It has come to our attention that at least one company selling spa covers is not being completely truthful about the density of foam they're using in their spa covers. The density of the foam is directly related to the insulating ability, strength and longevity of the cover. Additionally, the denser the foam the less susceptible the cover will be to absorbing moisture. It's unfortunate that someone would stoop this low just to make a sale.
With a few known quantities, you can determine the approximate density of your spa cover foam. Though only approximate3, it's close enough to tell if in fact you received the density of foam you bought and paid for.
PLEASE NOTE: This formula will not work for round or octagonal covers, and is only valid on new covers that have yet to be used.
In order to determine the approximate density of your foam you'll need to remove one piece of foam from your cover. It will need to be weighed2 (a bathroom scale should give you a close enough weight), and measured in inches as accurately as possible. The measurements then need to be entered into the equation below.
The formula for this calculation4 looks like the following;
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If necessary, by all mean use decimals (see chart to the right). This is more important when measuring the thickness of your foam (A and B), however be very careful not to squeeze or compress the foam when measuring. |
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1 Please remember, the calculated density of your foam will probably be slighty less than it's actual density. This is due to not taking into consideration the missing foam from cut and rounded corners. If the calculated density above is more that 10% less, than what you expected, you almost certainly do not have what you paid for.
2 Weighing the foam on a bathroom scale will be more accurate if you weight yourself holding the foam, then subtract your weight from that total weight.
3 This equation does not take into effect covers that have rounded or diagonally cut corners. If you have rounded or diagonally cut corners the results of this equation's results will be slightly higher that the actual weight of your foam.
4 A brief explanation on the formula. 3 pounds is subtracted from the total weight of the foam to account for the excessive weight of the metal reinforcement and polyethylene surrounding the foam. The total weight of the foam is then divided by it's volume in cubic feet. While this whole "process" is not 100% perfect (small errors in measuring the thickness of the foam can lead to large errors), it's easily close enough to determine if you were sent something different than what you ordered.