If you’re a hot sleeper who usually seeks relief by keeping a noisy fan running by the bed or by blasting your AC, a cooling bed might be a good alternative. Cooling mattresses can keep your body temperature more neutral throughout the night and lower your electric bill. Since false advertising is common when it comes to selling a “cooling bed” — some are just a cooling mattress topper or mattress pad with cooling gel and aren’t enough for hot sleepers — it can be hard to know if a mattress is actually going to help you feel cooler.
There’s also a big difference between a bed that won’t retain heat and a bed that actively tries to provide cooling relief. If you’re looking for maximum temperature regulation relief and overall cooler sleep, it’s important to be wary of certain marketing language. However, there are unicorn mattresses that physically feel cold or have breathable designs (or both), making them ideal for hot sleepers who want the best cooling mattress they can find.
I’ve seen all the types of ways mattress brands try to incorporate cooling technology into their beds, and some work better than others. After testing more than 100 different mattresses, I know what’s what on real cooling beds and I know which beds have “cooling properties” that probably won’t live up to the hype. Below I’ve listed the best coolest mattress options you can sleep on, from beds that are made of cooling material like gel-infused foam that is literally cold to the touch to ones that allow maximum airflow to minimize heat retention. I’ve also taken into consideration the fact that temperature regulation isn’t the only consideration when choosing a new mattress — some people want a firmer mattress, others want a softer mattress. Some people like innerspring beds, others want gel-infused memory foam. There are a lot of options out there and good sleep depends on finding the option that is best for you.
Whether you’re a dedicated side sleeper or stomach sleeper looking for the coolest mattress or a semi-hot sleeper who just wants some relief while you sleep, there is a mattress type out there — from a spring mattress to traditional memory foam — that’ll suit your exact needs. Here are my picks for the best cooling mattress.
All prices are for the queen size model of the mattress at the time of publishing. Prices are subject to change.
Read more: Best full mattresses in 2021
Purple
Are you up for a mattress unlike anything you’ve slept on before? The people at Purple found a way to revolutionize the traditional mattress design into something much more durable, supportive and breathable. The Purple Hybrid 2 incorporates the brand’s one-of-a-kind Hyper-Elastic Polymer and pocketed coils into a 12-inch mattress that naturally regulates temperature like no other mattress.
The top layer is a squishy, soft, gridlike material that’s unique to the Purple brand. The square spaces offer up a ton of airflow, while the pocketed coils also allow air to pass through for more breathability. The Purple cooling mattress won’t feel cold to the touch like the GhostBed Luxe or TempurAdapt, but its temperature-regulating cooling technology abilities are almost unmatched.
I think it feels medium-firm, or around a seven out of 10 on the firmness scale. This Purple mattress is best for back and stomach sleepers, but I think it would also work for side sleepers if they weigh over 230 pounds. If you want something a tad softer, you can also check out the Purple Hybrid Premier mattresses.
Feel-wise, the Purple hybrid mattress is bouncy and springs back to its normal shape right when you release pressure. Though you or your kids shouldn’t be jumping on the bed, your tykes could get some serious air doing so. At the same time, it makes you feel weightless and takes pressure off common pain points like your hips and shoulders. The Purple Hybrid is perfect for all body types thanks to its supportive hybrid design.
A twin size Purple Hybrid mattress retails for $1,399. Prices go up to $2,798 for a split king.
Read our Purple Hybrid review.
Brooklyn Bedding
If you’re a hot sleeper who favors your side during the night, you need to find a bed that checks two boxes: It should be soft enough to relieve pressure points, and it should contain some kind of temperature-regulating abilities.
The Aurora is about 12.5 inches thick and is stacked with five different layers. The foundation is a hefty 8-inch system of pocketed coils, and the top comfort layer is made with Brooklyn Bedding’s special CopperFlex foam. It’s supposed to help absorb your body heat and draw it away from you. The real cooling power, I believe, comes from its cooling Euro-top cover. It’s plush, fluffy and, like the one on GhostBed Luxe, it physically feels cold when you touch it.
The company says it’ll bring your body temperature down to 88 degrees. I’m not sure how true and consistent that is for every sleeper, but the mattress does effectively help you sleep cooler and more comfortably during the night.
The Brooklyn Bedding Aurora is available in three different firmness profiles, two of which are plush. Petite side sleepers who want an extra soft mattress should consider the Soft option; lightweight to average-weighted side sleepers will be just fine on the Medium model.
This mattress feels soft like memory foam, but much bouncier and more breathable. And keep in mind, the softer the mattress model, the more you’ll sink into it. But you definitely don’t get that deep hugging feel that the memory foam mattress type can give you.
GhostBed
When you sleep next to someone else, especially another hot sleeper or a big fluffy animal, you’re more likely to warm up, due to the added body heat. GhostBed Luxe is a great cooling mattress for couples (or wookiee owners) because it offers a medium profile around a five on the firmness scale that accommodates all different sleeping positions. That means you and your significant other can sleep in different positions (combination and side, for example) and still be perfectly comfortable.
I typically sleep on my stomach, while my partner sleeps on his side, and GhostBed Luxe offers an ideal harmony between pressure relief and support. It has an all-foam construction, but its extra thick 13-inch construction makes it a more supportive foam mattress than many of the other options out there, like the Nectar mattress and Casper Original.
One of the best parts about this bed is its cooling tech. The cover is infused with half an inch of cooling fiber, which makes the bed feel cold when you lie down. Seriously, right away you can tell GhostBed Luxe is designed to be cool.
GhostBed also added a layer of “Ghost Ice” cooling technology on top of the memory foam layer. This comfort layer is supposed to absorb your body heat and disperse it evenly throughout the bed. Memory foam beds have been called out before for retaining heat, but the GhostBed Luxe absolutely isn’t guilty of that.
The brand says it’s the coolest bed in the world. That’s an assertion I’m not fully prepared to back, but I can say it’s a seriously cooling mattress, and one of the coolest I’ve ever tested.
Prices start at $995 for a twin and go up to $1,925 for a California king.
Cocoon by Sealy
Some hot sleepers don’t want to drop more than $1,500 on a new mattress. Luckily there are budget-friendly options that’re effective at keeping your body temperature down while you sleep. Cocoon Chill comes in either a 12-inch hybrid or 10-inch all-foam model, but I recommend the hybrid, since it promotes more airflow than the foam Cocoon Chill.
Regardless of the construction you go with, these memory foam beds will come fitted with a phase-change cooling cover. Right when you lay on the top of the bed you can feel its cooling relief against your backside. It’s effective, considering how much you’re paying for this mattress.
I’d rate it somewhere between medium and medium-firm, or around a six out of 10 on the firmness scale. I don’t get a ton of pressure relief when I sleep on my side, but the memory foam does help bring a more contouring, hugging feel. That said, this bed is best for back and stomach sleepers, combination sleepers and some side sleepers. Most people will be happy with this bed, just as long as you don’t want a plush mattress.
Cocoon Chill is the cheapest cooling bed on this list. A twin size retails for $730 and prices go up to $1,310 for a California king.
TempurPedic
We just went over the best budget cooling mattress, so it’s only right I also give you a luxury-tier option. TempurPedic is a household name and one of the most popular bedding brands in the world. The TempurAdapt line includes three mattresses that are equipped with cooling covers.
My favorite is the ProAdapt, because you can choose from three foam mattress firmness levels, meaning you can properly accommodate your sleeper type, and the mattress is amazingly cool. You can also choose whether you want a hybrid or foam construction, allowing you to choose how supportive you want your TempurPedic mattress to be.
The cover feels icy and the memory foam inside doesn’t retain heat like the old TempurPedic mattresses from back in the day did. The brand also offers Breeze model cooling beds, but they’re super expensive. I think you can get cooling relief with this mattress while saving money by choosing this mattress type over TempurPedic’s premium models.
You can even go with the base TempurAdapt model to save the most money. It offers a cooling cover with the same dense memory-foam feel as the other beds, which hug your body as you sink into the layers, but it’s more affordable.
The ProAdapt is the company’s most popular model. Prices start at $2,499 for a twin and go up to $4,998 for a split California king.
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The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.