I contacted ts about some of these same issues and more. I was also told about starting the blower a few minutes before running the water. Turn the turbine OFF during the filling of the tub and turn it back on when you're ready to get in. I haven't tried it either. I understand about the bubble bath additive being an insulator. The other night when I added bubble bath and the entire bathroom was cover floor to ceiling in bubbles (ok, a slight exaggeration :) ) it dampened the noise of the air jets so I'm guessing it could insulate the water temp too. Kinda like a cloud cover on a cold winter night. The earth stays warmer than on a clear night. I'm afraid I won't be maintaining the ambient room temp in the winter and in the summer keeping the water hot enough won't be a problem for (hot natured) me. In the winter, I like to keep the house about 66-68. In fact, to withstand how hot I get in the tub, I have the bathroom ceiling fan on. I've been not filling the tub as much as I would normally and letting hot water trickle. This is working. Our turbine is installed in a linen closet in front of the tub. It's about 2.5 feet from the tub. DH put pipe insulation around ALL the piping around the tub and leading into the turbine. minnt, do you know about the *secret* menu? I was told about this when I called to ask about the air jet intensity. I felt very little difference between 5% and 100% :o And felt like something was wrong with the turbine. If you will press the uppper left menu button and hold for about 20-25 seconds, a new menu will appear. This gives you many more options. This is not in the owner's manual. Among other things it offers a lower intensity air jet setting. The same 5% to 100% but with more noticeable changes. For instance, the 5% is just a gentle roll. It also lets you invert the heated backrest. I don't see anything about turning off the control panel light. There is ab option in the menu that isn't self explanatory. I haven't had time to explore them all. Under "Drying Cycle" you have four options. Prog & Auto, None, Program, Automatic. I just set mine to none to see if it doesn't come on after 10 minutes....it did not :o I know it needs to but I'd like to be able to have it come on maybe 20 or 30 minutes later. I do the hydromassage first and then bathe. I don't like the race to finish bathing and get out of the tub before I'm blasted out! (lol) Ah ha! Reading the manual helps! To prolong the bathing session and delay the automatic drying cycle by an additional 10 mins, press the upper left button twice (when the drying icon is visable). This action may be repeated to further delay the drying cycle :) Easy enough! See Drying Cycle (Programmable) in the owner's manual if you want the drying cycle to come on at the same time every day IN ADDITION TO coming on after a hydromassage session. Hope this helps :) Monica

Just a quick update. I spent days reading material on air tubs and whirlpools and got my decision down to a 36 x 72" Jason and Purebath. To get an outside opinion, I called an online bath dealer in the Richmond, VA area where I used to live (Whirlpooltubs.com, Steve) and after discussing a lot of models, which he sells as well, he steered me to Mansfield, an UN-fancy company that offered a ton of features and everything I was looking for, at a nice price. I ended up with the Baywood 6 Ariance GentleTouch (air bath version) which has back jets with heated neck/back rest, heated silent air (all offer this), included neck pillow, chromatherapy. This combined the features I thought my husband might benefit from (back jets) with the surround air jets, in a quiet system, as we will put the motor on the other side of the wall with insulation. Mansfield offers the Ariance in 3 models: HealthTouch (whirlpool), GentleTouch (air bath) and DualTherapy. I would love to tell you what I think about this bathtub, but we are still building our home and are months' out yet. This dealer was on the ball and very helpful.

We are considering intalling a Bain Ultra corner tub in our remodeled master bath and have limited space...60"x60" is the max we can go. Would appreciate any comments...postivie or negative from those with experience with Bain Ultra.

Deb, That looks like a perfect fit! Am just seeing this pic today, think I read your reply via email, and the pics don't show that way. Are you sure the tub is only 60" long? My catalogue says the Azur55 is 66" long. I think I have changed my mind for the last time, and have settled on the Thalassa55. It is a little bit narrower, ie 33" vs 36" than the Oval Plus model I was considering, and actually gives me another inch of bathing depth, though tubs are the same height. (It's also $1000 cheaper, and I got my plumbing supply place to bring their original quote by another $800, so I'm much more comfortable with the purchase.) I definitely will get the Geysair. Though listed at $399, was able to get it down to $303. I would love to know how much wiggle room there actually is. I really don't like having to ask for lower prices. I just want others to know that even here in Canada, we can negotiate the Bain list price down.