Best Mattress

Best Mattress on Sunset Boulevard in St. George stocks mattresses, adjustable bases and bedding. Sleeping temperature is a bigger factor here than in most markets, and the material that most people are drawn to in a showroom is the one that handles heat least well.

The wider picture

Memory foam is viscoelastic, which is a temperature-dependent property. It softens as it warms and firms as it cools, which is why a foam mattress feels different on a summer night than on a winter one, and why a bed that felt right in an air-conditioned showroom can feel softer at home. The same closed-cell structure that produces the contouring also restricts airflow, so body heat accumulates at the sleeping surface rather than dissipating. In a valley where overnight lows in midsummer often stay warm, that is a practical problem rather than a marginal one.

Several constructions address it. Open-cell and gel-infused foams increase airflow and thermal mass respectively. Latex has a naturally more open structure and sleeps cooler than memory foam. Hybrids place foam comfort layers over a pocketed coil unit, and the air space within the coil layer allows convection the way a solid foam core cannot. Cover fabrics using phase-change materials absorb heat at the surface. Beyond the mattress, bedding does a great deal of the work - a mattress protector with a waterproof membrane traps heat effectively, and heavy synthetic bedding will defeat a cooling mattress entirely.

Related on the site: HVAC and air conditioning companies and the snowbird winter home guide. See every listing under Mattress Stores.

Nearby: Star Nursery - Sunset, Anasazi Steakhouse & Gallery, China Palace Chindo.