Sleep Number Beds

July 8, 2004 7:42 AM

Does anyone here have experience with "sleep number" type mattresses? [more inside]

I'm specifically looking at the Cerulean king-sized mattress from Comfortaire, the company that originally developed the adjustable air mattress. [A fellow from Comfortaire left to found Select Comfort, who sells the seemingly inferior Select Number beds at twice the price.] They cost the same as a quality traditional spring mattress, have a 20 year warranty, and seem to have nothing but rave reviews. We've discussed mattresses many, many times here, but never air mattresses. What say you?

posted by ewagoner to home & garden (3 comments total)

I say good.

We have the Cerulean queen-sized mattress from Comfortaire and have had it for a couple of years now. It was an upgrade from my firm IKEA mattress which my wife couldn't really use, as it really hurt her back.

No large complaints, but the only caveat is this.

You can't sit on the edge of the bed, ever. The edges are just foam and will collapse under any weight for a longish period of time. I've rotated the foam pieces around and this helps, but it's not perfect.

All told though, we are extremely happy with our purchase. We went to a Select Comfort store to try out the concept, and then bought the Comfortaire since it was much cheaper. It's a small inconvenience not to have a number to dial to, but it wasn't worth the several hundred dollars for a Select Comfort.
posted by hijinx at 7:50 AM on July 8, 2004

We had a select comfort and thankfully took advantage of its 30-day return period. It sucked, no pun intended. You can always feel the gaps between the air chamber and the foam and the air cushions just were not comfortable to us. It felt like a cheap gimmick, in our opinion. We got a kingsdown body system 2, and it's wonderful. YMMV.
posted by ulotrichous at 8:12 AM on July 8, 2004

Same experience with Select Comfort, except it also has edge issues... not to soft, but too hard. Plus, we have a king size and there is a plastic ridge in the middle- bleh. I much prefer a regular bed.

However, since you can break it down and fit it in a box they are nice if you live in an old house with a steep or twisty stairwell to the 2nd or 3rd floor (as I do).
posted by pissfactory at 12:30 PM on July 8, 2004