Features to Look for When Buying an Adjustable Base

Customers are afraid when they come in looking for an adjustable beds. They are often starting their research and are under the impression that the mattress is the one doing the bending and aren’t aware of the base underneath the mattress. Other times the customer has seen videos or infomercials about bases that lift only the head and are unaware that on a quality base, the legs raise too.

If you’re starting your research on adjustable bed frame, here are three top features you need to be aware of and think about before you buy. There is no rank of importance. These are just features you need to know before you purchase. Our explanation of why they are essential comes from hearing our customer’s responses to these features, not from our personal opinion, which can sometimes come from price tag rather than actual usefulness.

Head and Legs Lift

Many of the ads you see speak about a FREE adjustable base with a purchase, featuring an elementary base with only a head lift. This may seem “good enough” to work for what you want, but it isn’t.

The issue with having only a head lift is that you will slide toward the foot of the bed. Gravity kicks in, and you will slide. This sounds like a non-issue until you’ve experienced the back pain associated with being bent in an area where you should not have spent hours.

Another issue is that the head lift is only on “value” bases, not built of materials (motors and electronics) that will last years as a head and leg lift base would have.

When customers consider an adjustable base, it isn’t because they want the latest fad. Instead, they seek something to relieve pain or add to their sleep experience. Having something cheaply made that lasts a year or two makes this base of no worth to them.

Programmable Buttons

At the risk of making an adjustable base seem more complicated than they are, I am going to say that programmable buttons make a world of difference when finding a suitable adjustable bed frame. This is wisdom, again, from our customers, not ourselves.

The ability to set certain positions, like a back pain relieving position, a reading position, or a sleeping position that keeps GERD at bay, is absolutely key to having a base that makes a difference in your health and life.

Most models we’ve worked with make the programming ability of the remote easy to do, with maybe a one-button hold or a two-button hold. Of course, you find programmability in most models nowadays, but still, it is something to ensure capability.

Serviceability

No adjustable bed base manufacturer is flawless. We’ve worked with at least eight manufacturers, and each has had its quirks.

Having someone available to fix your adjustable base is vital. However, service availability is where things get dicey, and it’s essential to ask Who will be available to fix our base when it breaks? How long does it usually take? How long is there a warranty on the adjustable base?

Most larger retailers will not deal with the service themselves and make you deal with the manufacturer themselves, which is not always a bad thing but usually is a slow response. That is where a smaller business model beats a larger one. Our company has trained with several manufacturers to be able to fix their bases quickly. We did this because it took up to two to three weeks for our customers to fix their bases. We trained because this long wait wasn’t something we wanted to be known for.

Serviceability is vital for all power bases. It would be best if you asked this question before you buy. Out of all features listed here, this is important because you need to know what to expect if things break, which they sometimes do.

Bonus – Snore Detection

This feature is becoming the number one feature asked for in an adjustable base. The ages of customers asking for this feature would surprise you. They’re the 25-30-year-olds.

Snore detection on an adjustable base is relatively new. Most of these adjustable bases work by connecting your cell phone via Bluetooth. There are models with the microphone on the remote, but most models we carry are via Bluetooth tie-in.

The microphone will pick up any breathing noise and then send a signal to the base to adjust until the noise is lowered, NOT stopped. Remember, the base cannot stop snoring. It can only decrease the volume. It’s important to know that an adjustable base does not take the place of a CPAP machine for sleep apnea sufferers, which causes most snoring issues.

We hope this article has proven helpful to you. We have another article that might help you with your research and provides information on why you would want an adjustable base – Why Bending Your Mattress Can Change Your Life.  If possible, share with others so that they know where to start their research when shopping for an adjustable base.