before the sod goes down, and pick a Hot Spring or Caldera that fits the yard you actually have.

Twin Falls is a hot tub town with its own rules: winters a little gentler than up the valley, wind that makes up the difference, some of the hardest water in Idaho, and Idaho Power’s tiered rates that reward an efficient spa. Here’s the Magic Valley buyer’s guide — placement, covers, water treatment, real costs, and the Hot Spring and Caldera spas we recommend for the canyon.

Idaho Falls is one of the best places in America to own a hot tub — and one of the trickiest to set one up without local knowledge. Idaho Falls Power’s 7.6-cent electricity makes a spa cost about a dollar a day to run, while Snake River aquifer water and sub-zero winters demand the right spa and the right start-up. Here’s the local buyer’s guide.

Most people use a hot tub the same way every time — find a seat and stay there. Caldera built its entire hydrotherapy philosophy around doing the opposite. Here’s how Hot Tub Circuit Therapy works: the eight named stations and what each targets, why 20 minutes, the Foot Ridge that makes it possible, and a circuit you can run tonight.

Sit in a Sundance with the jets running and the water sweeps, pulses, and kneads — and not one of those jets has a moving part. Here’s the engineering behind Fluidix: the fluidics science Sundance borrowed from windshield-washer nozzles, what every jet type actually does, why pump horsepower isn’t the point, and what to feel for in a wet test.

FreshWater IQ is a spa that tests its own water every hour, tells you what it needs, and — on the newest version — dispenses the fix when you tap a button. Here’s how it actually works: the three-system chain, the solid-state sensor, what the dashboard means, how Precision Dosing really operates, and the start-up order that makes or breaks it.

Nobody buys a hot tub for the insulation — but in Idaho, it’s the biggest factor in what the spa costs to run and whether it survives a January outage. Here’s how Hot Spring’s multi-density full foam, Watkins’ FiberCor, and Sundance’s full foam with the SunStrong frame actually work, side by side, and what it means for your winter.

Every Sundance spa has a quiet system in its equipment bay that most owners never think about — until they notice how little chlorine they’re using. Here’s how CLEARRAY Active Oxygen actually works: why ozone and UV-C together beat either alone, the five-step cycle, what “active oxygen” really means, and what the system does and doesn’t do.

“Salt water hot tub” is one of the most misunderstood phrases in the industry. The FreshWater Salt System isn’t chlorine-free and it isn’t ocean water — it’s precise chemistry. Here’s how it actually works, what the Output Level really controls, the correct start-up sequence, the chemistry targets, and what it won’t work with.

The Hot Spring Grandee and Envoy are exactly the same size, with the same pumps, water care, and warranty — so this isn’t a big-vs-small decision. It’s open seating for seven versus a lounge built for five. Here’s a dealer’s honest comparison of the seats, the jets, and how to pick the right Highlife for you.

FROG makes hot tub water care simple — but with two systems, several formats, SmartChlor, and Jump Start, it helps to see it all in one place. Here's the complete guide: @ease vs. Serene, how self-regulating SmartChlor works, a step-by-step start-up, your routine, and the mistakes to avoid.