Hi awml,
Just in case you haven’t read it yet … the first place I would start your research is the mattress shopping tutorial here which has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choices … and know how and why to avoid the worst ones.
There is more about the different ways that one mattress can approximate or “match” another one in post #9 here but there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved and “comfort” is too subjective and relative to each person for anyone to know how any mattress will feel for you or how it will compare to another mattress based on specs (yours or a mattress) or “theory at a distance” and your own personal testing and experience will be the only reliable way to know how any mattress feels for you or how it feels compared to another mattress (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).
There is also more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here that can help you make more meaningful comparisons between mattresses.
The better options or possibilities I’m aware of in the Ottawa area (subject to the value guidelines I linked) are listed in posts #2 and #3 here.
There is more about the different ways to choose a mattress and the risks involved in each one in post #2 here but I don’t know of any other manufacturer that compares a mattress they make to the Beausommet so the only way to know how another mattress would compare for you would be based on side by side testing. To a lesser degree you could compare other mattresses to your “memory” of the Beausommet but our subjective memory of “feel” isn’t very reliable and doesn’t last for very long. In general terms … I would avoid using another mattress as a “target” and rate every mattress you consider against a common set of criteria based on the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.
Just in case you haven’t read it yet … you can read some of my thoughts about Essentia and some of the misleading claims they make and some forum discussions with them in this thread and this thread and posts #3 and #4 here). Needless to say I would be very cautious here.
It’s not quite as simple as this because there are more than just two types of isocyanates that are used to produce foam and there are many variations or mixtures of each of them. Most foam pourers don’t disclose their foam formulations even to the mattress manufacturers that use them so you probably won’t be able to find out the chemical formulations that are used for any of the foams you are considering but in very general terms most of the polyfoam and memory foam in North America would be TDI based.
Phoenix