What is the difference between a memory foam mattress with a foam core and spring core in terms of general longevity? I have been working on finding mattresses that fit all three P’s (currently working through step 4 of the tutorial…), and I’ve found that the Medium Sealy Posturepedic Gel (don’t know the specific name) and Serta iComfort Insight feel about the same. I’ve found some equivalent mattresses to the Serta iComfort, so I can get that price close to the Sealy Posturepedic Gel, but I can’t find many equivalents to the Sealy Posturepedic Gel.
This begged the question: how does a foam core compare to a spring core, assuming that the top layers are the same?
As an aside, price is important for me because I am a graduate student, but I don’t want to skimp for a mattress that I want for the next 5 years. I wish that I could find a similar mattress to either of those two for close to $500… Gotta keep going.
Hi kphines,
You can read more about “matching” one mattress to another in post #9 here but for the most part the major manufacturers don’t disclose all the specifics of the materials in their mattresses so finding something comparable (outside of personally testing for how a mattress “feels”) would be difficult and in many cases impossible. The only time I would spend any time testing a major brand mattress is if you are using it as a guideline for an online purchase where the mattress is described as being similar to the mattress you are testing, or if you are considering it as an actual purchase (which I would discourage) in which case I would only consider them if I was able to find out all the specifics of what is inside it so you can make more meaningful comparisons with other mattresses (see this article). Other than this … I would avoid them.
It would depend on many variables including the specifics of the foam core and the innerspring you were comparing and more importantly on the type of materials that were in the layers above the innerspring or foam core but in most cases the weak link of a mattress is in the comfort layers not in the support layers so the difference would be more a matter of preference and feel than a matter of durability (assuming that both were reasonably good quality). There is more about the different types of innersprings in this article and in post #10 here but I would treat the difference as a matter of preference and your assessment about which mattress was a better “match” in terms of PPP.
I would focus much more on the quality of the materials that were above the support core to make more meaningful durability comparisons. There is more about the variables that can affect the durability and useful life of a mattress relative to different people in post #4 here and the posts it links to.
Phoenix