Over the summer I partnered with Sleep Number and helped bring information about Sleep Number Mattresses to twitter, including a fun mattress giveaway. Now, several months later, I am back to share my personal experience with the Sleep Number i8 bed we are currently sleeping on. Now over the years throughout our marriage, we have had many mattresses.
From an $800 Serta pillowtop to a $4200 Temperpedic and even a $7000 iComfort Revolution (Savant), there have been pluses and minuses of each brand. And while my husband and I each have a preference that changes sometimes from night to night. The years we had the Tempur-Pedic (Which my daughter has in her room) were some of the most miserable sleep years of my life while my husband loved the firmness. And that is the way it goes- couples do not always agree on sleep which makes it super hard to get a good nights sleep. Neither person should have to sacrifice to get to sleep at night and Sleep Number is a unique mattress in that they don’t require either party to sacrifice the softness or firmness to get to sleep.
Sleep Number i8 Bed Review
Is Sleep Number Right for You?
Mattresses are one of the largest purchases a household can make.
Before you Buy a Mattress
Size: you may only have a double now but with the expense of a mattress, consider if the size of the mattress is the size you want to be in long term. We started out on a queen but chose to upgrade to a King about 5 years ago and its been the best decision I could have made. I did have to invest in a new bed frame, but having that extra space at night is amazing
Health concerns: My husband has arthritis so finding the right mattress to help his knees and back is priority #1
Return: Understand trial periods and returns should the mattress not work out. Some are short and some are a long period- (Sleep Number Return Policy)
Understand the TYPE of mattress you are purchasing: Is it coils? Memory foam? Air?
Cost: everyone has a budget and it helps to know yours before you start shopping. Mattresses are often expensive purchases, even if not done often, so expect to spend a little more up front
Warranty– Know the warranty of the company and what is covered under that. From bed sagging to parts coming apart, its better to understand up front if you need to register and what type of paperwork you need to have in place should you need a warranty (Sleep Number warranty located here)
Sleep Number Mattress Options
Depending on your personal needs, there are many choices in the mattress you can choose.
- Classic Series: Adjustable firmness, comfortably priced
- Performance Series: Softness and more proper alignment
- Memory Foam Series: Memory foam that cools and contours and adjusts
- Innovation Series: includes the i8 Temperature balancing innovation
- Kids Series
Purchase, Delivery and Set up of the i8 mattress
The first thing I did was go into our local Sleep Number store. I have not been in there in years and the people working in our Mobile, Al store were very friendly and knowledgeable. They explained what made the i8 special and tried to find my “number.” Keep in mind when you go into a store you are likely not tired and testing out the mattress is very limited. In the store I was most comfortable at setting 25, however, at home, my setting is actually between a 65-75.
Sleep Number Reviews
At the time of purchase, I was told that someone from delivery would call me to set up a date. I assumed it would be in the next few days that a date would be set. They actually didn’t even call for several weeks and then set up a date for a few weeks from that period. My only feedback here is that I would have been more comfortable with them calling quicker to set up a date as I started to wonder if they forgot about me. Even if the date for delivery was far out, it would have been nice to not be waiting that long for the first call.
Delivery was pretty good. The guys that delivered were polite and respectful. What I didn’t anticipate was that they would be building the bed in my home. That’s right…because its air, its built in your home. The bed parts all came in in boxes and they assembled it layer by layer right in my bedroom. It was actually really fascinating to watch the process.
SleepIQ Sleep Number Review
The line of Innovation mattresses come with SleepIQ. According to Sleep Number “The Sleep Number® bed is the only bed that lets you track and optimize your sleep with SleepIQ™technology. Sensors work directly with Sleep Number® DualAir™ technology inside the Sleep Number® bed to measure your average breathing rate, heart rate and movement to track how you’re sleeping.”
In short, SleepIQ tracks your sleep and sends it online so you can monitor how well you slept. The great thing about that is the knowledge of your sleep, whether great or restless, can assist you in finding the right Sleep Number number for the best sleep. The problem with SleepIQ my home is that even after TWO HOURS of set up, Sleep Number delivery could not get it set up. Even after calling into their customer service, for whatever reason, the bed would not connect to the modem. They had us reset it, use a USB port download to compute rand drag files (incidentally the average person would not know how to do all that and I was able to do it, but in general I thought it would be weird to let someone on your computer), take a band off our dual band modem (again, not something the average person would know how to do), we tried tons of things.
The main issue I had with all this was at the end I was told that only specific modems can work with SleepIQ. I do not want to be required to buy an additional modem to get the bed to work. My modem just over a year old and is a high-grade modem as I work from home. Our devices and other items (even our fridge) connected easily but the bed would not. After two hours of the delivery guy here trying to connect it, I finally told him not to worry about it. Since I was with him while trying to set it up, I have tried to do it again myself a few times to no avail. I wish I could give you feedback on this but the only feedback I can give you is that it wouldn’t set up properly.
Warranty
Sleep Number has a 25 year limited warranty. You can read all that it entails and coverage information in detail by going here.
Adjustability
Sleep Number also has adjustable bases. I personally love an adjustable base because the bed is used often for so much more than sleeping. We like to do work, homework and watch TV, so it’s nice to sit up comfortably. They can also help with snoring and sinus issues. My family does have an adjustable base and you can read more about them here.
- FlexFit™ 1 Adjustable Base – Raise the head of your bed
- FlexFit™ 2 Adjustable Base – Float into the weightless feeling of zero gravity , Gently raise your partner�s head to reduce snoring; available on FlexTop® King and Split King Mattresses
- FlexFit™ 3 Adjustable Base – Endless adjustability . Includes all the features of the FlexFit 2 plus:
- Soothe tired muscles with the massage feature
- Control under-bed and night stand lighting
1-month review of i8 bed
We have had the bed set up about a month.
I have tested out a few different numbers on the bed and seem to be most comfortable on a higher setting than I originally anticipated. We are coming from an iComfort Savant/Revolution and I can tell you that my back has had fewer pressure points and cracks since the change to Sleep Number. Overall I feel like, as of right now, I am getting quality sleep. My husband is still undecided. I love the fact that the bed has a dual chamber as we often do not agree on a bed firmness, so this gives us each a chance to be responsible for our own nights sleep. The air increase and decrease can be a bit noisy when you change your setting, so it’s best to do that NOT in the middle of the night.
While I am a light sleeper and any movement my spouse makes will wake me up, I can’t feel him move in the bed as much with this mattress. Unfortunately it’s been too short of a time to give you a solid answer so I won’t do either one of us a disservice by laying on the praise, but I’ll be back in December to update after 6 months on the bed how we are both feeling.
To learn more about Sleep Number please visit them at Sleep Number here or on FB here.
You covered some great points. I am in the market for a new bed and thw entire process can be overwhelming. Thank you for such a thorough review.