Every time spring and fall rolls around something predictable occurs -- a massive increase in ads talking about gutter covers that are supposed to end clogging your rain gutters once and for all! Is it true or just hype? And more importantly, should you invest in gutter covers or is your money better spent elsewhere? In this article, I will focus on answering both of these questions.It's important to keep your gutter clean for several reasons. If left unchecked, water can become clogged in your gutter channel and not be able to properly go through your downspout. This can cause all sorts of problems, the least of which may be water seeping through your foundation and into your basement.At the same time, nobody wants to spend a Saturday out on the ladder grabbing handfuls of twigs, dirt, leaves and other junk out of their rain gutters. Not my idea of fun anyway! Oftentimes the solution is to pay someone else to do for you. But of course it would be best not to have to do anything and save your money.That's what most companies will promise you when it comes to purchasing gutter covers. The hype is that with the proper covers you'll never have to clean your rain gutters again. Is this true? Well, sort of.Everything these days has a cost. It's the same with a gutter cover system. For installation and materials you can easily blow over $2000 on the whole ordeal. For that price you can purchase some wire screens and hang them up yourself over the gutter for a couple hundred dollars.I understand that in the long run it may pay to spend money to have a system like this installed. For example, if you're paying somebody $100 every time they come and clean your gutters and they do so 4 times a year, then in five years you have spent $2000. However, these numbers are not quite realistic. Oftentimes, to recoup on your investment you in need to live in the home for 15 years or more with your gutter covers.Finally, even complex and expensive gutter covers will not necessarily keep your gutters from clogging. The fact is these gutter guards do not stop everything from entering into the gutters. If enough small debris builds up in your gutters, they will eventually clog anyway.Ultimately, the decision will rest with you. At least knowing the facts will help you make a much better decision in the long run.