Top Energy Performer at Cal Poly

The Coverplay entry at Cal Poly Univ. leads design engineer to invent the Airframe Spa Cover.

Coverplay collaborating with P.G. & E. proves major energy consumption for portable spas is from temporary Styrofoam/vinyl chloride spa covers.

Many spa industry leaders dumbstruck their petroleum-based temporary spa covers performed so poorly against Coverplay design.

What if it’s the temporary cover that was the problem?

That was a question inventor E. Jess Tudor was asking long before he created the Airframe Spa Cover.

His journey toward Airframe began with another invention: the Coverplay single-hinge compression design for a spa cover.

And in 2008, that idea was put to the test.

27 Spas, One Eye-Opening Energy Study

PhD Engineers at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo tested 27 portable spas to determine power use on stand-by ready status.

The results showed just how dramatically energy performance could vary from one spa to another.

In the study's original measured results, 16 of the 27 spas—nearly 60%—used more energy than the maximum allowable for sale in California.

The standout performer was Spa V, from little known Coverplay fitted with E. Jess Tudor's patented compression-angle cover.

Spa V held 350 gallons of water and had an allowable standby-power level of 248 watts yet only used 136 watts.

Just 136 watts

That's approximately 45% below the allowable level or only $6.50 per month in Oregon.

When Cal Poly applied its temperature-normalization calculation to allow more spas to qualify for sale in California, Spa V dropped to 105 watts—about 58% below the allowable level. Its test sheet specifically identifies a “Compression Angle Hinge,”.

Why Did the Hinge Matter?

Think about your house in winter.

You can fill the walls with insulation, but if you leave the front door cracked open, dense cold air displaces your warm room forcing the thermostat to call for more costly heat.

A dual hinge folding temporary spa cover has a similar weak point.

The 2014 California utility CASE report explained that common dual-hinge Styrofoam spa covers create an insulation gap 1 inch wide, the width of the cover, allowing convection heat loss.

The report then pointed to the Coverplay single compression hinge design as an example eliminating that gap.

Even the original Cal Poly researchers saw enough potential in the idea to recommend additional testing using a Coverplay cover “which does not have a gap at the hinge.”

That was an important clue:

Tudor’s patented angle of compression spa cover would have meant more energy-efficient spas saving consumers millions in wasted energy costs in California alone.

For E. Jess Tudor, the Cal Poly Univ. test wasn't the finish line, it was the start of a new generation of insulating spas without toxic pollution.

From 2009 to 2011 Jess went from concept to engineering design relying on physics not Styrofoam in his small shop in Southern Oregon.

It was potentially the beginning of the future for spa owners.

Jess went on to achieve a utility patent (#9340989) for the Airframe Spa Cover, coalescing what he had gleaned from engineering and earth science to redesign a sustainable spa cover that wouldn’t end up as landfill.

Coverplay’s explication of the invention:

Conduction: Airframe has a perimeter aluminum frame to support lightweight chambers of air to help slow heat transmission without thermal bridging.

Convection: Gas permeable outdoor fabrics impede air flow without blocking expanding gasses that prevent condensation and water weight gain.

Radiant heat: Radiant barriers within the Airframe help reduce a major source of heat loss from deep space (-459F) from outdoor heated spas.   

Temporary foam spa covers become heavier as they take on moisture from condensation and should be replaced but are typically left on the spa to further degrade costing 3 times as much to heat on stand-by ready power, Consumers are unaware of this “silent energy thief” until their water-soaked spa cover weighs more than they do. Unfortunately, temporary spa covers cannot be recycled and end up in landfill for 2000+ years.

Why Does That Matter?

Because spa heaters replace the heat your temporary spa cover loses.

That's why covers deserve to be thought of as more than temporary.

It's part of the spa's energy-management system.

California’s utility CASE report concluded that the spa cover likely offers the greatest opportunity for energy-efficiency improvement because it provides insulation and reduces evaporation.

One revealing test…Airframe!  An idea born of science. A New Generation of insulating spa cover.

The Coverplay angle of compression cover proved that changing the foam/PVC temporary spa cover way to manage heat would make a meaningful difference.

That lesson helped start the journey toward something even more ambitious:

Airframe sustainable energy efficiency.

A spa cover engineered not simply to cover hot water...

…but to help keep the energy you've already paid for inside your spa.

Airframe

Designed to Conserve. Engineered to Perform.

Discover the Airframe Difference →