Ask 'Dr. Spa' Q & A Message Board

I'm assuming you misspelled the name on purpose? (good thing as with the correct spelling I don't believe the post would appear). Here's a bit of info from a "past" customer;

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 SxxCAP. 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 whether 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 Sxxcap. I used to have to sweep snow off the top of my traditional cover after every storm. But snow melted off the Sxxcap 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 Sxxcap.

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 Sxxcap.

: In looking for a new cover, I came across one that is air filled. It is
: called the SkyCap. It sounds very impressive. Does anyone know
: anything about it?