Enjoying a relaxing evening in a hot tub or spa following a long and tiring day is one of life's ultimate luxuries. What do you do, though, when you are finished with your toasty soak? Do you keep your hot tub covered? If not, here's why you should:

• Spa covers and hot tub covers keep water from evaporating, saving you money on water and chemicals. Maintaining the proper balance of chemicals in your hot tub is less time consuming when a spa cover is used regularly.

• Spa covers also insulate the water and stop much of the heat from seeping out. Keeping the hot tub's water warm when not in use makes heating the water faster the next time you want to take a soak. Not only do you save energy, but your spa heater lasts longer because you use it less often and for a shorter duration.

• Spa covers keep excess dirt and debris from making a mess of your hot tub. Cleaning your hot tub takes less energy and time when there is less to clean up.

One specific type of spa cover that is recommended for homes with children and pets is called a walk on spa cover. Standard spa covers, while they appear to be completely solid, may not be able to support the weight of a child if he or she decides to use the top of the hot tub as a play area. Children and pets can be injured or may drown if a hot tub cover collapses into the water below. Walk on spa covers, in contrast, can hold up the weight of a child as well as the child's entire family. They include a locking mechanism, too, so the cover can't be moved or lifted off of the hot tub.

Even if you don't have children or pets, walk on spa covers are a prudent choice if you live in an area that gets heavy snow. Snow that accumulates can be quite heavy, especially if the snow contains a lot of water, as opposed to dry, powdery snow. If that heavy snow is not removed from standard hot tub covers very frequently, those covers can be damaged. Walk on spa covers can easily handle the weight of many feet of accumulated, heavy snow.

Whether you prefer to choose a standard spa cover or a walk on spa cover depends on your situation, but covering your spa or hot tub whenever it is not in use is an important step in properly maintaining it.