HotSpring Portable Spas of Dayton

Watkins Manufacturing Earns First European ENVY Award for Energy-Efficient Hot Spring Spa
Vista, CA- Watkins Manufacturing, maker of Hot Spring® Spas – a top-selling worldwide brand – has received the first-ever European ENVY Award for its outstanding efforts in environment-friendly hot tub design.

Vista-based Watkins provided a Sovereign® spa for testing in realistic outside conditions by the INDESIGN Institute for Innovative Design, a research-and-development institute near Munich, Germany. The Sovereign spa was installed at a demonstration home operated by INDESIGN partner DemoDomo. DemoDomo serves as a platform to demonstrate, test and develop innovative and energy-efficient products.

From December 2007 to February 2008, INDESIGN tested Hot Spring’s Sovereign spa continuously for energy efficiency in cycles of 72 consecutive hours. The spa was found to be well within the maximum standby energy consumption set by the California Energy Commission.

Its name an acronym for “environment-friendly,” the ENVY Award recognizes Watkins Manufacturing for:
Creating trendsetting, energy-smart spas

Using energy-efficient spa components

Participating in frequent product testing carried out by independent third parties
Assuring that all spa owners and prospective buyers have access to valid energy-performance documentation

Supporting international R&D to further develop green initiatives and increase energy efficiency
“Hot Spring Spas decided to actively join this project as a primary cooperating partner because company management is open to new ideas and suggestions,” said Prof. Dr. Ulrich Beerschwinger, founder and director of INDESIGN.

“They take energy efficiency very seriously in the manufacturing process and consumer use of their spas. Our exhaustive investigation of spa efficiencies reported in several tests has proven Hot Spring is a leader in energy efficiency.”

Steve Hammock, President of Watkins Manufacturing, accepted the award from Beerschwinger on March 19 at company headquarters in Vista, Calif.

“We’re honored to be the first recipient of this impressive award,” Hammock said. “It is an affirmation of our commitment to energy conservation and building ‘green’ spas.”

The following is an energy usage table for Hot Spring Spas developed by an independent third party testing laboratory. Dayton Ohio’s weather is similar to St Louis (our mean temperature for the year is 52 degrees per the US weather bureau.

*Based on a 115 volt Sovereign® spa set at 102°F used 6
times per week; 15 minutes with the jets on, 15 minutes with the jets off
during each use. Testing conducted in a Controlled Environment Chamber using
continuous Data Acquisition monitoring equipment including Continuous
Progression Kilowatt Recording meters, Voltage Measurement probes, Current
Measurement probes, Relative Humidity Chamber Measurement probes and
Thermocouple probes. All equipment was rigorously calibrated to insure data
accuracy.

**Based on rate quoted by the local utility company in November
2006. Rates subject to change — check with your local electricity
provider for the current rate in your area.

*** In Canadian dollars.

Hot Spring Spas puts their money where their mouth is regarding funding participation for a testing facility for Title 20 enforcement.

Regarding Title 20 of the CEC, the following are pieces from the article regarding energy efficiency in spas.

Enforcing Title 20 would leave a number of spa manufacturers out of the California marketplace. Moreover, other states are lining up behind the new energy efficiency mandates. Oregon, for one, will require hot tubs to meet California’s standards on Sept. 1, 2009.

Under the original Title 20 standard, a covered 500-gallon spa in a room with an ambient temperature of 60 degrees would have to use less than 341.98 watts per hour while maintaining a water temperature of 102 degrees.

The spa industry argued that the testing procedures used to determine which hot tubs were in compliance lacked sophistication and realistic technical boundaries.

In response, the CEC suspended enforcement of the Title 20 energy efficiency regulations, despite the fact that the law required all portable spas sold in California to adhere to the standard after Jan. 1, 2006.
Manufacturers have proposed that spas should pass the test if they come within plus or minus 2 degrees in water temperature, and within plus or minus 3 degrees in ambient temperature, Fernstrom said.
The CEC will accept the more lenient parameters, he said, pending construction of a spa-testing facility at the National Pool Industry Research Center at the California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo.
The Association of Pool & Spa Professionals has been passing the hat among spa manufacturers to raise the $75,000 they said is needed to build the lab. At press time in late January, APSP was still shy of the needed funds by approximately $32,000.
“We’re not giving up,” said Lauren Stack, director of marketing and promotion at APSP. “This is going to happen. We’re going to do it some way, somehow.”

In fact, of the manufacturers listed on the CEC’s Web site as compliant, only Watkins Manufacturing Corp. of Vista, Calif., manufacturer of Hot Spring Spas, has contributed to APSP’s fund drive.

While donations lag, negotiations to get the lab up and running have advanced. At press time, APSP was close to reaching a deal with Cal Poly, and PG&E was working out a written agreement to formalize its pledge to help finance the project, according to officials at both organizations.

“The expectation is that in probably no more than six weeks, we’ll have this all figured out,” Fernstrom said.