You might be trying to decide what the best gel memory foam mattress on the market is. Gel memory foam burst onto the market in late 2011 to much fanfare as it was touted for being the answer to memory foam’s main drawback – heat retention.
The influx of product offerings has left many consumers scratching their heads and wondering what the best gel memory foam mattress to buy is. With the gel models’ lackluster improvement in heat retention, maybe a better question is: what is the best cooling memory foam to buy?
Many people would probably answer that question with Tempurpedic or Serta. These brands are very well known from their many advertisements, but a brand’s notoriety is not a true indication of their quality.
When shopping for a good memory foam mattress, you should consider the actual attributes of the products you’re considering, not the infamy of the company who makes them. In other words, the tangible benefits offered to the users of Tempurpedic and Serta gel memory foam mattresses may very well not be better than other brands that eschew high-dollar advertising campaigns so associated costs are not passed on to the customer.
What are Gel Memory Foam Mattresses?
Not all memory foam mattresses are created equally. In fact, there are several types of gel memory foam mattresses. These mattresses are much like their traditional memory foam counterparts, with gel added. This gel can be added directly into the foam or by adding gel pads. The gel is added to help reduce the amount of heat felt by the person resting atop the mattress, which is a common complaint for traditional memory foam.
Like traditional memory foam mattresses, these newer gel-infused models offer a higher level of comfort than innerspring mattresses. Using gel, manufacturers have reduced complaints of heat slightly, but they still have some room to improve.
Gel memory foam mattresses have many of the same problems traditional memory foams have. Since often they are simply a foam mattress with gel added, customers have the same complaints of off-gassing and odors as with traditional foams.
What’s the Best Gel Memory Foam Mattress to Buy?
Serta iComfort gel memory foam mattresses typically range from about $1,000 for entry level offerings and escalate dramatically to $4,000 or more for their highest end models. Those prices have proven prohibitively costly for many customers and customer complaints indicate the mattresses are still retaining heat. No need to fret, there are loads of great options available to fit a smaller budget.
Bed in a Box has a line of gel-infused memory foam mattresses. These mattresses range from $500 to $2,900 for a queen. Overall, Bed in a Box receives pretty decent reviews, but about 15% of consumers report significant initial odor and off gassing, according to SleepLikeTheDead.com. Bed in a Box only has about 20 retailers across 12 states, so availability could be an issue if you’re not located near one. Heat is also still an issue with 6 percent of customers complaining the bed is a heat trap.
Simmons ComforPedic gel mattresses ted to receive lower customer satisfaction rates than Bed in a Box and you’ll pay a little more, too. Their gel memory foam mattresses are priced from $900 to $3,000 and tend to weigh much more than their competitors’. About 9 percent of Comforpedic customers complain about excessive heat, which is higher than average memory foams. Availability is increasingly becoming an issue with ComforPedic, too. Retailers have been carrying them less and less over the recent years.
Another competitor is the Sealy Optimum line, which has above average comfort feedback. Moderately priced at $860 to $3,100, longevity seems to be an issue with this line. Sealy hasn’t completely overcome the heat trap issue, here either. Optimum mattresses rate no better than average mattresses in heat retention. These mattresses are heavy, but they have great motion isolation. You won’t feel the movements of the person next to you much.
Potential Alternatives to Gel Memory Foam Mattresses
Gel mattresses were designed to counter heat retention that is associated with standard memory foam mattresses by lowering temperatures so users can sleep more comfortably. But a two-year Cargill study showed the better consumer option in terms of coolness came in the form of green memory foam. In the study, a plant-based blend was shown to sleep 25 percent cooler than gel memory foam.
One brand in this category is Amerisleep, which offers a range of plant-based eco-friendly memory foam mattresses that are fairly priced from under $650 to just over of $2,000 for the top of the line. With their products, customers do not have to worry about compromising quality or comfort for affordability. Amerisleep has built a reputation for using the highest quality materials available in its plant-based memory foam mattresses. These mattresses last a long time and customers rarely complain of heat retention with them. Each mattresses has a 20 year warranty, also.
Another reason green memory foam mattresses are the best option to buy comes in the guilt-free peace of mind that is associated with use of their plant-based blend that is more friendly to the environment as well as users’ health. That means you’ll also not have to deal with the chemical off-gassing that accompanies initial use of standard polyurethane-based memory foam mattresses like those sold by Tempurpedic and Serta.
People who feel traditional memory foam mattresses are too hot to sleep in may not find what they are looking for in gel foam mattresses. Most gel models still receive complaints about heat issues, though often less than similar traditional memory foam mattresses which don’t contain gel. Shoppers looking for the best value are likely to be more pleased with the cost and performance of a plant-based memory foam mattress according to reviews.
Take all these factors and your personal preferences into account when considering a new mattress. Lives often improve with better sleep, so don’t take this decision lightly. Make a purchase you can feel good about and sleep well on.