My wife and I are replacing a 12 year old Sleep Number bed. It has been good, but we would like to have a split king (it is a regular E-King) with an adjustable platform in order that my wife can raise up when she has allergy drainage. She is 5’ 2" 105 lbs. and I am 5’ 11" 170 lbs. She has trouble going to sleep and I usually take 2 - 3 minutes to go to sleep.
We have so far tried the following:
A Kingsdown Live o Sleep that felt the best to us both. Price tag $11,000.
A new Sleep number i10 that felt so/so.
A Tempur-pedic Supreme choice which felt good,
A Pure Bliss Latex bed that felt good to us both.
My wife is concerned about “buying the wrong bed” and therefore is concerned about adjustability. Our sleep number bed hasn’t been adjusted in 10 years except to check that the settings are correct in years, so I think if we find the right bed it won’t need to be adjustable. I like the concept of Flobeds and Sleep-Ez but would like to try and duplicate the Kingsdown feel with a more transparent bed that I think would last. We don’t think the Kingsdown would last.
The first place I would start your research is the tutorial post here which has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that you will need to make the best possible mattress choice … and know how and why to avoid the worst ones.
I would never consider any mattress where you didn’t know what was inside it (see this article) … particularly if it was $11,000. I would be VERY cautious about considering a Kingsdown.
[quote]2. A new Sleep number i10 that felt so/so.
A Tempur-pedic Supreme choice which felt good,[/quote]
You can see my thoughts about airbeds in this article.
PLB uses high quality materials in all their mattresses and are generally “better than average” in terms of value although it depends on which mattress you are considering and on where you buy it. There are also many smaller manufacturers that make latex mattresses in lower price ranges that would also be well worth considering either locally or online.
The only way to “match” another mattress would be to know exactly what was inside it and then to buy a mattress that had exactly the same layers and components (see post #9 here). It’s unlikely that you will be able to find out what is in the Kingsdown you are considering and even if you could it would be unlikely that you could duplicate all the layers and components exactly anyway. Other than that … if you were using the Kingsdown as a “target” (which I wouldn’t suggest) … then you would be limited to guessing at which component layers that you thought would be closest to the Kingsdown (and there may be no combination that matches the subjective “feel” if the Kingsdown isn’t a latex mattress) and then finding out how close you came based on your actual experience.
Both Flobeds and SleepEZ are members here and would make great choices that give you good options to customize the mattress both before and after a purchase but it’s unlikely that you would be able to approximate the subjective “feel” of another type of mattress that used different materials and components even if they were a perfect match for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences).
I am with you on the Kingsdown. It had a memory top, but beyond that who knows what was in it. The salesperson couldn’t tell me and I don’t think she knew or cared.
I also agree with you on the air. The problem is that my wife is of the opinion that the air in our Sleep Number has allowed her to make up for any deficiencies in the bed, thus the reason for her wanting an air tempur-pedic. I may just have to go ahead with the flobed or the sleepez. I had her lay on a latex bed to see if she liked it so that I could get the adjustability without mechanical means.
Any opinion on the Prodigy adjustable bed versus the Ergomotion 400?
I would generally choose an adjustable bed based on a features vs price comparison. The Prodigy has a few more features than the Ergomotion (see post #2 here) and has a higher weight capacity (see post #2 here) so it would really depend on whether the extra features would be worth the extra price to you and how much you think you would use them. Both of them would make good choices.
Thank you for your help and your informational website. I just purchased a Flobeds Vzone mattress and a Reverie 7S foundation based on the information I found here and the discussion with Dewey at Flobeds.
I got a 5% discount on the mattresses of $169.95 by being a member here.
Congratulations on your new mattress … and adjustable bed
As you know … I think you made a great choice and I’m looking forward to any feedback you have the chance to share about your experience once you’ve had the chance to sleep on it and the zoning arrangement of the vZone that works best for you.
Will do. The first thing I learned was that it is important to talk to folks who are familiar with their terminology. I told Dewey that my wife although small likes a bed just a little less than medium and I like a mattress a little firm of medium. His selection for her was medium over firm and for me firm over x-firm. He was confident in his selection so I am hoping he is correct.
Received the mattress yesterday. First impressions are good.
The mattress was packaged well with customized set up instructions noted for both Twin XL’s that make up the split king. Each side has a cover, a bottom layer of latex (xfirm for me, firm for her), a 2nd layer of latex (firm for me, medium for her), a Vzone layer (medium for me and soft for her), and a convolute layer. The cover is quite stretchy, but it is not tight on the sides of the layers even though they completely fill up the bed frame. The materials appear to be of high quality and the materials and system are well designed. It is a little more difficult to assemble than their video shows with a foot board that our bed has.
The first night’s sleep was good on the bed. My side is certainly firm enough, the question may be if it is a little too firm which I like that I can adjust it with their system. My wife slept well on the bed and said that she thinks Dewey hit her firmness just right.
One thing that is different than any other bed we have ever been on is the edge… Since there is no edge support other than the cover the edge is not firm when getting off of the mattress. This is not an issue while sleeping, but is just a little different when you get out of the bed.
Thanks for the update and feedback … I appreciate it
The “best” suggestion for the first couple of weeks with any new mattress is usually to do nothing (if possible) so that the mattress can break in a little and your body can get used to a new sleeping surface. If after that you still need some fine tuning then it would be a good time to decide on whether to rearrange or exchange any layers (see post #2 here). Of course Flobeds are always there to provide some guidance with any changes that may be necessary based on your sleeping experience.
Edge support isn’t usually necessary with a latex mattress and can have some disadvantages (see post #3 here) but as you mentioned it can be “different” from what you are used to if your old mattress had edge support and can take some getting used to.
Thanks for the feedback. We do plan to not make any adjustments for a few weeks as you suggested. With the firmness close on the first day, as you said, it may be just right.
I just mentioned the edge support as a note. I don’t sit on the bed, but it was just different rolling out of it for both my wife at 105 lbs. and me at 170 lbs. I think it will be fine once we get used to it. The latex layers seemed like they were quite substantial so I don’t think this will have any effect on the bed over time.
