Taking Bathing to a Whole New Level
Hot tubs seem like a great idea, but just about everyone I know who has a hot tub hardly ever uses it. Seems like a pretty big waste of electricity, not to mention all the chemicals and maintenance. So, this got me to thinking: what about an oversized bathtub? No chlorine, and no wasted electricity. So, what’s this tub thing all about? Well, here’s some resources for choosing a perfect tub.
A few websites with glam-tubs:
Judging the size of a tub can be a bit challenging – some companies specify exterior dimensions, while other list both exterior and interior. To further complicate things, “interior” may mean the dimension at the bottom of the tub (not the dimension of the interior space at the top of the interior void). These numbers can be significantly different (top interior vs bottom interior) as some tubs are quite sloped. Confused yet? Me too.
I’m a pretty tall person so most tubs make me feel cramped. As a point of reference, I talked to my friend Paul, who owns a Jacuzzi bathtub. It’s a pretty good sized tub, and he’s about my height. The interior dimensions of his tub are 60″l x 26.5″w x 18″d (the depth is harder to gauge because there’s only so much water you can put in the tub before it goes into the backup drain). He says the length is pretty good, but he’d prefer a little more width, especially if you want to fit two people in the tub.
So, I’m looking for a tub that’s at least 6′ long, and has a width of 30+ inches. All of this adds to this cost, of course. Put in a whirlpool motor and inline heater…now you’re talking some cash. The Kohler Sok tub (above) retails for around $10,000! That’s one heck of a bathtub.
Jacuzzi tubs seem to be a little lower on the price scale. They make a decently-sized tube for a little over a $1000. Here’s a model called the “Opalia” which seems interesting (ignore hideous tile job):
The styling of the tub is a tad “generic,” but the size is generous (72″ l x 44″w x 22″d) You can definitely tell the difference between a tub like this and the Kohler models. Or even this very saucy model for MTI (the black is not my style, but the shape is very cool):
And then, if money were no object (yeah, right), then I’d definitely go for something like this saucy Sok setup:
Or this (Kohler Sunward)…
Or this (Kohler Serif Tub):
Ok, enough fantasies for one day…