An air bed is an inflatable mattress which can be easily filled with air, usually by an electric pump. Specially designed air chambers provide a gentle cushion of support which can be adjusted according to preference to different levels of firmness or softness. Although there are many cheap air beds on the market, which are intended mostly for camping use, there are also much more well designed models which can provide ideal comfort in the bedroom.
To gain good sleep, the body needs a sleeping surface that helps the muscles and joints easily relax during the night. Unfortunately the most common mattresses used are spring mattresses, in which the support is provided by metal coils which push up against the body. This leads to pressure points being created in many places, such as the back, neck, shoulders, and hips. Over time this frequently leads to a lack of proper alignment of the spine and less than ideal circulation, causing the typical sleeper much discomfort and many nights of tossing and turning. Over the life of the bed, the springs deteriorate, making the situation worse. Air beds were developed to fix this problem.
Single Bed Mattress
An air mattress enables the user to literally sleep on air. It is made up of a sturdy air chamber connected to a powerful air pump, operated with a hand held control. Use the inflate button to add air and increase support, giving the comfortable sensation of floating on air. Press the deflate button and the air chamber can gently conform to the contours of the body, giving an equal pressure over the whole body. No pressure points are created, so the spine can align itself naturally and circulation is not constricted. Sleeping on a good airbed helps create comfort to relieve sore muscles, backache, and neck pain. Sleepers report that they toss and turn much less, fall asleep more easily, and as a result wake up feeling better.
An air bed has many good uses in addition to the bedroom. It is often used as a comfortable temporary bed to have conveniently available for guests in the home, since it can be deflated and easily moved or stored. RV owners find the RV airbed ideal for use in their vehicles due to its light weight and portability. They can be easily stowed away during road travel in RV models that stow the bed while on the road. And an air mattress can be built to a custom size to ensure that it can fit property into the RV space available.
Bed construction can be either with a single air chamber or dual chambers. Dual chamber is ideal when two people are using the bed. Each person can adjust their own side of the bed independent of the other sleeper using their own control and own air pump. This feature is commonly available in both queen size and king size airbeds.
On top of the bed is a removable pillowtop, easy to air out or clean. Virgin wool is a good choice of pillowtop material, as it absorbs 30 percent of its weight in moisture, thereby acting as a natural air conditioner in summer and a natural insulator in winter. In most models there is also a comfort pad underneath the pillowtop to provide additional support. If desired a special topper such as a memory foam mattress topper can be added.
Usually a quality air mattress is 7 or 8 inches tall and is placed on a foundation to give a bed with normal height. Foam side rails surround the air chambers, giving comfortable seating on the side of the bed. The air pumps are concealed out of sight, within the foam perimeter. Quality air beds will be UL listed to ensure electrical safety.