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danleininger · 03-06-2015, 07:46 PM

The other day I was changing the sheet and decided to look at what makes a Sleep Number Bed work...and I decided to take a few photos for those who have never unzipped the cover.

First picture is the standard cover of the Sleep Number bed. It's pretty nice and thick and it unzips easily (after you find the zipper)

Then the second picture is with the cover pulled back. There's a layer of foam that is 2" to 2-1/2" thick. Nothing really significant with the foam.

The third picture is of the Air chambers. On our RV King there are two independent chambers. What surprised me was the simplicity of the system. They use foam to form the perimeter structure and a foam piece to between the two air chambers??? Personally I would rather have larger air chambers with no or minimal foam between the air chambers.

In the fourth picture I have lifted the Air Chamber and to my surprise there was only a thin piece of cloth underneath the Air Chambers. Structurally speaking the perimeter foam and the outer covering is the only structure around the air chambers. Actually, for all the hype and expense of these Sleep Number mattresses there's not rally a lot to them...other than a HUGE profit margin!

But here's my real question...

Has anyone replaced the foam with a nice Temperpedic type foam topper? I'm kinda thinking that this would be a really nice upgrade that's not that expensive.

What's your thoughts?

BTW, I generally like the Sleep Number, I was generally surprised at it's simplicity.

Lastly, I never got into the air pump as that required removing lots of "stuff" from under the bed and unscrewing the cover. Maybe next time???

bokobird · 03-06-2015, 08:01 PM

I went to a SN store and they showed me all the various models they sell. As you go up the model line, those are the areas they change - the padding and stuff. The basic air mattress is the same. What surprised me is how pricey the high-end is, over 4 figures...

siggyd · 03-06-2015, 09:20 PM

I have the Sleep # bed,.........it's.....ok , but I do not want to brag about it ! You are right ON !
Siggy

stoners · 03-06-2015, 09:25 PM

We have owned SN beds in the S&B's for years. We have the top level king. We haven't replaced the interior foam but we have added a 4" Martha Stewart foam and batting topper.

We now do that with all our beds including the king bed in our coach.

nothermark · 03-06-2015, 09:41 PM

Added a foam topper to a lower end sleep number with good results. IF you do a self install you get to put it all together so no surprise here.

FWIW If you price the material content those units are not cheap to build. OTOH anything that has mall stores for demo's has high overhead costs. I don't think anybody in the food chain is making undue profits but I do think there is an excess of hidden costs.

denlock · 03-07-2015, 06:51 AM

We looked at a SN for the king size bed in our SB house. I'm glad I was laying down when he told us the price.

spinn · 03-07-2015, 08:55 AM

Dan we bought the SN are were not overly impressed with the comfort. We added a mattress topper (Sheex) that we purchased from Bed Bath& Beyond. It was not inexpensive ($400) but what a difference!

FlyingDiver · 03-07-2015, 11:37 AM

The reason for the foam between the air chambers is to help isolate them from each other. That reduces the amount of movement transmitted from one sleeper to the other. That's really important for us.

If you get Temperpedic type foam about the same thickness as the egg crate stuff that's in there, then you should have no problems swapping them out. Just be aware that if you winterize your coach, you'll need to make sure it's up to normal temps for a couple days before trying to use the bed. That Temperpedic stuff gets rock hard at low temps and takes a while to warm up.

millerj · 03-07-2015, 11:43 AM

We have had to replace ours once already inside the first year of ownership. Thankfully Newmar took care of this for us. Would not buy one on my own since I agree with the original poster who shows there is not much to them for the money they get. I suppose they need to charge this much in order to advertise on tv as much as they do.

danleininger · 03-07-2015, 01:53 PM

Thanks everybody...great input! Looks like I'm looking for a 2+ inch topper to replace the existing egg crate foam!

spinn · 03-07-2015, 07:00 PM

Dan, the Sheex is 3" memory foam plus a gel layer. Only real issue is that our bed now needs a step to get into and the side tables are a couple of inches below the bed 😃

KarenS144 · 03-08-2015, 07:52 AM

I've also been looking for something to make the SN in the coach more comfortable. We love our SN in the S&B but the mattress in the coach is not high on the comfort scale.

I haven't dissected the mattress yet so I'm not sure what depth of mattress pad it has but I'd be surprised if it had one at all! I guess it must but it can't be very deep or dense. I'm not sure replacing it with the same thickness would be much better so I'm looking at a topper that goes over the mattress. We did the memory foam pad on another bed in another coach and it was hot and soon had the memory of where we slept. We had to wallow around to get out of it!

We like the sleep number idea because I like a firm mattress and Gary likes a softer mattress. My back hurts on a soft mattress and Gary's shoulder hurts on a firm one. I like to sleep cool and Gary can sleep just fine on a stove. We have to share a bed because the boxers have the couch!

I'm looking at this one: Sleep Innovations 4-Inch Dual Layer Mattress Topper

Spinn, does the Sheex stay cool and maintain it's shape?

So... are there any suggestions as to a quality topper that doesn't get hot nor "remember" and retain the shape of one's body?

Luckiest Dreamer · 03-08-2015, 08:20 AM

Winnebago put that type of Mattress in ours (another brand) The construction is the same, two air bladders inside a foam frame with a zipped in foam topper and two controllers. WE bring the air setting to 50 (the high setting) each morning and by bed time it will one day be at 50 yet and another day it may be at 30. Both of us now attempt to keep it at 50 but we wake up with it down from a few lbs to as much as 20. The next day the #'s will be entirely different. At times still at 50. Our conclusion was to buy a 3" topper and whenever we climb into bed or out we reach for the controller and hit Hi! Checking for leaks is a joke because it never shows. When I head for bed my dream is to replace it with a mattress instead of a "Bag"

spinn · 03-08-2015, 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KarenS144

.....

Spinn, does the Sheex stay cool and maintain it's shape?

So... are there any suggestions as to a quality topper that doesn't get hot nor "remember" and retain the shape of one's body?

Yes it has kept it shape and is reasonably cool. We did have to take an electric carving knife to it in order to make it match the narrower width of an rv king