Ideas to insulate auto cover over spa

[brimorga]

I'm admittedly surprised you're losing so much temp overnight. We've heated our 15 x 7 spa to a cool 98 a handful of times this holiday season and it's still 80's the next morning, and I'm in a cooler desert climate. We're just nibbling at freezing in the AM for a few hours these days, with northern wind.

Puzzling.

You're sure there aren't other variables?

Not that I can think of, open to other ideas. All I have without the tarp as a secondary cover is the thin vinyl autocover. It found that it isn't very good at holding heat overnight when cold, same with the pool. Maybe since your spa is so big it holds the heat better than my 8x7 spa?

 

[flynwill]

I've thought that Coverpools or the other auto-cover companies should investigate making an insulated cover material. What I'm thinking is two layers of the vinyl that they use now with a thin (1/16"?) layer of close-cell flexible foam between. The added thickness would consume a lot more roller space, but I suspect for smaller pools the existing roller and vault designs would work.
Of course the market for such a thing is probably pretty small, and the standard covers are already pretty expensive, so I can imagine it not being a practical idea.
I keep my (much smaller) pool in SoCal heated to 85 most of the winter time. After we use the SPA the heated water flows into the pool and contributes to the heating there rather than trying to keep the SPA hot all night. Gas cost to do this is ~$200/month.

 

[MAPR-Austin]

Why not put down a sheet of that bubble solar cover material over the spa before you close the autocover? Really whatever you go with I would put it under the cover that way you don't have to worry about it blowing away.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

I'm with MAPR-Austin, with the addition of some very discrete small Velcro attachments to the coping or up the tile to the coping so that the cover can't carry it away as it opens.

 

[FMitchell]

I'm admittedly surprised you're losing so much temp overnight. We've heated our 15 x 7 spa to a cool 98 a handful of times this holiday season and it's still 80's the next morning, and I'm in a cooler desert climate. We're just nibbling at freezing in the AM for a few hours these days, with northern wind.

Puzzling.

You're sure there aren't other variables?

Is your spa connected almost flush with your pool with an automatic cover? If so, do you have problems of having pool water going inside of the spa when people are in the pool? Like does the pool water mix with spa? Wondering if it is harder to warm spa when it is almost flush with pool?

 

[flynwill]

On our small pool the SPA is divided from the pool by a wall than only extends 1/2-3/4" above the normal water line, so yes when people enter the SPA it overflows into the pool and when they get out the SPA level is clearly lowered about an inch per person.
Likewise any significant activity in the pool will indeed push colder pool water into the SPA. This is not an issue for us as 99.9% of the time the only ones in the pool are my wife and myself.

 

[bradgray]

Is your spa connected almost flush with your pool with an automatic cover? If so, do you have problems of having pool water going inside of the spa when people are in the pool? Like does the pool water mix with spa? Wondering if it is harder to warm spa when it is almost flush with pool?

Yes. It's the same principle design as yours.

 

[FMitchell]

Yes. It's the same principle design as yours.
View attachment 548186

Thanks

On our small pool the SPA is divided from the pool by a wall than only extends 1/2-3/4" above the normal water line, so yes when people enter the SPA it overflows into the pool and when they get out the SPA level is clearly lowered about an inch per person.
Likewise any significant activity in the pool will indeed push colder pool water into the SPA. This is not an issue for us as 99.9% of the time the only ones in the pool are my wife and myself.

If you were building again would you do it the same way or do a raised spa instead? Do you have an automated cover on your pool?

 

[wireform]

This Maybe something you can use for the cover bar if you wrap some tarp material around it.

 

[flynwill]

If you were building again would you do it the same way or do a raised spa instead? Do you have an automated cover on your pool?

Yes we have an auto-cover and yes I would do it the same way again. The cover quickly and easily covers both bodies of water.

 

[brimorga]

This Maybe something you can use for the cover bar if you wrap some tarp material around it.

I like this! Might also be good to couple with the bubble wrap solution proposed to stick under the autocover. Thanks for the idea!!

Edit: Now I just need to find a cheap piece of bubble wrap to try and float under the cover.

 

[brimorga]

Thanks

If you were building again would you do it the same way or do a raised spa instead? Do you have an automated cover on your pool?

I would do it again in a heartbeat. I didn't want a raised spa because I wanted the autocover. My spa isn't tiny, so if I had to reheat from air temp every time I wanted to use it, it'd be really expensive and take well over an hour in the winter. If you have a smaller spa, it probably matters less, I have friends and theirs heats in 20 minutes so less of a big deal for a cover. Mine sucks to heat when it's just me, but it's great for parties and adults tend to be more willing to get in cause you're not crammed.

 

[brimorga]

Why not put down a sheet of that bubble solar cover material over the spa before you close the autocover? Really whatever you go with I would put it under the cover that way you don't have to worry about it blowing away.

Just want to close this thread out in case anyone else goes on the same journey. So I bought some bubble solar cover and tried this approach. Unfortunately my autocover sits right on the water and it was very difficult to get the bubble cover properly under the autocover without bunching up. Since I like to open up the pool to clean it every so often this became difficult to manage. I also found that the heat retention was similar to the tarp on top and with the 1x1's integrated into the tarp it was much easier to get the tarp off then deal with the bubble cover. So, overall I'm pretty pleased with the tarp solution and definitely plan to do it again next winter.

 

[Mdragger88]

Just want to close this thread out in case anyone else goes on the same journey. So I bought some bubble solar cover and tried this approach. Unfortunately my autocover sits right on the water and it was very difficult to get the bubble cover properly under the autocover without bunching up. Since I like to open up the pool to clean it every so often this became difficult to manage. I also found that the heat retention was similar to the tarp on top and with the 1x1's integrated into the tarp it was much easier to get the tarp off then deal with the bubble cover. So, overall I'm pretty pleased with the tarp solution and definitely plan to do it again next winter.

Word of warning- tarps do disintegrate & this will leave a million pieces in the water once it begins to happen. As soon as you see the scrim starting to wear down you should replace it.

 

[FMitchell]

I would do it again in a heartbeat. I didn't want a raised spa because I wanted the autocover. My spa isn't tiny, so if I had to reheat from air temp every time I wanted to use it, it'd be really expensive and take well over an hour in the winter. If you have a smaller spa, it probably matters less, I have friends and theirs heats in 20 minutes so less of a big deal for a cover. Mine sucks to heat when it's just me, but it's great for parties and adults tend to be more willing to get in cause you're not crammed.

Thank you!