I've been living in my house for 3 years, and it came with an outdoor
hot tub (subjected to rain, sun, cold weather, etc). The cover wasn't
in the best condition when I moved in, but it has gotten considerably
worse, and a lot heavier. It's now way past the time to replace it.

In researching, I now understand that water logs the styrofoam, and I
should have probably replaced the cover a long time ago. But, I hate to
blow $300+ on something that I don't fully understand, and I certainly
don't like trusting my wallet to a salesman.

What do I REALLY need to know about the hot tub cover? Are there really
"better" ones that will save me a ton on my electric bill? Am I going
to have to replace the cover again in a few years, regardless of what I
buy this time?

In researching Google, I stumbled across SpaCap, www.spacap.com. It's
more expensive, but makes claims of lasting longer, being easier to
manipulate, and helping to save on the electric bill. But from the
site, it doesn't look like anything more than a cheap piece of vinyl.
Has anyone had experience with this that can verify or refute their
claims?

TIA,

Jason

Jason wrote:
I've been living in my house for 3 years, and it came with an outdoor
hot tub (subjected to rain, sun, cold weather, etc). The cover wasn't
in the best condition when I moved in, but it has gotten considerably
worse, and a lot heavier. It's now way past the time to replace it.

In researching, I now understand that water logs the styrofoam, and I
should have probably replaced the cover a long time ago. But, I hate to
blow $300+ on something that I don't fully understand, and I certainly
don't like trusting my wallet to a salesman.

What do I REALLY need to know about the hot tub cover? Are there really
"better" ones that will save me a ton on my electric bill? Am I going
to have to replace the cover again in a few years, regardless of what I
buy this time?

In researching Google, I stumbled across SpaCap, www.spacap.com. It's
more expensive, but makes claims of lasting longer, being easier to
manipulate, and helping to save on the electric bill. But from the
site, it doesn't look like anything more than a cheap piece of vinyl.
Has anyone had experience with this that can verify or refute their
claims?

TIA,

Jason


Took a look at your link and it looks pretty questionable and flimsy to
me. I bought a replacement one from a company in Texas about 3 years
ago for around $325 I think. Don't remember the name, but sure you
can find them online. They make it to your measurements and you can
get it extra thick for more energy effieciency if you want.

Mine was well made, very durable and fit well. However, it is now
starting to get slightly heavier, so it is obviously starting to get
water absorption too. At this rate, looks like it may need to be
replaced again at 5-6 years life. Not sure what the typical life is.
The original lasted about 15 years. However the first 10, it was
used inside, which I believe makes a big difference. The main failure
seems to be that like yours, they get water logged. I'm no expert,
buy you would think they could seal these up better so that would not
happen.

Everything you'll want and need to know about spa covers can be found
here;

http://www.hot-tub-spa-covers.com/in...spa_covers.htm

By the way, these are some comments on the cover you're looking at I've
collected over the years;

BBB Reliability Report
Another Company
932 Birch-Bay Lynden Rd
Lynden, WA 98264

General Information

Original Business Start Date: September 1987
Local Business Start Date: September 1987
Type of Entity: Sole Proprietor
Principal: Mr Jeff Sliger, Owner
Phone Number: (360) 354-0543
Fax Number: (360) 318-1802
Membership Status: No
Type-of-Business Classification: Spas & Hot Tubs - Dealers
Website Address: www.spacap.com

Nature of Business

This company offers hot tub cover manufacturer.


Customer Experience

Based on BBB files, this company has an unsatisfactory record with the
Bureau due to unanswered complaints.

Report as of 10/28/2004

================================================== ========

Hi Guys,

Thanks for your posts. I was searching for a new top for my spa and
came across Spacap. I started to research it as it appeared to be an
interesting idea.

I contacted Jeff Sliger of Another Company who makes the spacap.
I said I was interested in his cover but, due to the unique nature of
his cap I was a little nervous. I asked him if I could see a copy of
his R value testing. Or, was there customer near me that I could ask
about it.

His response was that he would not give me any references and "Did you
ask any hard cover dealers for customer references? No, because you
know from personal experience they don't work." I replied , that I did
in fact ask my spa maker for references on a spa cover with a radiant
barrier. He gladly gave me a number of them.

I then , again, asked Jeff Sliger for a copy of their R-Value testing.
Had he provided it and it verified his claims, I would have purchased
it. His claims seem to be very high for just plain air. It contradicts
all the information I found on R values for dead air spaces.

Jeff Sliger never replied. Very rude. This ticked me off a bit. At
least tell me, NO you're not going to send it. Of course this peaked my
curious nature and I did a little searching.

Spacap.com/ Another Company/ Owner Jeff Slinger have an unsatisfactor
rating with the Better Business Bureau of Western
Washington.http://www.oregonandwesternwa.bbb.or...l?bid=13025291


A further patent search showed the inventor of spacap to be Kingston;
James E and the assignee to be Sliger.

This is my experience with this company. I won't do business with them.
Thanks to the forum for a heads up.

================================================== ============

Author: drumstick (67.130.87.---)
Date: 09-15-04 18:45

I've come to the conclusion that the spa cap should be SPA CRAP. 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 butt to get on and off. It is a farce that
sounds good but RUN RUN RUN

================================================== ============

Author: mkamdar (---.dyn.optonline.net)
Date: 07-19-04 15:55

When It would rain, the top layer would let water seep in and it would
get trapped in the middle with the air making it extremely difficult to
lift it. Also, it would waver in the winds and that caused the
fasteners to rip off - It was a horrible decision on my part to fall
for the little video clip on their website. This is just my experience
but my spa guy had warned me agianst this cover for precisely what I am
describing. I was foolish enough to ignore him thinking that he is just
saying that crap because he wants me to buy the cover from him.

================================================== ==============

Posted By: wethe002 (CPE-24-163-252-228.mn.rr.com)
Date: Tuesday, 30 November 2004, at 5:29 p.m.

Had one for 3 years (it eventually leaked), uncertain if it insulated
well. Also bought one for a second home, it arrived defective, and they
have not replaced or repaired it. Bought it in 12/03, returned it 3/04,
and have called many times. Still don't have a new one 11/30/04! Would
NOT deal with this place- am about to contact them again!

================================================== ===============

Posted By: gary tass
Date: Monday, 20 December 2004, at 8:07 a.m.


I got a spacap but im not real happy with it . it is real hard to get
on and off. one person is a real chore. i have the one with 3 bladders
and im not really sold on the insulating factor it should have. sounds
good though.

================================================== ===============

Posted By: laurie
Date: Wednesday, 23 March 2005, at 8:13 a.m.

In Response To: alrighty who owns this cover (TomD)


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 25 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
(that's $100!!!) 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.
Their site is nothing but complete misrepresentation and when I called
them, they said that no one else has ever complained. HMMM.

================================================== ===============

From: littlestick
Date: Friday, April 01, 2005 08:56 PM

does any one else out there have a SPA CAP spa cover??? it is the one
filled with 2 to 3 bladders of air. i have one and i am not happy at
all with it. my electric bill for feb. was $240 !!! last year same
month was half of that. it is not as easy as it shows on their website
to take off and put on. it is a joke.!!!

================================================== ===============
tomm1963
Joined 28 Dec 2005
Posts 2



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.

Jason wrote:
I've been living in my house for 3 years, and it came with an outdoor
hot tub (subjected to rain, sun, cold weather, etc). The cover wasn't
in the best condition when I moved in, but it has gotten considerably
worse, and a lot heavier. It's now way past the time to replace it.

In researching, I now understand that water logs the styrofoam, and I
should have probably replaced the cover a long time ago. But, I hate to
blow $300+ on something that I don't fully understand, and I certainly
don't like trusting my wallet to a salesman.

What do I REALLY need to know about the hot tub cover? Are there really
"better" ones that will save me a ton on my electric bill? Am I going
to have to replace the cover again in a few years, regardless of what I
buy this time?

In researching Google, I stumbled across SpaCap, www.spacap.com. It's
more expensive, but makes claims of lasting longer, being easier to
manipulate, and helping to save on the electric bill. But from the
site, it doesn't look like anything more than a cheap piece of vinyl.
Has anyone had experience with this that can verify or refute their
claims?

TIA,

Jason

I normally don't top post, but I have to say: thank you so much for
posting this. I'll be sticking to the regular foam covers for my spa.

On 23 May 2006 15:04:34 -0700, wrote:

Everything you'll want and need to know about spa covers can be found
here;

http://www.hot-tub-spa-covers.com/in...spa_covers.htm

By the way, these are some comments on the cover you're looking at I've
collected over the years;

BBB Reliability Report
Another Company
932 Birch-Bay Lynden Rd
Lynden, WA 98264

General Information

Original Business Start Date: September 1987
Local Business Start Date: September 1987
Type of Entity: Sole Proprietor
Principal: Mr Jeff Sliger, Owner
Phone Number: (360) 354-0543
Fax Number: (360) 318-1802
Membership Status: No
Type-of-Business Classification: Spas & Hot Tubs - Dealers
Website Address: www.spacap.com

Nature of Business

This company offers hot tub cover manufacturer.


Customer Experience

Based on BBB files, this company has an unsatisfactory record with the
Bureau due to unanswered complaints.

Report as of 10/28/2004

================================================= =========

Hi Guys,

Thanks for your posts. I was searching for a new top for my spa and
came across Spacap. I started to research it as it appeared to be an
interesting idea.

I contacted Jeff Sliger of Another Company who makes the spacap.
I said I was interested in his cover but, due to the unique nature of
his cap I was a little nervous. I asked him if I could see a copy of
his R value testing. Or, was there customer near me that I could ask
about it.

His response was that he would not give me any references and "Did you
ask any hard cover dealers for customer references? No, because you
know from personal experience they don't work." I replied , that I did
in fact ask my spa maker for references on a spa cover with a radiant
barrier. He gladly gave me a number of them.

I then , again, asked Jeff Sliger for a copy of their R-Value testing.
Had he provided it and it verified his claims, I would have purchased
it. His claims seem to be very high for just plain air. It contradicts
all the information I found on R values for dead air spaces.

Jeff Sliger never replied. Very rude. This ticked me off a bit. At
least tell me, NO you're not going to send it. Of course this peaked my
curious nature and I did a little searching.

Spacap.com/ Another Company/ Owner Jeff Slinger have an unsatisfactor
rating with the Better Business Bureau of Western
Washington.http://www.oregonandwesternwa.bbb.or...l?bid=13025291


A further patent search showed the inventor of spacap to be Kingston;
James E and the assignee to be Sliger.

This is my experience with this company. I won't do business with them.
Thanks to the forum for a heads up.

================================================= =============

Author: drumstick (67.130.87.---)
Date: 09-15-04 18:45

I've come to the conclusion that the spa cap should be SPA CRAP. 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 butt to get on and off. It is a farce that
sounds good but RUN RUN RUN

================================================= =============

Author: mkamdar (---.dyn.optonline.net)
Date: 07-19-04 15:55

When It would rain, the top layer would let water seep in and it would
get trapped in the middle with the air making it extremely difficult to
lift it. Also, it would waver in the winds and that caused the
fasteners to rip off - It was a horrible decision on my part to fall
for the little video clip on their website. This is just my experience
but my spa guy had warned me agianst this cover for precisely what I am
describing. I was foolish enough to ignore him thinking that he is just
saying that crap because he wants me to buy the cover from him.

================================================= ===============

Posted By: wethe002 (CPE-24-163-252-228.mn.rr.com)
Date: Tuesday, 30 November 2004, at 5:29 p.m.

Had one for 3 years (it eventually leaked), uncertain if it insulated
well. Also bought one for a second home, it arrived defective, and they
have not replaced or repaired it. Bought it in 12/03, returned it 3/04,
and have called many times. Still don't have a new one 11/30/04! Would
NOT deal with this place- am about to contact them again!

================================================= ================

Posted By: gary tass
Date: Monday, 20 December 2004, at 8:07 a.m.


I got a spacap but im not real happy with it . it is real hard to get
on and off. one person is a real chore. i have the one with 3 bladders
and im not really sold on the insulating factor it should have. sounds
good though.

================================================= ================

Posted By: laurie
Date: Wednesday, 23 March 2005, at 8:13 a.m.

In Response To: alrighty who owns this cover (TomD)


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 25 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
(that's $100!!!) 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.
Their site is nothing but complete misrepresentation and when I called
them, they said that no one else has ever complained. HMMM.

================================================= ================

From: littlestick
Date: Friday, April 01, 2005 08:56 PM

does any one else out there have a SPA CAP spa cover??? it is the one
filled with 2 to 3 bladders of air. i have one and i am not happy at
all with it. my electric bill for feb. was $240 !!! last year same
month was half of that. it is not as easy as it shows on their website
to take off and put on. it is a joke.!!!

================================================= ================
tomm1963
Joined 28 Dec 2005
Posts 2



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.

Jason wrote:
I've been living in my house for 3 years, and it came with an outdoor
hot tub (subjected to rain, sun, cold weather, etc). The cover wasn't
in the best condition when I moved in, but it has gotten considerably
worse, and a lot heavier. It's now way past the time to replace it.

In researching, I now understand that water logs the styrofoam, and I
should have probably replaced the cover a long time ago. But, I hate to
blow $300+ on something that I don't fully understand, and I certainly
don't like trusting my wallet to a salesman.

What do I REALLY need to know about the hot tub cover? Are there really
"better" ones that will save me a ton on my electric bill? Am I going
to have to replace the cover again in a few years, regardless of what I
buy this time?

In researching Google, I stumbled across SpaCap, www.spacap.com. It's
more expensive, but makes claims of lasting longer, being easier to
manipulate, and helping to save on the electric bill. But from the
site, it doesn't look like anything more than a cheap piece of vinyl.
Has anyone had experience with this that can verify or refute their
claims?

TIA,

Jason

On 16 May 2006 02:21:04 -0700, "Jason"
wrote:

I've been living in my house for 3 years, and it came with an outdoor
hot tub (subjected to rain, sun, cold weather, etc). The cover wasn't
in the best condition when I moved in, but it has gotten considerably
worse, and a lot heavier. It's now way past the time to replace it.

In researching, I now understand that water logs the styrofoam

This happened to us after the spa was around 5 years old
(outdoors year-round with no protection). The cover was
cosmetically in good shape but got so waterlogged it was hard to
life. Luckily, the spa cover had zippered access to the
insulation layer (does yours?)

Only one of the two halves was waterlogged, so I just emptied out
the old insulation and put in some new, made out of sheet
insulation cut roughly to fit and taped together. It's a little
less thermally efficient but close enough to the original and
much better than in the water-logged state (water isn't a good
insulator.)

This jackleg replacement has lasted six months so far, and is so
cheap I could afford to replace it quite often compared to buying
a decent new cover. It hasn't gotten waterlogged yet.

I do suspect at some point I'll replace the cover totally once
the stitching starts to go or the plastic starts cracking. But
when I shop I'll look for the same zipper access.

Just a thought for the cheapskates among us.

--EnoRiverBend
somewhere at rtmdt dot net