Spa Cap?? Anyone have any experience with these?

[Water Boy]

I don't have any experience with these, but I have a customer who wants to use one of these on their hot tub. They claim they are energy efficient as well, and are inflatable with a marine grade fabric on the outside. Let me know what you guys think of if you have had any experience with these.
http://www.spacap.com/

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

search google for;

spa cap sucks

spa cap complaints

If after that, your customer is still interested....I have a bridge we could split the profits on

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

Oh, and look for them on the BBB as well

Forget the bridge, I have a planet we can sell.

[Water Boy]

Thanks Dr. Spa. This is good information that I needed to know!

[Jacuzzi Jim]

 They are made locally by a guy up here.  I have seen a few and they seem ok for what they are.  That being said I wouldn't buy one.     Couple of things, they don't work with a coverlift, they are easy get off with one person but putting it back on by yourself in the wind would prove interesting.   If a cat got on it and started clawing at it end of story.

     From a insulation standpoint they probably do hold the heat in pretty good.   Overall it seems to be a good idea and kudo's for him being able to stay in business for as long as he has, something must be working for him regardless if it works or not.

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

     From a insulation standpoint they probably do hold the heat in pretty good. 

No, actually very simple testing shows they suck.

Overall it seems to be a good idea and kudo's for him being able to stay in business for as long as he has, something must be working for him regardless if it works or not.

He's successful simply because people want to believe there's something better than the traditional spa cover (and due to some very active spamming he does the company does well in the search engines)....and he spins a good yarn. Their BBB rating is F and if you read all the complains that abound, the thing simply doesn't work.

A single big bubble of air does NOT insulate.

The economics of the cover is interesting as well. Compared to a traditional insulating spa cover, they have about half the material costs, half the labor costs and only cost 1/3 for shipping....yet they cost at least $100 more.

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

As of 06/09/2009 this company had a BBB rating of F, the lowest possible rating.

As the construction of these covers is vastly different than a typical spa cover, they're nearly impossible to compare on a side by side basis. What we do know is that the person they (spa cap) quote as doing their ASTM R-value testing has never heard of them. Additionally we have the following letters on file from some unhappy customers;

From D.S
I've come to the conclusion that the spa cap should be SPA CR@P. AFTER 6 MONTHS OF TEMP. TESTING 2 TIMES A DAY WHEN THE AM TEMP IS in the 40s I will lose 5 degrees in 5 hours . Thats extreme. The cap with 3 bladdes is a pain in the bxxx to get on and off.

From Laurie
This cover sucks. We hate this cover. It is very difficult to get on and off. If you don't fill it enough, water gathers in the top and causes the edges to lift up. when I bail out the cover after a rain, the water is WARM!!! That's when it's 35 degrees out!! Gee, I wonder how it's getting heated? If you fill it so that water doesn't puddle, it looks like a mushroom and you cannot fold it over. It's just a super-filled blob that is very difficult to move around. We are not at all pleased and our electric bill has gone up 25% since we installed it due to the convection issue that we didn't realize.

ADDITIONALLY; We have had hot tubs for 30 years and decided, after having to replace the foam ones every 4 years that it was time for a change. We have not been happy with the cumbersome on/off maneuvers needed for this cover (not an easy one-man job), the water-pooling in the center (I got soaked this morning getting the 4 gallons of water out of the pool in the center of the cover - just so the sides would go down!!), and the poor, POOR insulating qualities. I am furious about this purchase.

From Tom G
I am a long time Spa owner and when it was time to replace yet another foam filled traditional hot tub cover I decided to take a look on the web for some new ideas or maybe a good deal on a cover. If you do a simple hot tub cover Google search you will surely come across the SPACAP by Another Company. The problem I had was that no other info was available about this product except what the maker had on his site. I read through his info and it sounded great. Supposedly more efficient than traditional covers and it will last longer. The theory made sense to me but I couldn't figure out if this was such a great idea why 25 other companies weren't offering the same thing. I tried to research and talked with as many knowledgeable people as I could with no definitive opinions anywhere. So I bit the hook and bought one.

I ordered it in the fall of 2004. I am writing this opinion in December of 05. I have owned it 18 months or so.

The cover came from the manufacturer quickly and was well constructed with a perfect fit. But the jury was still out as to wether an air bag works as well as foam insulation. The first thing I noticed was that snow (I am in Wisconsin) never accumulated on the Spacap. I used to have to sweep snow off the top of my traditional cover after every storm. But snow melted off the Spacap as fast as it fell.....HMMMMM.

Next I noticed my spa pump running more and my electric consumption never went down. Contrarily my power consumption went up.

I still needed more concrete evidence. A bit more scientific. Here is what I did......You be the judge.

I got a thermal imaging camera. This is used by energy annalists to check homes for heat loss and efficiency. It is also used by Fire Departments to check for hot spots in burning buildings. It uses infrared technology to get spot on accuracy. The camera allows you to point at any object and get a pinpoint temperature reading of the object.

I did the test on a day that the outside air temperature was 12 degrees. The thermal camera was reading ambient objects at around 14 degrees. It was reading the outside of houses at 19 degrees. Now the big moment...... lets point this puppy at the Spacap. It read 40 degrees. What? Yes 40 degrees. The hot tub water is at 100 degrees. Gad that doesn't seem good at all. One last test to do. I needed to compare it to a foam cover. So to the neighbors yard I went. I turned the camera on to a traditional foam cover with a 102 degree hot tub. The camera read 19 degrees.

Needless to say I am seriously bummed out that I got taken by a slick web site. I like to think I am smarter than the average bear. Anyway I felt I needed to post this info to the web so others can have a fair opinion before spending $400 or more on a Spacap.

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/spacap-lynden-washington-c230494.html

http://spa-cap.pissedconsumer.com/spa-cap-complaint-read-it-all-20120127292518.html

Looks like the BBB still gives them an F
http://www.bbb.org/western-washington/business-reviews/spas-and-hot-tubs-supplies-and-parts/spacapcom-in-lynden-wa-13025291

[Chas]

Yes, but other than THAT, it's a fine product, right?

WOW! Only one other "manufacturer" in the spa industry comes to mind as having as much bad info on the web.

[Tman122]

Yes, but other than THAT, it's a fine product, right?

WOW! Only one other "manufacturer" in the spa industry comes to mind as having as much bad info on the web.

And yet somehow people are still convinced that the product is good. Must be some good marketing. Just goes to show you. If you cover a turd with whipped cream and a cherry it will look great. But it will always be a turd.

[stevie wonder]

So glad I came here looking.. I was on the website and that cover looked very interesting.. guess I'm going with a "normal" cover again.. You know.. the concept isn't all bad.. I like the big electric lift secure cover too.. but no stars and the cost kept that a no go.. and this seams like a big POS..
Thanks for saving me some headache and heartache!

[Paw]

I've had a Spacap for several years. Mine has been durable. It's issues had been
- the Sunbrella fabric needs to be cleaned and waterproofed annually. Else, water gets under the fabric
- you have to adjust the volume semi-annually
- the valve plugs' hinges eventually break but the valve still works
- the bladders get water in them occassionally. It's a pain to get out but not impossible
- the worst part is it's poor insulation properties. Snow melt and refreezes on the edges

It's positives
- it has out lasted 2 or 3 foam covers
- it will not weight a ton like a water logged foam cover
- I don't fine it that hard to take off or put on

Now the most important question. Would I buy it again? No. Well maybe if I lived in FL, CA or AZ

[Tman122]

Air is the worst insulator in the world.

[vangoghsear]

To the OP, perhaps you should suggest to your customer something like a Typical cover and if they want to improve efficiency add a Spa blanket that lays on the water and cuts heat and evaporation losses.

[TwinCitiesHotSpring]

I've had a few customers who have ordered them...mixed results, I do know the "better" ones seem pretty expensive to me for what your getting...someday I hope someone will produce a decent spa cover, everything out there for the most part is junk that will fail after a few winters and I get sick of hearing the same old complaints from customers about covers