Everywhere you turn there seems to be a great brand name debate. There is no exception to the mattress industry, and if you have ever shopped for a new mattress, one of the biggest advertised competitions has been between The Tempur-Pedic Company and Sleep Number Mattresses. Both have used advanced technology through the years to provide innovative measures to the sleep industry and provide you with various levels of comfort choices.
Today I’m going to break down the details of each company offers in order to give you a good idea about which to take a closer look at base on your individual needs.
Materials
The approaches these two companies take towards sleep comfort are both advanced in their technology and attempts to meet the needs of consumers, but they both go about it in very different ways from one another. Although they both apply layered construction and many similar materials, that is where their similarities end.
Comfort
It’s important to note the the comforts of any mattress with vary from person to person based on the fact that not any two people are built exactly the same. Height, weight, size, and sleeping preference all play into overall comfort, as does other details such as if you sleep hot regularly and even what sort of foundation you use for your mattress.
If you sleep on your side you will almost exclusively prefer a softer mattress that can better accommodate the weight of your shoulders and hips to help provide pressure relief and keep your spine in alignment. A back or stomach sleeper prefers a more firm surface to allow their weight to be held up to allow natural curvature of the spine. When too soft a surface is used in these cases they allow the heavier points on your body to sink, and puts strain on your back as your spine is pulled out of alignment.
Warranty and Trials
Warranties and Sleep Trials can often make or break a consumer’s decision to purchase, since nobody want to get home after making a large investment only to find out they are stuck with something they hate. Both companies offer a warranty, and both also offer a sleep trial, although it’s prudent to read what the details of these entail.
Sleep Number Mattress
Sleep Number Pros and Cons
Pros
- Each bed be adjusted to any level of firmness or softness
- Good motion isolation
- Long life span
Cons
- Takes time to find the perfect comfort level
- Trench effect where both people roll towards the middle due to different firmness levels
- May be noisy for some people to adjust
Materials of Sleep Number Mattress
The construction of sleep numbers beds surround a truly individualized and customized sleep experience that adjusts to each person’s height, weight, and sleep position- even if you sleep with a partner. The company uses a foam layered material construction in all four of their series of beds, which includes a memory foam version, that encompasses an air filled chamber which can be adjusted to specific comfort levels using a handheld control to find your perfect ‘sleep number’.
What’s more, the company has continually improved upon their designs to include mattress versions that have build in sensors that connect wirelessly through bluetooth to an app for further sleep experience feedback. Your heartbeat, breathing rate, temperature, and movement can all be tracked to provide you with information to better adjust and find which number works best for you.
The company also offers a FlexFit adjustable base to be used with any of their mattresses that allows you to raise up both the head and foot of the mattress for further comfort.
Comfort of Sleep Number Mattress
Sleep Number beds are designed in attempt to address many of these minor details for every individual to help provide the best sleep possible through the use of air filled chambers. All their beds are able to adjust from a more soft surface to a more firm using their sleep number technology that allows you to change your ‘number’ with only a push of the button. And what’s more, each bed is equipped to adjust to the sleeper, meaning you and your partner can sleep on different surfaces- truly embracing the idea of a unique, individualized sleep.
The different series of beds provide different initial surface comfort materials, as well as different technologies to meet different levels of consumer needs. Pillow top, memory foam, and quilted top options are all available, as are simple sleep number controls to more advanced sensor enabled bed that ‘read’ you body comfort as you sleep.
In order to find what works for you in a Sleep Number bed, you may have to take some time figuring out which number suits you best. What is comfortable in the evening, may not be at 3 am, so it is suggested to give it some time to decide if this truly is the best mattress for you. Sleep number makes this an easy process by offering a pretty decent sleep trial as well.
Warranty and Trials of Sleep Number Mattress
Sleep Number offers a 25 year limited warranty against material defect and workmanship under normal usage. For the first two years all costs associated with repair are at no cost to you, but after that there are variables of percentages you will be responsible for.
They also offer a 100 night sleep trial for all mattresses except the it Bed, which has a 30 day trial. If prior to night 100 you are unsatisfied for any reason, simply contact the service department to schedule a return. Shipping costs are the responsibility of the buyer.
Tempur-Pedic Mattress
Tempur-Pedic Pros and Cons
Pros
- Good motion isolation
- Alleviates pressure points
- Low maintenance
Cons
- May sleep hot
- Foam contouring may may it difficult to move around
- High cost factor
Materials of Tempur-Pedic
Tempur-Pedic made it’s way into the industry with a revolutionized memory foam material originally created in response to a design for the NASA space program. Scientist who worked upon the material began the Tempur-Pedic startup, and memory foam mattresses were born.
Tempur-Pedic uses a layered construction process within all four of their mattress series that apply top comfort layers of their patented Tempur foams. These are layered upon further supportive base foams or an innerspring coil system as found in their newer Flex Series. They also apply cooling technologies in order to help offset the common heat retention issues that occasionally arise with memory foam use due to how it envelopes your body.
The company also offers adjustable Up and Ergo bases to elevate and control your mattress comfort.
Comfort of Tempur-Pedic
Tempur products have been praised for their memory foam application that has you feeling as if you are ‘sleeping on a cloud’. Their line of mattresses offer everything from an extra firm to super soft sleeping surface, and also includes a special cooling line of choices for all you hot sleepers.
As mentioned earlier, their layered construction uses various densities and firmness levels of foam layered upon supportive foam bases to provide breathability. This is to allow their famous memory foam sink that envelops your body and dissipates pressure points to occur while still being held within the mattress. The heat of your body is what provides the contouring of the memory foam, so depending on the firmness level, you may find your nighttime movement is hindered somewhat if you have sunk into the body impressions you are sure to leave.
Warranty and Trials of Tempur-Pedic
Tempur-Pedic offers a 10 year full replacement limited warranty that covers all material defect and workmanship. They also offer a 90 night sleep trial to return for any reason if not satisfied before night 90. Shipping fees may apply however.
Cost Differences
Both companies offer various models at various prices based on what is being offered, but taken on a whole Tempur-Pedic costs on average 24% more than the Sleep Number brand. However, there are a few variables to consider over the life of the mattress as well. Over the life of a Sleep Number you may have to replace parts not covered by warranty, plus the pumps are run off electricity which may contribute to the electric bill- although this should be very minimal if even noticeable.
Durability
Durability refers to how well the mattress will hold up without having something break. Simply due to the fact that the Sleep Number mattresses are mechanical in nature and also has more technological gadgets, it goes to say that there is more involved that could go wrong. Even though much of what goes into the Sleep Number production is guaranteed and covered under replacements and warranties, so it’s prudent to take a close look at owner responsibility prior to purchase.
Tempur-Pedic products, on the other hand, really only has material defects and breakdowns to worry about, some of which are also covered under warranties. With all that beine mentioned, on a whole there seems to be a low overall percentage of complaints surrounding material durability concerning either brand.
It’s important to mention here that both companies do use high quality foams that have more than acceptable densities weighing in at 4.0lbs/cu.ft or more depending on the specific sleeping surface. Base foams weigh in at 2.0lbs/cu.ft or more which is pretty typical of the industry.
Motion Isolation
It really is hard to provide a side by side comparison of these two beds simply because of how differently they are constructed. The Sleep Number mattresses are made with separate chambers to allow for different surface comfort levels. This means that motion should be contained to individual sides due to the dual construction. Sleep numbers have high motion isolation ratings as well, which means this design seems to work well for couples.
In contrast, A Tempur-Pedic mattress is a continuous mattress from one side to the other, and has excellent motion isolation ratings, meaning you shouldn’t even be disrupted by your partner’s movements in the bed next to you.
Heat Retention
The Sleep Number mattresses also use foams and memory foams in their construction, like a Tempur-Pedic but their air chamber design also allows for additional cooling and very few complaints surround any heat retention issues. Their memory foam mattress layer also has a gel infused foam to help provide better breathability and cooling, and recently the company also released DualTemp layers for both controllable heating and cooling to better personalize your sleep experience.
Traditionally memory foam has a higher heat retention simply due to the combination of materials used in conjunction with an enveloping softness that more easily traps heat against your body. Tempur-Pedic has had a high complaint rate concerning this through the years, although they have applied many solutions to this issue. Changes in their layered construction to provide better breathability of the foam, moisture wicking fibers and SmartClimate materials used in mattress covers, and gel infused foams used in their Breeze line have all been successful in helping to alleviate any discomfort associated with hot night’s sleep.
Conclusion
When looking for a mattress it’s easy to become overwhelmed with the many choices you are presented with. And when you narrow down your needs to specific brands, it can be even more of a challenge to determine which may best suit your needs. Hopefully this article has at least provided some good side by side comparisons so you can better see some of the finer nuances between the two to determine if either may make a good match.
The Tempur-Pedic brand is for anyone who truly loves the contouring feel of a memory foam and is looking for a superior degree of pressure relief. Aside from some heat issues most of their comfort levels address, the biggest complaint surrounding these mattresses is how over time they may create slight sinks as they break in, making it difficult to move around.
Sleep Number beds are geared towards a very individualized sleep and has been a popular pick amongst couples who have very different sleep habits. Being able to to control your comfort level by sleeping sides makes it a win-win for those who struggle to accept a less than ideal surface as a sacrifice to their partner. The biggest complaint surrounding this mattress line concerns how long it takes some people to finally find their ideal sleep number in order for the best night’s sleep.