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We've shifted (April 2008) to a cedar wood surround made by Mahootus
Hot Tub Co. who make classy traditional full cedar hot tubs using the
kiwitub burner to heat them (see their tubs at www.mahootus.co.nz).
The cedar staves are a solid 23mm thick, half-rounded over at the top,
and look stunning. They take only 5-10 minutes to band onto the tub,
using a silvery-grey nylon webbing tape. We'd run out of this for the
photo so just used a yellow tape, however this fitted so well with
Pam's lovely yellow cottage we decided to also provide that colour if
requested. The cedar surrounds cost $600 incl GST (May 2008) - cedar
isn't cheap, but is used for traditional hot tubs because it is the
best.
The surround can be taken off in a few minutes if you want to move the
tub. They do look stunning, and you also get the insulation and
smooth curves and surface of the tough plastic kiwitub. The Kiwiub
manual also has full DIY instructions if you want to make your own wood
surround.
We've also shifted (March 2008) to a light 'mist green' colour for the
plastic of the kiwitub lid, and upgraded to an even tougher type of
tank plastic recently available. Some of the original dark green
lids could absorb enough heat out of direct sunlight to soften and
slightly bell up the top surface. This doesn't affect strength or
function, but doesn't look perfect. The lighter lichen green colour
bounces much more of the radiant sun heat off the lid, rather than
absorbing it.
As overkill, we're also providing a reflective cover which just slips
over the whole tub and lid, which should completely protect against
this one vulnerability. We have tried to make the whole kiwitub
product incredibly durable and bomb-proof - what caught us out was just
how much heat the direct New Zealand sun could bring down. (For
example, in Dunedin in April at 4p.m., with an air temperature of 18°C,
the surface temperature of a dark green lid set at right angles to the
low sun was 75°C! No wonder we got some problems in midsummer!)
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