HEATLOCK®
The investment in constructing a self-supporting shell allows Arctic Spas® to insulate differently than everyone else. For our hot tub design inspiration, we didn’t have to look far though – our homes in northern Canada provided us all we needed.
We insulate the exterior walls, the floors and most importantly the attics of our homes and we tuck everything important to us within this insulated envelope.
Ambient heat from the pump penetrates the spa shell and heats the water. In winter this heat returns to the pump area in the event of a power loss.
We have always believed that insulation below the water surface is of small value if the areas above and directly to the sides of the water are not adequately insulated (seriously, doesn’t heat rise?).
The “attic” of our design is our Vacseal Cover which retains even more of your energy dollars.
Next, high density polyurethane foam is applied to the cabinet walls and lip underside to a thickness that stops heat loss.
We finish off this insulation envelope with the same foam applied into our floor systems. Then, we place all our equipment inside this cocoon, creating a perfect, stable operating environment.
Lowest Running Costs
What does this mean for the spa owner though? Residual heat from our equipment, primarily our High Flow Energy Efficient motors, is allowed to penetrate through the fiberglass shell.
This maintains spa water temperature and eliminates many of the heater cycles that other designs, particularly foam-filled insulated designs have to run. Fewer heater cycles mean a lower power bill each and every month.
True Freeze Protection
One last benefit of the Heat Lock design that we hope you never need is the ability of the spa water’s heat to keep the cabinet from freezing in a power outage situation. Without any insulation between the water and the cabinet, heat energy transfer can work in both directions.
In our testing, and from anecdotal evidence, you have about 5 days, at -20ºC before freezing occurs within the cabinet and adding an alternate heat source (space heater, trouble light) can prolong this grace period indefinitely. Nice to have some margin for error, isn’t it?