Hi warthogc,
There is some information about the 3 most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability (how well you will sleep), durability (how long you will sleep well), and the overall value of a mattress compared to your other finalists based on suitability, durability, and all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you (including the price of course and the options you have available after a purchase if your choice doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for).
While nobody can speak to how any specific mattress will “feel” for someone else because this is too subjective and relative to different body types, sleeping positions, and individual preferences, sensitivities, and circumstances and you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress … outside of PPP and how well you will sleep on a mattress which is the most important part of “value”, the next most important part of the value of a mattress purchase is durability which is all about how long you will sleep well on a mattress. This is the part of your research that you can’t see or “feel” and assessing the durability and useful life of a mattress depends on knowing the specifics of its construction and the type and quality of the materials inside it regardless of the name of the manufacturer on the label (or how a mattress feels in a showroom or in your bedroom when it is relatively new) so I would always make sure that you find out information listed here so you can compare the materials and components to the quality/durability guidelines here to make sure there are no lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress that would be a cause for concern relative to your weight range in terms of the durability and useful life of a mattress before making any purchase.
The Arctic Dreams uses 3 lb density high performance polyfoam in the comfort layer and 1.8 lb density polyfoam in the base layer so there are no lower quality materials or weak links in the mattress that would be a cause for concern in terms of the durability or useful life of the mattress relative to more average weight ranges (lower 200’s or so or less)
The Swiss Ortho Sleep doesn’t list the density of the foam layers in their mattress so it’s not possible to make any meaningful comments about it in terns of the durability and useful life of the mattress although in this budget range it’s most likely that they are using lower quality and less durable foam layers. If you can find out the density of all the foam layers in the mattress and post them on the forum I’d certainly happy to make some comments about the durability of the materials and the mattress as a whole and let you know if there are any lower quality materials or weak links that would be a cause for concern.
While it’s not possible to quantify the sleeping temperature of a mattress for any particular person with any real accuracy because there are so many variables involved including the type of mattress protector and the sheets and bedding that you use (which in many cases can have just as significant an effect on sleeping temperature as the type of foam in a mattress) and on where you are in the “oven to iceberg” range and because there is no standardized testing for temperature regulation with different combinations of materials … there is more about the many variables that can affect the sleeping temperature of a mattress or sleeping system in post #2 here that can help you choose the types of materials and components that are most likely to keep you in a comfortable temperature range.
The top layer of foam in the Arctic Dreams is Energex which is very breathable and it is also infused with a gel material which can help with sleeping temperature when you first go to sleep at night (although the effects of gel materials don’t typically last over the course of the night) so while there may be some exceptions … most people wouldn’t have temperature regulation issues on this mattress.
Phoenix