Are Tapered Hot Tub Covers Really Better?

Tapered Spa Covers are a particular breed of cover designed to cause the rain to run off thus allegedly extending their life and functionality.  The covers are about a foot high in the middle of the spa and taper down to about two inches on the sides.

The idea stems from the misconception that rigid foam spa covers get heavy from the rain that falls on them. Unfortunately, this simply isn't true. Any person that has a spa indoors will find their spa cover still gets heavy and no rain ever fell on it.

Foam Hot Tub Covers get heavy because they are in use over warm water. That warm water is putting off steam. Steam is a molecule smaller than water. It can infiltrate a smaller space, like the little crevices in the rigid foam. Once inside the foam, the steam turns back into water. That water adds weight to the foam eventually making the spa cover too heavy to lift.

The simple fact is that any spa cover that can saturate will get heavy.  The tapered cover does little to avoid the saturation since it actually is not caused by rain. 

So there are a couple alternatives available for hot tub owners. First would be to purchase two covers. When one gets heavy, the spa owner can remove it and store it some place dry such as a garage. Eventually the foam core will dry out and become light again. Rotating a dry cover onto the hot tub and storing the heavy one should add some time to useful life of the spa cover.

The other alternative would be to shop online for an insulating spa cover that does not use foam.