Are you tired of waking up with aches, stiff muscles, and that all-too-familiar morning groan as you struggle to get out of bed? Traditional flat mattresses are a one-size-fits-all solution that ignore the unique ways your body needs support and comfort. Night after night, you toss and turn, propping pillows, shifting positions, and desperately seeking that elusive perfect sleeping posture – only to wake up feeling more exhausted than when you went to bed.
Imagine a sleep solution that adapts to you, not vice versa. A bed that can elevate your head to reduce snoring, lift your legs to improve circulation, and provide customized support for your specific body's needs. This isn't a luxury reserved for hospital rooms anymore. Today, you can turn many standard mattresses into adjustable beds by upgrading the foundation to an adjustable power base.
Adjustable beds seem too good to be true. They have clear benefits if you're suffering from chronic conditions. They can help with lower back pain, sciatica, diabetes, and GERD, which we cover in detail below. But is an adjustable bed frame still worth it if you don't have a chronic condition? The truth is that every sleeper can benefit from using an adjustable bed!
As seasoned sleep experts, we’ve dedicated countless hours to researching and testing adjustable beds. In this comprehensive guide, we'll talk all about what adjustable bed bases are. Then we will explore their features, benefits, and how to buy the best one for you. We'll even suggest the best adjustable beds depending on your criteria. This way, you can decide whether to invest in an adjustable frame.
This article will discuss:
- What Is an Adjustable Bed?
- Are They Worth It?
- How Do You Choose an Adjustable Bed?
- Expert Tested – Best Brands & Models
- Frequently Asked Questions
Ready to start shopping? Check out our selection of adjustable bases online, or visit a Slumberland store to try one in person.
What Is an Adjustable Bed? How Do They Work?
Chances are if you are reading this article, you know what an adjustable bed is. However, we believe it is worth defining them and their purpose again before suggesting the best models.
Most customers put their mattresses on a flat foundation. This foundation helps support your mattress, which in turn supports you. Instead of using a stationary, non-mechanical foundation, you can switch to an adjustable one.
An adjustable bed is a versatile sleep solution equipped with a motorized base. It allows you to customize your sleeping experience by adjusting the head and foot sections to your preferred positions. This personalized comfort can significantly enhance your sleep quality and well-being.
There are two main types of adjustable beds:
- Ones that only move your upper body (your head)
- Ones that move your upper and lower body (your head and feet)
Within that second category, there's a lot of variety. There are adjustable bases with an extra lumbar bar for support or a neck tilt that's great for watching movies in bed. There are also ones with massage features to help relax muscles and increase blood flow.
Are Adjustable Beds Worth the Investment? And… Why Should You Choose One?
The Verdict: Absolutely, adjustable beds are worth it… if they are within budget!
Adjustable beds offer many benefits that significantly enhance your sleep quality and well-being. Here's why they're worth the investment:
- Personalized Comfort: Adjust the head and foot sections to find your ideal sleeping position. This alleviates pain and discomfort.
- Improved Health: Reduce snoring, acid reflux, and respiratory issues. Promote better blood circulation and reduce back pain.
- Enhanced Functionality: Enjoy added features like massage, reading lights, and USB charging ports. They are more convenient and comfortable.
- Long-Term Investment: Adjustable beds are a durable investment. They provide years of personalized comfort and support.
What do doctors say about adjustable beds? While adjustable beds may have a slightly higher initial cost compared to traditional beds, their benefits far outweigh the investment. By prioritizing your sleep and comfort, you're investing in your health and well-being. Especially if you have trouble getting out of bed or have sleep issues, an adjustable bed is a great solution!
Doctors often recommend adjustable beds for people with fibromyalgia, arthritis, heartburn, GERD, diabetes, insomnia, sleep apnea, and restless leg syndrome.
How Do You Buy the Best Adjustable Bed for You?
An adjustable bed is an investment that can change your life. When you sleep better, you feel better and perform better. There are just a few things to keep in mind as you prepare to upgrade to an Adjustable Lifestyle Power Base.
1. Choose Your Mattress First
Adjustable bases pair with a variety of mattresses, including memory foam, latex, and even some traditional coil mattresses. Be sure to find the mattress that will best suit your body type and sleeping style prior to choosing an adjustable base. Read our mattress buying guide for help.
2. Test the Bed
It is important to test the adjustable base before making a purchase. Each model offers different capabilities. Talk with a salesperson to find the right one to suit your needs. You’ll also want to make sure the base does not emit any squeaking or other noises during movement.
3. Purchase from a Reputable Company
The more bells and whistles a product has, the more that can break. At Slumberland, we only carry adjustable bases from reputable companies such as Tempur-Pedic that are durable and long lasting. Do your research and make sure the base you are considering is made from heavy steel and the rollers from an indestructible material such as metal or nylon.
4. Read the Warranty
Make sure you understand the product warranty before purchasing an adjustable base. The warranty should be comprehensive and offer technical support for at least one year. Don’t assume the warranty covers everything. An adjustable bed has a lot of moving parts—they may not all be covered under the warranty. Ask your salesperson to spell it out.
5. Consider Extra Features
When shopping for an adjustable base, determine which features you’d like in a bed. You can find extra features like custom positions, under-bed lighting, massage, USB ports, wall-hugging technology, app or remote control, sleep tracking, and more.
Each Slumberland has in-store Sleep Solutions departments. You can test different adjustable beds in person to decide the features you want.
If you're also buying a new mattress, most mattress companies have adjustable beds that match their mattresses. For example, if you're buying a Tempur-Pedic mattress, we would pair it with a Tempur-Pedic adjustable bed base, like the Smart Base or Ergo 3.0 Base. Or if you are buying Purple, go for a Purple Adjustable Base.
Expert Tested - Top Adjustable Bed Brands and Models
Best Overall Adjustable Bed Pick: Tranquility Base
The Tranquility Base is an unbeatable combo of value and features. It has all you need in an adjustable base at a price you really can’t beat!
This compact and versatile base offers adjustable head and foot positions. Easily switch between flat, memory, and other settings with a wireless remote. A built-in flashlight illuminates the remote for nighttime adjustments. The optional headboard brackets allow for a customized look. The durable plywood support deck ensures long-lasting performance. You can even save preferred settings on the programmable remote. The zero-clearance design enables integration with a platform or pedestal bed.
Features:
- Folding compact design
- Easy head and foot adjustment
- Wireless remote with memory position
- Flashlight on remote
- Standard 3N1 legs
- Optional headboard brackets
- Plywood support deck
- Zero-gravity position
- Zero clearance
Available Sizes: Twin, Twin XL, Full, Queen, Split King, King, California King
Dimensions: 59w 79d 4.50h inches
Warranty: 20-year limited warranty
Best Value Adjustable Bed Pick: Tranquility Base
For the best value pick, our experts must recommend the Tranquility Base again (detailed above)! For the price of $699 for a queen, it has all the features you look for in an adjustable base at an unbeatable price! It is no wonder this base is a customer favorite!
Best Adjustable Base Pick for Advanced Features: Remedy Power Base
We recommend the Remedy Power Base when people want a few more features without spending thousands more. It gives you anything you need with anti-snore, massage, USB ports, under-bed lighting, adjustable lumbar support, and pillow tilt features. The included Bluetooth app keeps it easy.
Features:
- Wireless remote with one-touch buttons
- Multiple memory positions with automatic pillow tilt
- Adjustable massage and lumbar support
- USB and USB-C charging ports
- Motion LED under-bed lighting
- 3-in-1 adjustable legs
- Bluetooth app
Available Sizes: Twin, Twin XL, Full, Queen, Split King, King, California King
Dimensions: 59w 79d 4h inches
Warranty: 5/20-year limited warranty
Best Adjustable Bed and Mattress Bundle: Tempur-Pedic Pro-Adapt Medium Mattress and Ergo 3 Power Base
This choice is a no-brainer for our sleep experts. When you buy a Tempur-Pedic mattress with a power base, you get a $300 voucher to spend anywhere in-store! Tempur-Pedic is not for everyone, so we recommend you try it in person. But everyone we recommend the Pro-Adapt Medium mattress to come back happy. It provides body-conforming support, cooling capabilities, advanced pressure relief, and no motion transfer. The Pro-Adapt also comes in firm or soft if your preferences differ.
The Ergo 3 Power Base is affordable, available in all sizes, and has all the extra features. It includes adjustable lumbar support, giving your back extra support if you are lying flat or sitting up. An unlimited range of positions for the head and feet gives you unmatched pressure relief. The Zero Gravity preset elevates your head and feet to simulate weightlessness and take pressure off your back. Its massage with three levels of intensity helps ease aches and pains. The TEMPUR-Ergo® 3 Power Base is the perfect pairing for your Tempur-Pedic® mattress.
Features:
- Adjustable lumbar support
- Anti-snore button
- Massaging
- Zero-gravity preset
- Nearly unlimited head and foot positions
Available Sizes: Twin, Twin XL, Full, Queen, Split King, King, California King
Dimensions: 59.50w 79.50d 3.70h inches
Warranty: 10-year limited warranty
$2,699 for TEMPUR-PROAdapt 2 Medium Mattress
Next Steps: Try an Adjustable Bed in Person
An adjustable bed offers a huge array of benefits. It can help you manage chronic pain. It can make working from home, watching a movie, and making your bed easier.
It’s easier to feel these benefits first-hand than to read about them. For example, when you lie on a mattress and lift your legs, you will immediately feel the pressure taken off your back if it is a right fit. Visit a Slumberland showroom to experience all that an adjustable bed frame can offer in person.
Slumberland offers several services and guarantees to make Adjustable Bed shopping a breeze:
- Our Total Satisfaction Guarantee gives you a trial period to decide about the bed once you bring it home.
- Our Low-Price Guarantee ensures you get the lowest purchase price.
- Our Flexible Financing allows you to buy your bed now and pay over time, extending your budget.
- Our Convenient Delivery gives you FREE delivery in our delivery zones.
- Our Protection Plan lets you protect your purchase for up to 5 years!
Frequently Asked Questions
What Are the Benefits of Adjustable Bed Frames?
There’s a reason adjustable beds are associated with hospitals. Simple changes to the way you sleep can have a profound effect on your health. Adjustable beds allow you to get more restful sleep and, when properly positioned, can ease many aches and medical issues. But, they also offer plenty of lifestyle benefits.
Here are the top benefits of an adjustable bed frame vs a traditional bed:
1. Reduced Back Pain, Arthritis, and Fibromyalgia
Adjustable beds offer a personalized solution. By adjusting head and foot sections to your preferred positions, adjustable beds significantly reduce discomfort from back pain, arthritis, and fibromyalgia.
When you sleep flat, you're putting pressure on your lower back. Good mattresses work to relieve this pressure (see Best Mattresses for Back Pain, Best Mattresses for Fibromyalgia, or Best Mattresses for Sciatica). But nothing compares to elevating your legs with an adjustable bed. By sleeping with your legs elevated, you’re taking pressure off your lower back.
Sometimes our customers try this with stacked pillows. And while it’s the same principle, an adjustable bed is more effective and convenient. Pillows can shift throughout the night and you can’t easily adjust the height of a wedge pillow.
- For Lower Back Pain & Fibromyalgia: Adjusting the bed up or down redistributes the pressure across your body. This ensures proper spinal alignment, reducing strain on your back and joints. Additionally, you can stretch your back by positioning it upright and slowly lowering it.
- For Arthritis: Regular therapeutic massages can ease painful arthritis. Many adjustable beds have massage functions that also provide relief. Lastly, adjusting the bed's position improves blood flow, reducing inflammation.
2. Reduced Snoring
Your partner’s loud snore at night is due to partially obstructed airways. It's relatively harmless for them but can be a huge pain for you. Some people's snoring can get as loud as weed whackers. Luckily, an adjustable base can nip this problem in the bud.
Your sleeping partner will thank you. Raising the head of the bed seven degrees reduces snoring by opening airways and supporting your spine and respiratory system.
The Tempur-Pedic Smart ERGO base has sensors on the adjustable bed beneath your mattress. When it feels the vibration of snoring, the base automatically lifts up to 15 degrees! This means you don’t need to wake yourself up or have your partner wake you to tilt the adjustable bed. It happens automatically, helping both of you sleep better.
Also Read: How To Stop Your Partner’s Snoring
3. Reduced Acid Reflux/GERD and Heartburn
Acid reflux (sometimes called GERD) is when stomach acid travels up your esophagus and throat. This results in an uncomfortable — and sleep-interrupting — burning sensation.
Elevating the head helps the stomach keep acids that might otherwise travel up the esophagus and cause heartburn. When you sleep with your head tilted up slightly, you make it harder for stomach acid to travel up your throat. The stomach acid stays where it belongs (in your stomach), your throat doesn’t burn, and you sleep through the night.
4. Reduced Sleep Apnea and Insomnia
Sleep apnea is a potentially dangerous condition. You stop and start breathing throughout the night. You can treat sleep apnea by making lifestyle changes, such as weight loss or using a breathing machine (called a CPAP machine) that pushes continuous air into your lungs.
But, an adjustable bed can help in two ways:
- Sleeping with your head elevated opens your airways. It takes stress off the lungs, which can help those who suffer from asthma and sleep apnea. This helps you breathe in more air throughout the night.
- If you're wearing a CPAP mask, you don't want to knock it off as you toss and turn to get comfortable. Adjusting the bed to a comfortable position can prevent this.
5. Increased Blood Flow and Digestion
A lot of our customers buy adjustable beds because they let them sleep in a zero-gravity position. Zero gravity is when your legs are just above your hips and your head is above your heart. You get more than just increased comfort when you sleep in the zero-gravity position. You get increased blood circulation. More blood flows to your heart, so your heart pumps harder and pushes more blood to your limbs.
With increased blood flow, you get:
- Better heart, lung, and muscle function
- Stronger immune system (white blood cells are transported throughout the body more effectively)
- Relief from diabetes. While an adjustable bed cannot cure diabetes, it can relieve some side effects. For example, diabetes can cause poor circulation, particularly in the legs.
If you have poor circulation, you're at greater risk for:
- Muscle pain
- Numbness
- Slower nail and hair growth
- Weaker immune system
6. Relieved Leg Swelling and Restless Leg Syndrome
Adjustable beds help manage leg swelling and Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS). By elevating your legs, you improve blood circulation and reduce the urge to move.
7. Improved Mobility
Adjustable beds make it easier to get in and out of bed. Whether you’re sore from a workout, sick with the flu, or suffering from a chronic condition, sometimes you need help getting in and out of bed.
When you’re getting in bed, raise your head and lean into your mattress. From there, you can kick your legs over and lower your head to your preferred angle. When you want to get out of bed, do the reverse. Raise your head until you’re nearly upright and lower your legs so they’re flat to get out of bed.
8. Improved Relaxation
Another benefit of adjustable beds is they are more comfortable than a normal bed. Stacking pillows behind your back is a short-term fix when you want to read or watch TV. They constantly have to be fluffed for comfort. An adjustable bed allows you to sit upright and offers more spinal support and comfort than pillows.
Not to mention beds with massage features! The benefits of regular massages are countless. They reduce stress, lower blood pressure, and relieve headaches and eyestrain among many other advantages. With some adjustable beds, you can gain these benefits with a nightly massage that will prepare you for a more restful night’s sleep.
And for couples, some adjustable beds let you both operate independently.
9. Practically All Mattresses Work
Adjustable beds are suitable for latex, memory foam, coil, and hybrid mattresses. Worried about whether your bed will work with an adjustable base? Visit a Slumberland showroom where we can help figure it out.
What Are the Drawbacks of Adjustable Bed Frames?
While adjustable bed frames offer several benefits, they also come with some drawbacks:
1. Cost
Adjustable bed frames are generally more expensive than traditional bed frames. The price can vary depending on the brand, features, and size.
2. Weight and Size
Adjustable bed frames are often heavier and bulkier than traditional bed frames, making them more difficult to move and set up. We offer full-service delivery in which we assemble the bed frame for you.
3. Noise
Some adjustable bed frames can be noisy, especially when adjusting the position. This can be disruptive to sleep, particularly for light sleepers.
4. Limited Movement
While adjustable beds offer flexibility, they can restrict movement for those who toss and turn during sleep. This can be uncomfortable for some people.
5. Mattress Compatibility
Not all mattresses are compatible with adjustable bed frames. Choose a mattress designed for adjustable beds to ensure proper fit and function.
6. Potential for Mechanical Issues
As with any electronics, mechanical failures or malfunctions may occur over time. This requires repairs or replacements.
7. Difficulty Cleaning
The design of adjustable bed frames makes cleaning underneath and around them more challenging.
How Much Do Adjustable Bed Frames Cost?
Adjustable bed frames range from $400-$2,200. It depends on the brand, features, and size of the bed.
How Long Do Adjustable Beds Last?
The lifespan of an adjustable bed can vary depending on several factors. Consider the quality of the materials and maintenance.
Generally, a well-maintained, high-quality adjustable bed lasts 10 to 20 years. But, this is an estimate and individual experiences may vary. To ensure your adjustable bed lasts as long as possible, follow the manufacturer’s instructions, avoid overloading the bed, and regularly inspect for wear and tear.
What Kind of Mattress Is Best for an Adjustable Bed?
If you’re getting an adjustable bed and are unsure if your mattress can work with it, consider the following:
- The firmness of your bed.The harder it is for your bed to bend, the less suitable it is for an adjustable bed. Just grab the corner of your mattress, put your knee on it, and then try to bend the corner back. Can you bend it or is it too rigid? Medium or soft mattresses work best.
- The height of your bed.Sometimes mattresses are very tall (we’re talking about 17+ inches). Some mattresses work with an adjustable bed, but others are too tall to bend correctly.
- Your current setup.If you have an existing bed frame, ensure it works with an adjustable bed. Most bed frames do, but now and then we come across one that won’t. What happens is you take out the insides of the bed frame (the wooden slats and rails) and drop in the adjustable bed. If you’re on a custom-made bed frame — or a bed frame that goes a generation or two back — you may want to double-check compatibility before buying an adjustable bed frame.
Ready to start shopping? Check out our selection of adjustable bases online, or visit a Slumberland store to try one in person.
