Insulating cover for an in-ground spa (suggestions wanted)

14 years ago

I have an in-ground rectangular (95 inches by 81 inches) spa connected to my pool (the spa can be heated separately though). I'm interested in finding a cover that will insulate the spa as much as possible between uses, presumably one that would simply float on the surface. I went to Leslie's yesterday and for about $35 bought an 8' by 8' sheet of what looks like blue bubble wrap the salesperson said would work for what I want. But the sheet is so flimsy and thin I can't imagine that it would do much in the way of insulation and so I'm thinking about returning it unused.

What I had in mind was something with some serious thickness and R value, sort of like the thick foam that you find in pool noodle toys. The sheet would be somewhat rigid and unlike the bubble wrap stuff, wouldn't be able to fold up on itself and would more or less stay in place even when subject to a modest wind. Sounds pretty simple, cheap, and effective.

But when I searched the 'Net, I couldn't find anything like this. All of the floating blankets appear to be designed as secondary insulation going below one of those big heavy covers over a stand-up hot tub. Even versions costing near or above $100 seem to be intended as additional, rather than the only, insulation. I suppose that I could cut a thick piece of plywood to make a hard cover for the spa but right now I'm just interested in a small amount of insulation to maintain some of the heat from a Friday night session until Saturday night. After that point, the spa water would be slowly intermixed with the pool water (even with the valves pointing in the right direction) and no matter how good of an insulation product I install, eventually the temp in the spa will go back down to that of the pool.

Does this sort of alternative to the blue bubble wrap idea exist? If so, where can I find such a product? If not, are there other solutions I should ponder?

Thanks!

Nick in Palm Springs

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Comments (7)

poolguynj
14 years ago
Does your pool filter come on on Saturday during the day? There goes the heat left after a Friday night.

Are you using a gas fired heater to heat the spa or a heat pump? Sounds like that would be your motive here.

Scott
nick_shirley
Original Author
14 years ago
Scott (poolguynj):

Yep, I have a gas heater so being able to stretch out the time when the spa is warm enough to use over a day or two would save me some money. I'm not trying to keep it at 105F without reheating, just preventing it from going back down to 75F just hours after turning off the burner. You're also right that I lose a lot of heat from circulating the spa water though the filter and unlit heater. Still, it would be nice to reduce the obvious losses that come from 53 square feet of water surface, especially in Palm Springs where I live, a place with usually mild ambient temps but a lot of wind that can lead to heavy evaporative cooling. A thick insulating cover would help in that regard, as would turning off the circulation system as you suggest.

Nick
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poolguynj
14 years ago
Uh, the pool will send water into the spa as soon as it starts filtering in the morning. The heated water goes into the pool. If the pool isn't covered, covering the spa is useless. If it takes $5 to heat the spa, so what?

Scott
jeffkcmo
14 years ago
Hi Nick--
We have a similar situation with our pool, if I understand your question correctly. If your plumbing is set up like ours, the spa and pool run independently through the pump and heater.

When the spa is on, the pump is only pulling water from the spa skimmer and floor drains then returning that heated water to the spa jets. Our gas heater has separate settings for either spa or pool mode, so we can run different temperatures on each.

When the spa is off and the pool is on, the pump is only pulling water from the pool skimmer and drain and returning to the pool via in-floor cleaning heads. There is no cold water from the pool coming into the spa (unless we change the valves to purposefully do that).

Your question is finding a cover to put on the spa that will help maintain the temperature while the spa is not in use, from one night to the next. We live in Kansas City where the nights have been getting down to freezing, so our spa water temperature has been dropping about 20 degrees from one night to the next.

We haven't started covering it yet, but we also have a blue "bubble wrap" pool cover (from a previous pool) that we are planning to try to see if it helps any. Our PB did recommend a floating foam cover made from material similar to foam pool floats but thinner. I think he said it is about 1/2" thick, so it can be rolled up when taken off. The price range was a couple hundred dollars he thought (our spa is semi-circular about 10' x 15'). He didn't mention the name of the vendor he would order it from, but it does exist. This may be what you already found online, but it was the only solution our PB had for us.

Let me know if you find something better.

Here is a link that might be useful:
Rack Etear
14 years ago
I believe you may be interested in one of these http://www.spectrumproducts.com/index.php/product/Spa-Sheets/ID/2d3df723/fuseaction/products.detail.htm

they are typically $250.00-$300.00 on a wholesale level.
just-a-pb
14 years ago
Nick,
Evaporation is the major part of your spa cooling. Believe it or not that bubble wrap will do a tremendous job.

Here is a chart that will make you see that a little.

Here is a link that might be useful: Heat loss chart
Adam Eran
7 years ago
The idea of a cover sounds good to me. Has anyone explored the possibility of using spray-on roof insulation on the spa itself?

Insulating cover for an in-ground spa (suggestions wanted)

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poolguynj

nick_shirley
Original Author

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Insulating cover for an in-ground spa (suggestions wanted)

Comments (7)

poolguynj

nick_shirleyOriginal Author

Related Discussions

poolguynj

jeffkcmo

Rack Etear

just-a-pb

Adam Eran

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

nick_shirley
Original Author