If you find yourself increasingly uncomfortable the closer the dog days of summer creep, you probably also struggle to cool off enough to sleep peacefully each night. A cooler night’s sleep is actually responsible for a proper rest to help revive and rejuvenate your mind and body, and the higher the temperatures creep, the more difficult this becomes.
There are many products on the market that claim to help you get a cooler night’s sleep, and today I’m going to unpack, setup, and review for you the BedJet which they sent to us for review, a bed climate comfort system that uses forced air to both cool, and even heat, the air surface directly beneath your covers.
Unpacking Video
Breakdown of the BedJet
Adults need on average 7 to 9 hours of uninterrupted sleep to reap both the physical and mental benefits of a true rest. Without it not only will you suffer from short term problems such as decreased memory function and lack of focus, but over time sleep debt can result in an increase in cardiovascular problems, stroke, and diabetes, to name a few. Your body actually drops in temperature as you sleep to improve upon circulation and healing, and by supporting optimal sleep temperatures (between 60 and 67 degrees Fahrenheit) you are allowing your body to sleep more naturally.
The BedJet allows for both cooling, and heating depending the time of year and your specific needs, and can be controlled not only through a wireless remote, but is also bluetooth enabled through your smartphone. It was developed by a former NASA engineer who launched the product in 2015 on the popular show Shark Tank and through online crowdfunding. Since then it has become a popular sleep industry investment for anyone looking for individualized night time temperature control.
There isn’t much this company hasn’t addressed surrounding consumer needs and questions in the few years since its launch, and below I’m going to provide an overview of my experiences with putting it through its paces.
How the BedJet Heats and Cools
It’s important to explain here how, exactly, the BedJet provides both heating and cooling experiences. When cooling the ambient air temperature is pulled from the air surrounding the base unit under (or next to) your bed. The unit does not cool the air at all, but rather the movement of the cooler air near the floor (remember, cold air sinks) being blown against your skin provides both convection and evaporative cooling processes.
Convection cooling occurs when cooler air brushes against your skin forces you to lose body heat, and evaporation occurs when your body moisture comes in contact with the cooler air, again forcing you to lose body heat. Therefore, if your ambient air temperatures are 80 degrees or above, this cooling process may not be very effective as the unit is not supposed to serve as a replacement for an AC unit.
The BedJet does, in fact, heat air when you have it set to either warming, or turbo warming settings. Warm air can be blown anywhere from 85 to 109 degrees for both quick, and gradual heating purposes.
Features & Benefits
The BedJet arrived on my front door within a week of placing the order in two unmarked boxes (one was the comforter as seen in the unpacking video above). The boxes were easy enough to carry into the bedroom to unpack and everything was well protected within.
Set Up Video
Base Unit
The base unit measures only 6.75 inches tall and needs only 7 inches of clearance under any bed. Plus you only need about 3 inches of clearance under a side rail. Additionally it also works with most adjustable beds with these clearance measurements.
If you have a platform bed with no side clearance: no problem! You can place it on the floor next to your bed if you don’t mind having it there. But BedJet offers a vertical mount stand to help keep the unit flush against your bedside for a very reasonable additional price.
Settings
I had to lift my bed only slightly to get the unit under my bed, and once there found it easily accessible to both turn it on and off, or adjust the hi and low settings specific to single or dual use. For review purposes I was only using the single setting, of which you can see is a more powerful wattage draw. When running two units at the same time you would want to set it at a lower power draw to keep from overwhelming your breaker. I like that they included this info not only in the manual, but on the unit itself as a reminder to use the product correctly.
The only real issue I had with the unit was the length of the cord. Like most motor powered products you need to plug your cord directly into a wall unit for correct power draw and grounding purposes. Although the cord measures about 7’ 8”, it wasn’t long enough to reach my power outlet at the head of my bed and I had to use the outlet on the wall across from the foot of my bed. With a bit of problem solving I could probably figure something out. Keep in mind the cord is this length to be in compliance with Underwriters Laboratories.
The company offers a solution to this through the addition of a hose extension which can be purchased here, and explained below.
Adjustable Mattress Mount
You can place the BedJet on either side of your bed at the foot of the bed for whole bed results, or you can place it directly at the foot of the bed on either side or in the middle for more specific side to side results. The setup, as you have seen, is easy enough with a few snap together pieces for various mattress profiles. I have a deep, 12.5 inch mattress and only used two of the four included supports. Additionally the collapsible air hose had a lot more stretch available to use.
The hose clamp has little sheet clamps as well to help keep your sheet from pulling loose as you move at night. Personally I didn’t feel like they were very strong and could pull out easily with just a gentle tug. However, with your sheet tucked in under the mattress at the foot of the bed, and with the weight of an additional quilt or comforter laid over the top (as I have my bed setup) provided plenty of weight to keep it from pulling loose through the night.
Mounted Position Differences
I started with a side mount on my preferred sleeping side, but was curious to know what differences I would feel with it in various positions and how easy it was to move from one place to the next. It was super simple to move it around and try it out in varying positions. Although if you have a footboard the end of the bed choices are next to impossible to recreate. I was able to place the bedjet over the top of mine thanks to the stretchy hose, but it’s definitely not the way I would want to leave it.
My results on a queen size bed with my own sheets? I didn’t notice any other than how it initially felt when I first turned it on, both on high and low settings. Perhaps with another person in the bed there might be a difference, but for a singleton it was equally comfortable in any position.
Air Hose and Nozzle
The air hose is pretty stretchy and can reach up to four feet in length, making it easy to adjust your BedJet base to your preferred nozzle location. The company also sells the hose individually to reach up to eight feet in length for additional reach (like when your power cord isn’t long enough). It is recommended that you have no more than one 90 degree angle in your hose in order to get the most out of the airflow however. The nozzle should sit flat on your bed and not stick up at all. The point is to direct the airflow above your fitted sheet, and under your loose sheet, comforter, or quilt.
Air Flow
Like most cooling or heating products, insulation is crucial to get the most out of it. If you prefer to sleep without any sort of covering, then you aren’t going to get much out of the BedJet. You do need to use a 250 thread count sheet or higher in order to keep your temperature choices under control and against your body. Lower thread counts may allow too much escape through the more loosely woven fibers.
On both high and low setting I experienced the same amount of ‘air filling’ under my sheets. As you can see, when the system is off, my sheets lay flat, but when turned on the space between sheets fills with air that is pulled from the space surrounding the base unit. On high this happens much more quickly, but even at the lowest setting it only takes an additional few seconds to fill completely.
Sound
When you first turn on the unit it is set to the highest fan setting and really is rather loud (think box fan level). I’ll admit I was a bit turned off by this as I am not a fan of white noise and was hoping for a much quieter cooling experience. However as I turned the system down, the sound became lower and lower, until I couldn’t even hear it at all and had to stick my hand to the nozzle outlet to feel if it was even still on. Since my sheets were still inflated I assumed it was, and I was correct.
Therefor you can run this at the lower settings without any fan noise noticeable at all, and with no real loss of cooling.
Wireless Remote
Because the unit is designed to sit under your bed, it is synced with a remote control upon arrival in order to use the system. There is no way to run the unit without this remote, or the Bluetooth App (explained below). There is an on/off switch on the unit, but this is only to prepare it to receive commands wirelessly.
Once I put the included battery in the remote (an A23 alkaline battery), and pressed the cooling button, the unit turned on right away. There is a lighted panel on the base unit so you can see that it is receiving power and what level of power you are on, as well if you are heating and cooling, but unless you have it set out from under the bed you won’t be using this feature.
App
The remote was awful nice, but the real selling feature of this product is the wireless app. This app is free, and available for both Andriod and iPhone (plus tablet) accessible Apps. It downloaded easily, synced quickly (make sure the unit is turned on), and set up with a simple rocking of the dual zone switch to make sure you are controlling the correct unit if you happen to have more than one unit in use in the household.
Biorhythm Sleep Cycle Settings
The app also lets you tap into the new Biorhythm sleep cycle settings that takes into account the ambient temperature, and regulates your previously saved settings to provide automated sleep temperature settings for every hour of the night. This does take a little bit of time to set up, but truly does allow you personalized comfort.
Aromatherapy Kit
Many studies have been done on the uses of oil diffusion. This model comes with a series of foam strips and small clamp to place upon the nozzle to take advantage of your favorite scent. Although the company claims that the best diffusion occurs with a warmer air temperature, I tried it out with both warm and cool air and noticed no difference. In fact, many oils can break down in too high a heat and are best used with a cooler air. You also will want to make sure you are using pure grade oils, and also check for diffusion properties as certain oils should not be diffused for too many hours at a time.
I’m not really sure how far I would go as to calling this a kit, however. It’s more of an idea, and a small paper clamp and foam is a far stretch as a kit definition. It is a great idea though and is effective, although anyone could have done it. I’m hoping this ‘kit’ didn’t add to the cost of the product itself.
Perhaps the company will create a simple foam holder that can open and close to add oils and slide onto the nozzle to make sure the oils are utilized correctly with no waste. The rest of the product is well thought out and is of quality, durable workmanship so I have faith they will take this prototype to the next level.
DualZone Option
Dual heating and cooling is available for Queen and King sized beds via a dual zone AirComforter. You can use this with just one BedJet unit for single side temperature control, which leaves the other side as is, or two units for true dual comfort. I actually had a chance to try this out as well (see below for results) and thought it was a pretty neat addition if you aren’t keen on the airflow direct on your body, or have a partner with very different temperature needs than you do.
Dual temperature control has become a pretty important feature surrounding sleep comfort, and more and more bedding products are offering options geared towards varying sleep needs. The BedJet feature is one of the more simplified, yet effective solutions, to help bring you and your partner what they need. When used with two separate units (which allows the nozzle to ‘plug’ directly into the comforter), you also have the option to use both remotes, sync two separate phone apps, or even toggle between the unique unit bluetooth connections within the app.
The AirComforter can be used as a stand alone cover, or you can use it under your favorite blankets or sheets without sacrificing either comfort or style. Made from 100% cotton, it is easily washable to be used over and over again, and doesn’t have any special care needs either that you have to be cautious of. It’s important to note that there are single zone comforters also available if you have only a twin sized mattress.
If you are interested in the BedJet Dual Zone with heating and cooling available to both sides, the company offers a bundle deal that includes two units with your comforter size preference for a reduced price.
Sleeping Experiences
Ok, I’ll admit here that I am not always a fan of moving air across my body. Since the whole cooling experience of the BedJet is dependent upon airflow across your body I figured this may be an interesting trial. But, since I hate the cost of my AC in the summer despite it being a necessity for the summer heat, I typically turn it off come evening and depend upon ceiling fans and the cooler night air to bring in heat relief. When testing this out the house was generally right around 75 to 80 degrees, which is the temperature top end of what BedJet suggests for optimal performance.
If you already sleep with a box fan or like the feeling of a ceiling fan then you will appreciate the BedJet that much more. But for anyone with concerns like mine, no fear! The settings on the BedJet are so widely varied, that there really is a comfort level for everyone! Fan settings at 40% or higher were definitely not for me personally, but anything lower was comforting and not really even noticeable after the initial air flow began.
I can see where the turbo heat function would be nice on a cold winter’s night for the timed setting it suggests to get the bed warmed up for sure. And on that note, the company also suggests that you use the product on lower air settings anyway, and since I had already proven that air is trapped equally well under the sheet on both high and low settings, I approached my sleep with this plan in mind.
What I did forget about, though, is that once under the covers I was allowing a place for the air to escape out the top of the sheet. On higher settings I had a definite breeze blowing over me from foot to head which was strong enough to move my hair. The whole experience on the high settings reminded me of when I was in elementary school and we used to lift up a big parachute and sit on the edges to trap the air above us in gym class and my kids got a kick out of it. Lower settings really didn’t have this effect although, funny enough, your sheets probably won’t lay quite flat against you due to airflow, although you probably won’t even notice it.
While fun, it’s not the way I wanted to sleep and pulled my quilt up over the sheet to help weigh it down. This actually solved all my airflow issues at and with the base set to about 30% I slept quite comfortably, and cool.
Airflow Not Your Thing?
Even though I found a solution to my personal airflow issues, the company has a solution for this as well; simply place the nozzle between your top sheet and another blanket. I went ahead and tried this also, and found I had to turn the BedJet up to get better cooling results, which of course made the unit fan louder. The heating, I felt, worked really well this way, but cooling may not be quite as effective.
Compared to a Ceiling Fan?
I’ve already mentioned a ceiling fan is not my thing due to airflow. Plus I do like to sleep with a sheet or blanket and for most ceiling fans to be effective generally you have to exclude these. In comparing the cooling effects of both, the BedJet definitely is much more effective due to the varying controls, BUT only if you sleep with the correct covers. If you don’t want to be covered, you should probably stick to your ceiling fan. The low settings of the BedJet and the ceiling fan were equally comfortable to me temperature wise.
Room Temperature Fluctuation Results
BedJet does suggest that temperatures 80 degrees or higher will most likely affect the cooling process. I left my AC off and suffered through the heat to test this out one evening. The house was about 87 degrees when I hopped into bed, and with the air blowing it truly did cool me down. It is NOT a replacement for an AC though, and probably isn’t as cool as what most people want.
End result: The BedJet should be used below 80 degrees in order to take advantage of a low setting that cools you without too much air movement or sound (exactly how I prefer to sleep).
Optional Comforter Test
Now, you did see me unpack the BedJet comforter. This is the company’s solution for true dual sleep temperatures, as well as a way to keep the air from blowing around and escaping. Think your traditional comforter, but instead of it being filled with down or poly, it’s filled with air. Yup, it’s like sleeping under a somewhat deflated balloon but feels like any other light comforter; It was a pretty neat, and effective idea.
Your nozzle fits right into a buttoned slot (that I recommend to pull over, and then snap the ends back together to keep it snugly over the nozzle or it will probably pull off), and forces air directly into the comforter. You can use two BedJets simultaneously with the dual comforter so one side can be warm and the other cool. Or if your partner doesn’t like the BedJet, then you can take advantage of it while they have just a regular light covering. You can use this with another comforter or quilt on top of it as well.
Honestly, I really didn’t notice any sleep difference other than never getting any breeze by my face on higher settings. Personally I preferred to use my own sheet and blanket, although I appreciated the idea behind the dual temperature control to help make your sleep personal and keep the peace surrounding sleep comfort!
Benefits
The benefits of the BedJet are many, with unexpected results for different types of sleepers with differing sleep issues. For your everyday consumer you get an easy to use cooling and heating airflow system to help you sleep more comfortable during any time of year in any climate.
- Helps regulate dual sleeping preferences
- Can aide in heat issues surrounding menopause, or other comfort issues pertaining to disease and pain.
- Complete bed temperature control at any time of year
- Wicks away body moisture
- Saves money on the electrical bill if you are not heating or cooling the entire house
- Timed settings for further cost savings
- Simple setup and take down
Concerns
As with every product there are some concerns despite overall high ratings and positive reviews. Although these are generally easy to live with or solve, they do exist.
- Air hose is a bit bulky
- If sheets pull over the nozzle due to movement the system is ineffective
- Cooling is from air movement only.
- Air from bottom of bed may result in ‘cold’ feet
Consumer Proof and Reviews
Most reviews over the year are extremely positive. As mentioned it took me some playing to find what worked best for me, but the many different settings and ease of use provided me with what I needed to find what was the most comfortable, and effective. The simplicity of the design and the many choices of airflow and temperature control is what has made this a top selling item.
Reviews praise the cooling effects in summer and how nice it is to heat up a bed quickly on cold nights. Many people have stated that it has made sleeping bearable again, especially if their partner had a drastically different comfort level.
Warranty and Care
BedJet offers a hassle free 60 day sleep trial with free returns and no restocking fees. This makes trying it out ruly worthwhile. It also has a 2 year limited warranty covering defects. Customer service is considered to be excellent and easy to reach for any issues, plus they welcome visitors to their home showroom in Rhode Island, and factory outlets during shows in Las Vegas.
You may be interested in: BedJet V3 Review
Overall Rating: 4.5 Stars
I will admit I was not anticipating my degree of success with this product and approached it with qute a bit of skepticism, mainly because of how picky I am concerning white noise and airflow. But I was surprised after playing with the settings a bit and trying out what I found to be comforting. I slept cool and comfortable, and was able to set a timer to have it turn off a few hours after falling asleep rather than turning off on its own after 10 hours as it’s programmed to do.
This is a pretty versatile product and I feel just about anyone can find a degree of comfort with it for both heating and cooling effects. It is easy to setup and use, and rather fun to play with if you download the app for personalized settings. And as an added bonus you do have dual climate options to keep your household happy.
I did take off for the fact that the air hose sticks out the side of the bed. Plus the sheet clamps are pretty ineffective although how I sleep had no impact on them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can my pets be on the bed when I’m using my BedJet V2?
Yes, it’s safe for pets.
Is a smart phone required to use?
Not required for basic functions.
Can I use my own sheets?
Yes, but you don’t get the even distribution you would with the Cloud Sheet.
Does the BedJet require maintenance?
Minimal maintenance required.
Will it work with an adjustable base?
Yes, but you may need to place BedJet base further away from the nozzle.