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I have chronically bad sleep, and I have reviewed a lot of sleep-related products over the years in a quest to improve the quality of my sleep.

A common problem for people that have a poor sleep is overheating. It can make it difficult to get to sleep, and it will often wake people up during the night as our bodies or sleep environment make heat regulation difficult.

The trend toward memory foam mattresses hasn’t helped as these have a tendency to trap in heat more than old-fashioned pocket spring mattresses. Many memory foam brands try and counter this problem with various solutions, including things like a gel layer which is supposed to regulate temperature.

You then have companies such as Nectar Sleep and Simba that have premium models with even more layers, most of which are designed to improve the breathability of the mattress and improve heat regulation.

In warmer weather, I personally rely on a pedestal fan and sleep with no sheets on me. They are cheap to buy and cheap to run. Some people, such as my partner, can’t sleep without a sheet on her, which makes the problem worse.

Air conditioning is an increasingly popular option, and many people resorted to buying portable air conditioning units during the recent heat wave even with the prospects of high running costs.

Air con might be the ultimate option for many, but there is a high upfront price, high running costs, and for a lot of UK windows, they are a nightmare to seal up properly, even with a sealing kit.

There is one other alternative option that is becoming increasingly popular. Active cooling for your bed.

There are various approaches to this problem, but it is essentially like an air con or a fan for your mattress. In theory, this should be a superior solution to air conditioning or a fan in your room. It stops heat from building up in the mattress itself, and it will regulate the temperature accordingly.

So what are the best options, and how what are the technologies used?

Passive Cooling Mattress Toppers

These are not actually what the post is about, but they are worth mentioning.

You typically have two opens, some sort of gel-infused memory foam where they use terms such as phase change. Basically, the gel is naturally cool and will absorb the heat, but once the heat is absorb, you are reliant on whatever ventilation the topper has, and memory foam is not naturally breathable.

The other option is to use a more natural product such as latex, wool, and features. These can be useful on top of a memory foam mattress and provide some breathability to the bed minimising the build-up of heat.

Active Bed Cooling System

Bed cooling system will use some sort of device to actively cool the bed. These will either be air or water cooled, and the price varies significantly depending on the complexity of this cooling.

BedJet AirComforter / Air Cooling System

The BedJet is fundamentally quite a simple product. It is a fan that has ducts that run into your bed under your sheets. You can use it in two ways, either blowing directly under your sheets or you can use the AirComforter Cloud Sheet.

The AirComforter Cloud Sheet is a top sheet with air flow chambers that allow the air to be circulated around the bed without the airflow bothering you.

The BedJet is basically just a fan, so it only moves around the air that is already in your room. I find that direct airflow on me is quite good at keeping me cool during a warm night, but the warmer it gets, the less effective it will be.

BedJet should improve ventilation and avoid the build-up of heat that your body generates, but it will always be the same ambient temperature as your room.

Chillisleep OOLER and ChilliPAD

The Chillisleep products are a water-based system which feeds water through a mattress topper.

This has several advantages because water is a better thermal conductor than air, allowing it to absorb your heat better. As the water absorbs the heat, the control unit can adjust its settings when it detects warmer water, and therefore the system should, in theory, be better at regulating the temperature.

However, it is still far from a perfect solution. Neither the OOLER and ChilliPAD devices have very powerful cooling systems to cool the water in hot weather. Users on Reddit indicate the performance reduces significantly once the ambient room temperature is at about 21°C.

The water also needs to run through pipes, and many users say that this can be felt underneath. I think this would be less annoying for me than having air blown on me.

Due to it using water, there is a certain amount of maintenance required that the Bedjet doesn’t need.

It is also reported that the Chillisleep devices have a louder operating noise than the BedJet. Noise in the bedroom is one of the contributing factors to poor sleep, so it is a bit counterproductive to have a loud cooler (though this will vary per person).

Eight Sleep Pod 3 Cover (and Pod 2)

The last option is the very experience Eight Sleep Pod covers. This is another liquid-based system, and they state that they use a custom-designed solid-state heating and cooling system that differs from the technology window air conditioners use. This allows us to have a much quieter, more efficient temperature regulation system.

The high price tag is justified due to the claim of superior and quieter cooling. It can also cool and heat both sides of the bed independently.

In the UK, there is only the Pod 3 cover, but in the US, you can get a proper mattress with a variety of cooling features built in.

The system is then complimented with a variety of smart features, including sleep tracking, temperature autopilot and digital coaching. My biggest gripe with his company is that they wall off these smart features with a £ 14-month subscription. You could be a sleep tracking mat for £120 then use that free of charge. You’d just miss out on the automatic temperatures.

Last update on 2024-03-29 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

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