Do waterbeds feel cooler to sleep on than a regular spring coil mattress with no water in it?

Question

I'm trying to save money on air conditioning.

Answer 1

Yes, I successfully enjoyed a waterbed for many years without having to resort to AC in order to be able to sleep at night.  

I have both used a heater to adjust the temp of the bed closer to body temp and not used one when I had my first waterbed.

This works because the waterbed acts like a "heat sink"  There is a large mass of water in the bed.  This water takes a long time to heat up towards daytime temperatures when night temperatures are significantly lower.  Even if the bed were to rise to around 90 deg (as with a heater) it is still a large mass that is colder than your body so it tends to drain the heat away.  (so the concern about hypothermia)

The way to buffer this effect is with insulation.  You can get comfortable in the bed,without a heater, by adding insulation.  For me it took the form of a foam pad and later a burn pad (looks like a shag carpet) and a comforter under the bottem sheet to insulate you from the cool mass below.  I found that I only needed to adjust the "insulation" by season and not by the weather.  

A reg. bed has lots of insulating material that is intended to add to your comfort.  While they enable air to get under you while you sleep, too often it just feels hot.

Before you make the investment make sure you can put up with it.  A heavy sleeper might find it easier to deal with the unusual feel of the bed.  You can find them set up in some stores check em out.  Enjoy.

Answer 2

Cooler to sleep on, yes.  But during the colder months, you'll need to run the heater to be able to use it and they burn a fair amount of electricity.

Try using a window fan to pull in cooler air at night.

Answer 3

yes eapecially if you do not have or do not use he heater in it!!  i slept on one for a while without a heater and froze!!!!!!!!

Answer 4

If you don't use the heater you risk hypothermia.  So it comes down to spending money using the AC (and use it properly) or spending money to heat and maintain the water in the bed.

A tip for AC use.  On a cooler day, or on a cool night, leave the windows closed and turn the AC up or off.  The AC removes latent heat (moisture) as well as sensible heat from the air.  It takes a good AC 24 to 48 hours to remove the moisture in the house.  And it takes 1 hour of opened windows to undo the AC's work.

Answer 5

depends on your body temperature