Sleepy's Buyers Remorse - exchanging Phenom to Beautyrest Legend or other?

[phoenix]

Hi Fancy02116,

We bought the Simmons Phenom Comforpedic 12 inch Supreme Plush from Sleepys after our pillow top Sealy Posturepedic caved-in after 8 years.

You were fortunate to get 8 years out of your mattress … assuming you were sleeping well for all 8 years :). It may also be worthwhile checking to see if the visible impressions are deep enough to quality for warranty coverage.

Sleepy’s recommends exchanging Phenom to the Simmons Beautyrest Legend Plush Mattress. It too has a memory foam top but I have been unable to find the specs on Legend’s foam density and other pointers that you provide. My concern is that it may also run “hot” and/or deteriorate if made with similar foam-top layers. Of note, I’m never a “sweater” in bed. We are 2 side-sleeping adults, mid-40’s, tall weighing 170 & 220 pounds.

There are a number of factors that combine together to affect sleeping temperature relative to each person including your mattress protector, sheets, and bedding (see post #2 here and the other posts it links to) so it’s not really possible to accurately predict whether a mattress or “sleeping system” will sleep hot for a particular person based on just the type of foam because of all the variables involved. A mattress that will sleep hot for some people can still be fine for others.

Simmons also makes it much more difficult to assess because they don’t disclose all the specifics of the materials in their mattresses. I would keep in mind though that in general terms, memory foam comfort layers will tend to sleep warmer than other types of foam layers because it’s a more insulating material that usually has less airflow than other types of foam. Gel memory foams can have a limited effect on temperature (depending on the specifics of the gel foam) but once temperatures equalize the foam is still an insulating material and can contribute to sleeping hot. There is more about gel memory foams in post #8 here and post #2 here and the other posts they link to.

Do you have any intel on whether the Beautyrest Legend contains similar top layer/potential heat-producing layers? Also, is the foam used on the Legend a higher quality than the Phenom?

Unfortunately Simmons (or Sleepys) doesn’t generally provide this information so it’s not really possible to know the specifics of any of their mattresses.

The layers of the Phenom are listed on the Sleepys site …

Sculpted stretch knit cover
1" AirCool® Memory Foam with TruTemp™ Gel
1"AirCool® Memory foam
1"AirCool® Memory foam
1.5" Blended Latex
AirCool® Edge Support
6.5" AirCool® Transflexion® Core

… but they don’t disclose the density of the top 3" of memory foam and it would be much safer to assume they are lower density/quality and would be a potential weak link in the mattress.

Sleepys doesn’t disclose much information at all about the Legend but you can see here that the foam density of the memory foam comfort layers in a similar mattress is hovering around or below the bottom of the range that I would consider to be OK. You are almost certainly being “upsold” so that they can maximize their profit on a mattress exchange by selling you a more costly mattress.

Post #2 here has more about the two main “strategies” that you can use when you are in the difficult position of exchanging a mattress at a store when there are really no great quality/value options available to you.

Phoenix