At Home: What to consider when buying a new bed

Americans, on average, will buy three or four beds over the course of their lives. So do your research and ask lots of questions to make your mattress purchases count, advises Tom Cagley, a managing partner at Simpson Furniture in Coralville and Cedar Falls.

'The 33 percent of your time that you're in the bed dictates the other 67 percent of time you're not in that bed,' he says.

The better the bed, the better rest you'll get, he says.

What should you consider when buying a place to rest your head?

Firmness

• One of the first things to decide is level of firmness. There are three levels — extra firm, luxury firm and plush.

To get a feel for which level is right for you, Cagley recommends laying on a showroom mattress in the same position you sleep in. Many people lay on showroom beds on their backs, but if that's not how you sleep, it won't give you an accurate appraisal. Spend 10 to 15 minutes on the mattress for an even better assessment.

Temperature

• Hate waking up hot and sweaty? Many beds today are made with either breathable foams that allow air to pass through them and keep you cool, or with cool gel foams.

'Look for air-cooled foams,' Cagley says.

The foams also will keep the mattress even. When you stand up, the mark you put on the bed should vanish quickly.

Coils and Wires

• Look for a pocketed or encased coil bed. These are designed to not end up like a hammock if you're laying next to a heavier person. The other person's movements shouldn't shift the whole mattress and wake you up the way they would with a wire-type coil.

Coils in the mattress are separated with wire — the lower the gage of wire, the firmer the bed will be.

Bed care

• Once you get your new bed home, it will last longer with proper care. Most beds today don't need to be flipped periodically, Cagley says, but they will benefit from rotating, so that weight on the mattress is distributed more evenly over time.

'Just like rotating tires, the more you rotate your bed, the better your bed will perform down the road,' Cagley says.

Simpson Furniture has been a premier retailer for home furniture, flooring and home decor since 1946.

2300 Jones Blvd., Coralville; (319) 545-5005 and 2300 Main St., Cedar Falls; (319) 266-3535; www.simpsonfurniture.com