Tired of replacing Hot Tub Covers? If you need a new hot tub
cover because your old rigid foam cover was damaged by the elements, consider
something different. Those rigid foam filled hot tub covers your local spa dealer is selling you are doomed to end up heavy or broken no matter how
well you treat it.
No matter what you treat it with all vinyl is rated by hours
outdoors. Really top quality marine grade vinyl is rated for 1500 hours
outdoors. That equates to about one hundred days of sunshine. I know
what you are thinking, why would anybody put vinyl on something that is
meant to be used outside? But that is not even why most rigid hot tub covers fail.
What generally happens before the vinyl falls apart is that the foam
gets so heavy you can not lift your hot tub cover by yourself. No matter
how they are wrapped and sealed inside, the covers will absorb moisture. What happens is the little air spaces in the foam that are
supposed to help the hot tub cover insulate your spa get filled up moisture.
Here is a tip why the whole foam cover is doomed, if you never put the
cover on your spa, it would never get heavy. If you just took a brand
new spa cover out and put it on your picnic table instead of your spa,
the vinyl would fall apart before the cover got heavy.
Why? Because the hot spa water is way below the bottom of the rigid
foam spa cover. Some of that warm spa water turns to steam and rises
up. Steam molecules are smaller than water. The steam works its way
into the little crevices and spaces in the foam where it condenses back
into liquid. If you live in an area that gets snow, the snow will land
on the saturated foam and freeze the water inside it.
How? because just as heat rises, cold sinks. When it comes in direct
contact with the foam it freezes the moisture. The warm spa water is
not in direct contact with the bottom of the spa cover so it is in a
loosing battle trying to beat the cold. The steam rises from the water,
hits the bottom of the now frozen spa cover, condenses and falls back
into the water below working like a radiator to actually cool the
water.
You may look out at the snow piled on your frozen spa cover and
think you have great insulation. But you would be wrong. Snow sits
perfectly on a frozen pond too. It does not mean the pond water is
still warm. So why does anybody still sell rigid foam covers? Well two
reasons really. First, it has been the standard of the industry for
nearly thirty years. When the acrylic spa began to be sold in the
states, it needed to be covered with something to keep the debris out
and to assist in keeping the water warm. Foam boards covered with vinyl
was cheap and since everybody was selling the same thing it was all
they needed to offer. Remember definition of insanity is to do the same
thing over and over expecting a different outcome.
The second reason is worse in my opinion. Spa dealers know that the
cover they are sending you home with will need to be replaced again
because it will end up the same as the one you are replacing now. They
know that like clockwork every couple years you are going to need to
get another cover if you intend on using your spa on a regular basis.
So Replacement Hot Tub Covers are a big part of their business.
Thanks to the internet you now have the world at your finger tips.
You can buy the SpaCap factory direct and Custom made for your spa in
your choice of colors. If you plan on using your spa for the rest of
your life like I do, you owe it to yourself to get the Best Replacement Hot Tub Covers on the planet.