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Dynamic Automatic Insulation
Technology
The DAIT insulation system.
copyright 2003 through 2008 Havenmade Inc.
NOW! You can purchase the DAIT
system for your spa!
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 14 years ago
by
a large corporation* with real engineers, making it the only engineered
type
of spa insulation in use. As the spa equipment developed,
the size of the motors started to cause problems with the original
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 .
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.
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 2" is much
simpler and only uses internal sensors and standard logic. The "Level
3" has multiple internal
sensors and external sensing of the thermal conditions inside and
outside
of the cabinet. The "Level 4" (available on request) has even more
controls on the cabinet and allows us to run a cool spa in summer if
you want. Level 4 has four layers of specifically engineered
insulation. 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. Plus we use the highest quality spa pump motors.
This is a symbiotic relationship between the spa vessel
and
the pumps. The only time the jet pumps produce extra 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. Keeping the water warm
with the least amount of heater use is the ideal concept that we have
achieved and no other brand of spa has this.
With the DAIT we have far superior insulation 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 temperatures specified by the motor
companies,
thus greatly extending the life of the motors. (Other brands of
spas attempts of capturing the heat and closing the cabinet does result
in pump overheat and shortening 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:
- DAIT equipped spas have the highest effective
insulation of any spa ever made to date in winter. There are 7 layers
of effective air barrier foil and foam insulation in these spas.
The 2009 SC and SE spas have 10 air/insulation layers.
- DAIT allows an automatic reduction in the effective
insulation as the thermal conditions warrant. (DAIT Level 2 and 4
has
multiple levels based upon interior and exterior thermal conditions)
- 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.
- DAIT allows a decrease in the winter electric consumption
that rivals summer use energy consumption, while the spa is not in use.
- DAIT gives the spas an increase in the heat transfer into
the spa water in winter and less or very little in summer.
- DAIT soundproofs the cabinet even more because of the
additional layers and air chambers added to the walls of the cabinet.
- 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.
- DAIT allows the warm air in front to be brought to
the rear of the spa cabinet.
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