Mattress Forum

oh wow, you used a thermometer?!  that's great, now i feel more confident celsion will actually save those few degrees at least.  & no worries if it doesn't even do that much, because $50 isn't too bad vs. the price of the topper itself & entire mattress setup. mine would be on a new spring mattress, which is going to be cool anyway obviously. but not only that- mainly i want to save its factory topmost layers (marvelux x 4 & m.f.) from getting dented/ as long as possible.

thanks for sharing your data sandman.

I would say that the Celsion is cooler to the touch as well.  That is my perception at least.  It is probably worth it vs. regular Talatech, since the price difference isn't that much.  It does cost a lot more than memory foam, so I want to test a bit more to make sure it is worth it.

What kind of mattress do you have?

At this point, I can't really reject the hypothesis that the talatech latex, the Celsion and the memory foam that I have are all the same heat wise.  Certainly the differences are quite small. The Celsion did record the lowest temperature by an insignificant amount.  My perception is that it is slightly better, maybe because it takes a little longer to heat up.  I can't really record a timeline, to be sure.  Folding it in half may also affect its ability to dissipate the heat out of one side.

It is also possible that measuring the temperature the way I am, does not capture the total aspect of heat build up.  Probably more temperature readings for different (more spread out) locations and different depths would be necessary to get a more accurate picture.  Alas, that is beyond my capabilities right now.  However, the aspect that does seem to bother me is the feeling of having a heat pad right below the midsection of my body.  I do think I am capturing that aspect pretty well, because that is the location where I am measuring.  I have demonstrated that the top layers of foam heat up from about 68-70 degrees to 90 degrees after a few hours.

I think I will put the Talatech layer on top again tonight to see how that compares with similiar room temperature.

I may try to measure dispersion by moving the temperature sensor to a different location.  It might be interesting to put it one layer lower as well to see how much that is heating up.

My conclusion seem to be that is probably much more important what is under the comort layer (air filled springs will probably disperse heat better than "solid" latex or foam).  Possibly what covers the comfort level is important as well (cotton vs. wool vs. polyester vs. whatever else). 

However, it seems like there has not been a lot of research on this, so I am just guessing.  One study I have seen says that innersprings disperse the heat better.  Based on my experience that seems to be the case.  However, it may have to be a firm innerspring, and it may be just the fact you are sinking in less.  

Right now the heat is not a huge issue for me (at least in the cooler weather), but I definitely would prefer less of it.  It mainly seems to bother me when I wake up after being in bed 2-3 hours.  It is possible I will wake up like that on any surface, so hard to say how much it is affecting me.  Worried what summer might bring though.

Anyway, I have to decide soon if I want to go back to try an innerspring.  It seem like that is the only potentially cooler solution (beside a water bed which is not in the cards for me).  I am leaning in that direction, but I am getting tired of having to keep dealing with this.  Hardest purchase of anything I have made in my life. 

I am not totally sure if an innerspring will solve my problem.  It is possible that the ones I have slept on the past have been cooler because they just had a thin layer of cheap low density padding.  So, they are not the most comfortable.  Upgrading to higher quality more dense foams might bring the heat issue right back.  Trial and error may be the only way to find out. 

I think you are right that there is a tradeoff between comfort and warmth.  A firm innerspring with minimal padding will be cooler, but not that comfortable.  I went and tried a few innerspring today, and I don't like them as much.   If I add more comfortable layers, latex or memory foam, I may be back to where I am right now heat wise.

The last few nights I wake up around 1-2am and feel a bit warm, but then I go back to sleep and I am fine.  Even with my old bed I would probably would wake up around the same time.  So, I am not sure if the innerspring will make much difference, except possibly in summer. 

I am going to add a thicker mattress pad this week to see if that changes things at all.  Also, there is something called a bedfan, which blows some air under the sheets to keep you cooler.  Sounds kind of weird, but it does work for some people.  In summer that might be something I could use.