Everything You Need to Know to Prolong the Life of Your Hot Tub Cover

Some of the most common questions we get are about hot tub covers. Hot tub covers are imperative for the care and maintenance of your hot tub. It can seem they are a bit fragile since they are easily damaged and don’t have an incredibly long life span, but there are things you can do to protect your cover and extend its longevity. 

Aside from the obvious benefit of keeping your tub water cleaner by protecting it from dirt and other pollutants, covers are necessary to keep the water at the optimal temperature of 104. An uncovered tub is going to use significantly more energy to heat the water than a covered tub, especially in our Summit County high alpine environment. Covers also protect against the misfortune of small children, pets, and wildlife falling into the tub. Tarps are not simply not adequate. 

Now that we’ve established the importance of a hot tub cover for cleanliness, energy efficiency, and safety, let’s discuss the importance of the cover being in top shape and how to keep it that way. 

There are several factors that will damage a hot tub cover, but the most common is bad chemistry (which also happens to be the number one cause in damage to the heating elements). Bad chemistry will destroy the spa cover at a drastically increased rate, breaking down the materials of the cover, and subjecting the insulating foam to moisture saturation. 

Good and bad tub chemistry alike will produce a chemical cloud of gas underneath the cover. This cloud is only released when the cover is lifted. This certainly does not mean the cover should be left off, but the cover should be lifted periodically for release of the chemical cloud. Additionally, the cover should be left off for at about 15 minutes following a shock treatment. The bright side is that regular use of your hot tub is not only good for you, but good for your tub as well. 

Speaking of our high alpine environment, snow sitting on the hot tub cover is another culprit for damage. Think of the hot tub cover like the roof on your house. The cover needs to have a slight pitch so that moisture and debris will run off and not pool in the center. This is referred to as taper. The underside of a cover with weight will sit closer to the heat and chemicals underneath which will break down the cover materials at a faster rate. The top side will also deteriorate faster with moisture sitting on it. Aside from snow removal, do not set other items yard items on top of the cover and do not allow people or pets to sit on covers. See photo below as example of damage to a hot tub cover when snow is allowed to sit on cover. 

And last, the most common cause for hot tub cover damage is dragging, sliding, and pulling for removal and replacement. Hot tub cover lifters are essential in preventing this type of damage. The cover lifter eliminates the need for hot tub cover wrestling. 

If your home is a vacation rental, and your guests have not been provided with instructions on how to use the cover lifter, you can be sure they are going to be pulling and tugging on the cover and likely plopping it on the ground or setting it up against a wall at an angle with a bend in the center. This can result in cover or buckle tears and tears to the foam and other materials on the underside. Place a lock on your hot tub cover and have a small instructional diagram in the same place as the hot tub lock code so that the diagram cannot be missed (see our example below). 

The average lifespan of a hot tub cover is 3-7 years depending on use and the care they receive. Even with the best care and best water chemistry, the materials will inevitably break down from chemical damage and moisture absorption. Once the insulation becomes saturated, the cover will be heavy and mis-shapen, making it more and more difficult to lift and replace the hot tub cover for use. With the tips in this post, we hope to help you make your cover last longer. 

As with almost anything, prevention is key. Having your hot tub maintained on a weekly basis by knowledgeable technicians and informing your guests on proper cover care will save you money by not having to replace your cover as often and protecting your tub from harmful elements. 

We are thankful for our readers like YOU. Please feel free to copy and print our helpful hot tub instructional graphic shown below for your guests. 

Summit Hot Tubs knows how important clean tubs are not only for health and safety, but for great guest reviews. Our monthly maintenance customers can rely on us for same-day support in almost all instances. We stock the most common parts on hand for speedy repairs when able. Give us a call today for service, repairs, or a new hot tub purchase.