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Tempur-Pedic is one of the original household names of the mattress industry. Brands don’t get much bigger than this, they’ve changed the face of mattress design more times than we can count.
On the other hand, we have Puffy, who is well known within the mattress industry – but compared to Tempur-Pedic, they’re strangers to the general public. This is slowly and steadily changing, however, and the amount of research and development Puffy have put into their advanced materials is taking the mattress world by storm.
Today we’re going to put one of the oldest and most famous brands in the mattress industry and put them against this new and disruptive brand who’s giving the old guard some pause for thought.
We’re going to review each brand layer by layer to see what you’re getting for your money. We’re also going to discuss firmness, cooling, and value for money before providing you with our overall recommendation about which product you should choose.
Let’s get started.
Similarities
- Both use custom made memory foam alternatives
- Both are exceptionally cool sleeping surfaces
- Both contour and provide adaptive support
Differences
- Tempur-Pedic’s products are at least $2,000 more expensive
- Some Tempur-Pedic products use coiled systems
- The Puffy only has 2 layers
Construction Comparison
To start this article off we’re going to be doing a construction comparison to see the similarities and differences between these two brands.
They both make hybrid mattresses, which means that they contain different materials layered on top of one another. This advanced kind of design pattern is commonplace in this day and age, and it allows products to be created that are much better than the sum of the raw materials inside them.
Puffy Construction
While the Puffy mattress is technically a hybrid product, it only just qualifies – as it only has two layers of material. This would normally be an issue, but the Puffy is not a normal mattress.
Comfort Cloud
The top layer of the Puffy is essentially 90% of what you’re paying for when you order their product. It’s made from a special material that Puffy spent over 4 years (and thousands of dollars) developing called Comfort Cloud.
Comfort Cloud has been designed to be a direct competitor to memory foam. It contains very similar contouring properties, but none of memory foam’s weaknesses.
For example, Comfort Cloud is naturally good at thermal regulation, which is one of the biggest problems many people have with memory foam.
The reason memory foam has such a bad reputation for overheating is because it’s made from lots of little pockets of air that allow it to shape itself the way it does. The air inside these pockets warms up throughout the night from body heat, and as the pockets of air are completely sealed – the air cannot escape.
This creates hotspots underneath the sleeper and results in an uncomfortably warm night’s sleep.
Comfort Cloud doesn’t use cell-based design, so it doesn’t have this issue. In fact, Comfort Cloud has been refined so much that it’s actually now one of the best naturally ventilated materials that are currently used in mattress design.
Puffy has added something else that’s extra special to this layer, it’s a clever kind of cooling gel called Cooling Cloud. Because Comfort Cloud is so effective at thermal regulation it aims for an optimal temperature instead of trying to be as cool as possible. The reason it does this is because if it worked at full capacity, it might actually be a little too cool for comfort.
This is a problem that memory foam mattresses could only dream of having…
The second main benefit that Comfort Cloud has over memory foam is its reaction time.
The little pockets of air we just mentioned in memory foam need a little bit of body heat to start the contouring process (as it makes the walls of each pocket of air softer). This is why it takes time for the mattress to shape to your body – it’s heat, not pressure that activates the full contouring effect.
Comfort Cloud, on the other hand, doesn’t use a cell-based system like memory foam, and as such, it needs almost no body heat to start the contouring of the material. From the moment you get into bed, you’ll have a perfectly adaptive supportive shape ingrained into the foam. This is a little luxury you’ll really enjoy if you’re coming over to Puffy from a memory foam product.
The only downside to Comfort Cloud is that it’s not quite as good at contouring as memory foam is. Once fully activated memory foam creates an indentation that’s a little more precise than Comfort Cloud – but quite honestly, the difference is negligible.
This is one of the most advanced and inventive materials that we’ve ever seen in mattress design. It took Puffy a long time and a lot of money to create it, but we’re glad they did. It’s excellent.
Support Layer
This bottom section of the Puffy mattress is incredibly boring when viewed alongside the advanced Comfort Cloud layer above. However, despite this, it still performs a job that the material above relies upon to do its job properly. It’s not flashy, and it’s not glamorous but the strong and stable base this 6-inch layer provides ensures that the hi-tech stuff above can do its job properly.
Pros And Cons
Pro
- Comfort Cloud material
- One of the coolest products on the market
- Very supportive
- Great contouring properties
- Very comfortable
- Instant activation of contouring
Con
- None really (compared to Tempur-Pedic at least)
Tempur-Pedic Construction
Tempur-Pedic have a range of mattresses on the market, but they’re all hybrid products. In this section we’re going to list some of the more interesting materials you’ll find inside their products.
Note: Not all of Tempur-Pedic’s mattresses will have all of the materials we’re about to talk about below.
Easy Refresh Top Cover
Every Tempur-Pedic product will come with their easy refresh top cover. It’s a machine washable cover that’s reasonably comfortable and quite soft. Most importantly it’s a breathable cover that’s going to allow hot air to escape the mattress and ventilate into the bedroom with as little resistance as possible.
Smart Climate System
This system consists of two layers that work hand in hand with one another to try and maintain optimal temperature. The top layer is a wicking layer that works tirelessly to draw any sweat that it comes into contact with away from the sleeper as quickly as possible. The second layer uses a system (that’s not dissimilar to cooling gel in memory foam) to distribute heat evenly and reduce hotspots.
Comfort Layer
It’s this layer that made Tempur-Pedic famous. It’s made from their custom memory foam alternative called Tempur, which has some pretty impressive properties.
In all honesty, there’s a lot of similarities between Tempur and Comfort Cloud.
For example, when you get into a bed made from Tempur it’s going to conform to your body shape almost instantly. It doesn’t require any heat to start the process and will support you as quickly as (or a little quicker than) Comfort Cloud.
One of the main differences between Comfort Cloud and Tempur concerns the contouring properties of the materials. Comfort Cloud is arguably slightly worse than memory foam (or about the same) in terms of contouring, but Tempur is slightly better.
Again like Comfort Cloud, Tempur is also much better than memory foam at staying cool – because it doesn’t use a cell-based design that relies on pockets of air. It’s a naturally breathable material that wants to spread the heat out instead of keeping it in one spot, which results in a super cool sleeping surface.
Response Layer
You won’t find this layer in all of Tempur-Pedic’s products and it’s made from a different kind of Tempur called Tempur-Response. By and large, it’s more or less the same as traditional Tempur, it contains all of the benefits we mentioned above. The main difference is that it’s a little more responsive than normal Tempur. This allows the mattress to give you a little push back when you lie down and move about on it (instead of you just sinking in like quicksand).
It’s a small difference, but it’s noticeable and enjoyable – especially if you’re coming from a pure memory foam product.
Dynamic Support Layer
This layer is only going to be found in some of Tempur-Pedic’s products. It’s a layer of individually wrapped coils that usually create the bulk of the support in the products the layer is included in.
These coils are at the cutting edge of sprung mattress design and should not be confused with old school innerspring products.
In an innerspring mattress all the coils are attached to one another, and when you press down on one coil all the coils around it will compress too. The shape of the impression that this creates in the layer is very “general” and doesn’t really represent your body shape well.
Independent coils, however, are completely separated from the coils next door to them. Press down on one and nothing will happen to the coil that’s next to it. This means that the shape that’s formed in the layer is a much closer representation of your body shape – and it’s much, much more supportive.
Support Layer
Most of Tempur-Pedic’s products that don’t have the dynamic support layer we mentioned above will have this support layer instead. It’s made from the same kind of original Tempur material as the first layer of Tempur that we talked about, it’s just much thicker.
Base Layer
All of Tempur-Pedic’s products will have the same base layer. It’s a high-density support foam that does nothing more than provide a strong and stable base for the softer layers above. It’s high quality, it’s going to stand the test of time, and it’s boring too…
Let’s move on.
Firmness Comparison
As Puffy only make one mattress they’ve made it a medium firm product (because this is the most popular firmness). It rates at 6.5 out of 10 on the firmness scale.
Tempur-Pedic have a range of products that come in a range of firmness levels. You can find soft, medium firm, and firm Tempur-Pedic mattresses to suit your tastes. The firmness of your mattress will decide which of the layers we talked about in the construction section you’ll find inside.
Price Comparison
Tempur-Pedic’s products are much more expensive than the Puffy. Even their cheapest product is more than double the cost.
Tempur Cloud Pricing (the cheapest Tempur-Pedic mattress)
- Twin – $3,099
- Twin XL – $2,749
- Full – $3,099
- Queen – $3,249
- King – $3,949
- California King – $3,949
Puffy Pricing
- Twin – $595
- Twin XL – $625
- Full – $795
- Queen – $950
- King – $1,150
- California King – $1,150
Which Bed Sleeps Cooler?
To be honest, we wouldn’t like to make a definitive statement on this.
Both Comfort Cloud and Tempur are incredibly cool materials that use the same kind of principles to stay cool throughout the night.
They’re two of the coolest sleeping surfaces in the world, regardless of price. Either will keep you as cool as you could possibly want to be.
Which Bed Would Be Best For A Side Sleeper?
Again, these are two excellent brands that will be perfect for side sleepers. One isn’t going to be specifically better for the sleeping position than the other.
They’re both super supportive, they both provide adaptive contouring, and they both relieve pressure.
Should I Buy A Puffy Or A Tempur-Pedic Bed?
You should buy the Puffy, there’s no question about it.
Tempur-Pedic makes excellent products that are built to stand the test of time. The mattress industry owes the brand a debt for the game-changing advancements they have made over the years.
But the Puffy provides excellent performance in all aspects that is as good as (or at least incredibly close to) the performance you’re going to get from a Tempur-Pedic product.
The biggest difference is that the Puffy is around $2,000 to $2,500 cheaper than the cheapest model Tempur-Pedic produce.
There’s nowhere near enough improvement over the Puffy that could be used to justify the additional cost of a Tempur-Pedic product.
Conclusion
So that’s what we think about Tempur-Pedic’s products and the Puffy mattress.
Two excellent brands that are going to give you one of the best night’s sleep on the market.
If money is no object, then maybe we’d recommend the Tempur-Pedic, although we think you’re going to be paying a huge amount of money purely because of the brand name.
But unless you’re a millionaire, get the Puffy.
Sweet dreams.
