Spa Pool Insulation Review

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The number one way to lowers spa and swim spa running costs.

Insulation is the most important aspect of the building of spas and swim spas as it is the main factor in determining the running cost of spas and swim spas. In cold climates, spas and swim spas lose heat from their water, which requires the heater to turn on to hold the spa at the correct temperature. The the less quality the insulation, the quicker spas cool, the longer the heater stays on and the higher the power bill.

There are three main ways spas and swim spas are insulated and each method has positives and negatives:

Foam on shell

With this method, the shell of the spa is sprayed with foam, usually to a thickness of around 25mm or 1 inch.

The Plus:

This method has two advantages. Firstly, it's cheap . Therefore, it is usually found on entry-level spas and swim spas. Secondly, if has a leak, it's easy to discover the leak and fix it as the spa's plumbing is not usually covered in foam.

The Minus:

The minus is that because the spas plumbing runs outside of the insulation, it is exposed to the cold air and this cools spas very quickly.

For this reason, foam on shell insulation generally gives the lowest level of insulation and therefore these spas and swim spas cost the most to run.

Full Foam

Fully foamed spas have the complete cavity between the outside of the shell and the inside of the spa cabinet filled with foam.

The Plus:

This not only insulates the water within the shell of the spa, and also the plumbing and pipe-work of the spa or swim spa. This greatly cuts heat loss and therefore fully foam spas and swim spas are usually some of the most efficient spas to operate.

The Minus:

Spas insulated in this way are very difficult and expensive to service. Spas and swim spas can develop leaks. If the spa does have a leak, it is usually not noticed for months or even years because the foam will soak up and hold a large volume of water, nearly equal to the volume of the spa. This large amount of water not only removes the heat away from the spa rapidly but also weighs a large amount. This can have a catastrophic impact on spas installed on elevated decks and can cause structural damage to decking. The source of leaks are very difficult to find because of the water saturated foam. When a leak is found, the foam needs to be scraped away from a wide area before any repairs can be made. The foam needs to then be reapplied which is very costly.

Several brands of spas must use full foam insulation because it also forms part of the support of the shell. Many spas using either polyethylene or ABS backed acrylic will use full foam for their structural support which reduces the cost of the shell construction by lowering the required thickness of the acrylic shell.

Perimeter or cabinet insulation

As the name suggests, insulation of varying thicknesses is fitted to the inside of the cabinet.

The Plus:

This system is very popular due to a number of advantages it has with very few disadvantages.

The relatively low cost of manufacture means that mid market brands can use this method. Because the insulation is on the inside of the cabinet, like full foam, both the water in the shell and also in the plumbing is insulated. Unlike full foam, when the spa needs repairs, the insulation is removed when the cabinet is removed giving quick, unobstructed access to plumbing and equipment. This (significantly reduces the costs of repairs and the lifetime cost of owning a spa .

One of the biggest benfits however, is that the perimeter insulation is able to capture the heat from the pumps as they run and recycle the heat to assist in keeping the which reduces costs. It also helps to insulate against noise loss from the pumps making spas fitted with perimeter insulation very quiet.

The Minus:

While most perimeter insulation has a slightly lower insulating value compared to full foam, some manufacturers of spas and swim spas offer a very high performance perimeter insulation option suitable for extremely cold climate such as Canada and Scandinavia. For other milder climates such as Australia and most parts of New Zealand, regular perimeter insulation is recommended as the pay off for full foam insulation is negated.

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