Was your spa cover damaged because of hail? Or did it disappear after a wind storm? A lot of people experienced these things when Mother Nature wreaks havoc and found their spa covers a quarter mile from their homes or worse, have holes in it. If this happens, it is high time to find a different type of Hot Spring replacement covers that can make it through a typhoon or a hurricane.
The question to ask here is that are they selling anything different? So far, stronger straps are used as solution to for this predicament. You could build a solid roof that attaches to the spa but in case you did not notice, solid roofs were flying right off houses during a typhoon or a hurricane. The answer to this is not stronger tie downs for the wing you use to cover your spa but get rid of the wing. How about finding a design that does not offer a rigid surface for the wind to lift on? The reason rigid foam spa covers fly when there is a very strong wind is that they make a good wing. The armed services have flown planes with less aerodynamics than the typical rigid foam spa cover.
What is really the cause why a spa cover flies? When wind comes at the spa, some of it hits the side of its cabinet and has to go around the spa, some of it goes up over. Once it breaks over the top of the rigid foam cover, it starts a little ripple or swirl action that begins to suck upward on the rigid surface. This is like riding in a convertible, air it does not blow backward like you expected but forward because of the windshield diverting the air flow. This similar swirl action pulls the foam cover up off the spa.
Another reason why a rigid foam Hot Spring spa covers fly is that they have a nice air space between them and the water surface they are supposed to be keeping warm. Once the air starts to flood into this air space, it creates a pressure. The air rushing in cannot push down on the water so it takes the only thing it can move which is the spa cover. When this action starts, it is only a matter of what velocity is required before liftoff occurs. The first movement of the flying spa cover is straight up because of the pressure in the space between the water of the spa and the bottom of the cover. It takes a lot less force because it is lifting on the entire bottom area of the rigid foam cover at once. Even a saturated rigid foam spa cover that is too heavy for one person to lift will fly once the air is pushing on the entire bottom surface. If a heavy spa cover gets airborne, you must watch out because anything it runs into is going to get damaged.
Instead of settling for the same old spa cover, get a design that does not use a rigid foam board resting across the top of the spa. A SpaCap can do the trick. The bottom of this spa cover rests rests right on the water surface because the water is what you intend to keep warm and because this would remove the void that would build up pressure to pop the cover off. It is flexible and dome shaped rather than flat and rigid so that it would resist lift and deflect even the strongest winds. If you’re already tired of worrying about your spa cover every time the wind blows, you owe it to yourself to buy a better one.
