DAIT
 The DAIT insulation system.
copyright 2003, 2004 The Spa Specialist Inc.

The DAIT insulation system is the best of in the Thermally Closed style of insulation.  It is the most technologically advanced and logical design for spas.  It is also the most energy efficient design (We have proposed the Spa Challenge for years with no takers).   The original concept of the Thermally Closed design was developed over 12 years ago by a large corporation* with real engineers, making it the only engineered type of spa insulation in common use.   As the spa equipment developed, the size of the motors started to cause problems with the design.  There was too much heat trapped inside these early cabinets as modern pumps were installed, and it developed into a problem.  We took over where they left off because it is the best idea for spa insulation today.  Haven Spas advancement of this thermally closed design (along with other innovations) has made us about 20 years ahead of any other company in quiet powerful, long lasting energy efficient spas. These are Haven high quality hot tubs and spas that are available in Hawaii.

When we started to do our research and development on this concept of adjustable insulation, more in winter and less in summer we had a few spas that we tested. The problem at that time was if we set up a spa for the coldest part of winter, it would not work in summer, but it had phenomenal energy efficiency in the dead of winter, when spas are mostly used (at least in Colorado).   In our test spas the insulation had to be removed in order to stop the water in the spa vessel from getting too hot in spring through fall.  So, as we went along we discovered that at certain temperatures outside, you start changing the insulation by removing it from the cabinet walls.  This was not practical for a spas that is sold to the general public.  I can't imagine an older lady with a screw gun opening up the spa to adjust her insulation four of five times a year.   So, we took a happy medium on insulation on the outer walls of the standard thermally sealed design.  The standard thermally closed spas are more energy efficient than the standard full foam, have full access to all the equipment, and run extremely quiet and don't overheat in summer unless the filter cycles are set too long or at the wrong time of day.   This has been our standard for 7 years, but we are now finally able to offer the DAIT insulation system.

Download the DAIT PDF from the SPA Specialist website by Clicking Here

 With the DAIT system, Dynamic Automatic Insulation Technology, we automatically adjust the effective insulation by moving air in and through the cabinet. The range of effective insulation varies from R-87 in the Paramount and SC models in full winter to R-11 or less in summer.  It involves using thermal sensors and a control system (proprietary) to make all the adjustments.  It comes in three versions the "Level 1" is much simpler and only uses internal sensors and standard logic. The "Level 2" has multiple internal sensors and external sensing of the thermal conditions inside and outside of the cabinet. The "Level 3" (available on request) has even more controls on the cabinet and allows us to run a cool spa in summer if you want.  Since the DAIT system is primary to the total function of the spa, it is composed of industrial rated electrical and electronic parts.  These parts are rated for a minimum of 100,000 actuations at full power rating or more.  Since we run these devices at 13% of full power, we expect them to outlast the spa.

The advantages for this are numerous in the effective use of the pump heat, without causing "hot spots" inside the cabinet.  If you look at a standard full foam spa, the pumps are placed in a little box in the front of the spa.  When the pumps run that box becomes a hot box particularly in summer, giving the full foam spas more overheat problems than in our standard thermally closed designs.   Pump overheat in these little boxes in these out of date designs is what causes premature failures on the motors.  In our standard thermally closed design the heat is spread out in a much larger enclosure and that heat is rapidly dissipated into the spa water.  This is a symbiotic relationship between the spa vessel and the pumps.  The only time the pumps product heat is when the cover is off and the spa is losing heat "like crazy" out the top of the spa.  That is the time when the thermally closed is very energy efficient and the heater use is greatly limited by the pump heat going into the water.  If you extract the normally wasted motor heat and make that enter the water while the cover is off, the electric 6,000 watt heater will not operate for a long time, even with very cold weather.

With the DAIT we have that and we have controls over the possible build up of heat in the area around the pumps, so our pumps never run in ambient average air above the 122 degrees specified by the motor companies, thus greatly extending the life of the motors.

In a typical  full foam spa the ambient air is almost always too hot in a short time after the motors start, because the box is too small to begin with.  In summer it leads to thermal overheat and the thermal safety switches in motors shut off the motors until they cool back down.  By then the motor has already been harmed. Some spa companies are wasting even more heat, by putting a vent on the back of the motor and blowing the heat directly out side.  (I can't tell you how ignorant that sounds to me.)

With the DAIT the air entering the cabinet is made to pass into the motor frame first, then after the air is heated by the motor frame, it is sent out into the cabinet for heat absorption into the spa water, through the vessel wall and plumbing pipes.  If it is summer, the heat is not allowed to build up and it is expelled outside the cabinet, so the water temperature will not rise but a degree or two above the set point.  This is also a lot safer than other designs.


The improvements in this DAIT system are many in function, but the synopsis is as follows:

1  DAIT equipped spas  have the highest effective insulation of any spa ever made to date in winter. There are six layers of effective air barrier foil and foam insulation in these spas.
2 DAIT allows an automatic reduction in the effective insulation as the thermal conditions warrant.  (DAIT Level 2 has multiple levels based upon interior and exterior thermal conditions)
3 DAIT allows for control over the ambient air around the motors affecting an increase in the motor longevity by keeping the frame of the motor cooler than any portable spa in current production.  It moves the heat away from the motors.
4 DAIT allows a decrease in the winter electric consumption that rivals summer use energy consumption, while the spa is not in use.
5 DAIT gives the spas an increase in the heat transfer into the spa water in winter and less or very little in summer.
6 DAIT soundproofs the cabinet even more because of the additional layers and air chambers added to the walls of the cabinet.  
7 DAIT allows even better use of the warm air into the blower than was ever achieved before and the use of higher horsepower air injection for more air features than have ever been available with low energy consumption.
8 DAIT  allows the warm air in front to be brought to the rear of the spa.