Well Chris, I wish I could tell you. We just had 19 inches of snow and not a drop of sap yet. I'm anxious to find out if it was worth the trouble, and I'll report results as soon as I have them.

On the issue of insulation on your pipes, it is probably fine as long as the air is going through them. If you shut it off, the inside and bottom walls will get very hot and expand. The top will be at sap temp and the outside maybe a little cooler. That means it is really going to want to curl on you.

I like you idea of the spa blower, BTW.