Cool Buddy Air Conditioned/Heated Mattress Pad

If you’re a hot sleeper or maybe going through menopause, there are some new prodcuts coming out to give you genuine releif. One of those products is the Cool Buddy. I recently received a free Cool Buddy mattress pad which is designed to cool and warm your bed. It is done by running water through a thin grid that you place underneath your sheets. Water is circulated so that it stays cool or warm depending on your preference. A Cool Buddy is currently selling for $259. This is considerably less expensive than the ChiliPad, their competior which is currently selling on Amazon for $599.

Overview of the Cool Buddy

The Cool Buddy is a relatively small unit that you place by your bedside to cool or warm your bed. If you order from Amazon it qualifies for Prime delivery so should arrive in a few days. It comes in a box like the one below.

Here’s a description of the product according to their Amazon listing:

This listing is for one Cool Buddy CB-CW-1 box set including a cooling unit, a large 55″ x 63″ mattress pad, and a remote control. This pad size is recommended for cooling two people on a King or Queen bed. How can the Cool Buddy help you sleep better and save money? First and foremost, let me be upfront and honest….if you are a hot sleeper,the best sleep of your life will probably come from a very expensive mattress and your air conditioner cranked down to about 55 degrees. If money and environmental concerns are no problem for you, that is the way to go!! If, however, you would like to sleep cool without paying $500+ a month for electricity, the Cool Buddy may be just the product for you. The idea is extremely simple…rather than cooling your entire house to frigid temperatures 8+ hours a night, the cool buddy only cools you. This cuts electricity consumption from thousands of watts an hour down to about 8, meaning you can run it all night for well under a penny of electricity and even reduce the wear and tear on your homes HVAC system. Here is how it works. Using the physics of evaporation, the Cool Buddy CB-C-1 control unit actively chills about a gallon of water 7-12 degrees below room temperature. For example, In Houston, I typically have my homes thermostat set at 76, and I typically see the cooling loop water at about 68 about 20 minutes after turning on the unit. This chilled water is then circulated through a thin mattress pad that pulls excess body heat away from you, transferring it to the water which is then run back through the chiller before being recirculated all night long. The physics are simple, the engineering is simple, and the product is simple, which is how we can sell it to you at such an incredible price.

As noted in the description the pad does not cover the entire mattress. Instead you place it towards to top of the bed so that it cools your chest and torso. Below is a picture of the Cool Buddy on my king size mattress.

How to Use the Cool Buddy

I didn’t find any instructions for the Cool Buddy but I really didn’t need them. Here’s everything you get out of the box. Not really many pieces to this.

To get started you need to connect the hoses to the pad and then to the unit that circulates the water. Below is a picture of the front of the unit.

Here’s the back of the cool buddy where you connect the hose. Note that there is a plug for the hot water inlet. You can pull this out and put it in the cold water inlet if you want to switch to the warm setting.

To connect the hose you just slide them on. They are tight enough that they shouldn’t come lose.

This is what the control panel looks like. You also get a remote to control it but I don’t think it requires much tweaking after you turn it on. It’s also important to note that the unit should sit higher than the pad for it to work at its best.

My Cool Buddy Findings and Recommendations

There’s no doubt the Cool Buddy works. Below is a video shot with my infrared camera that shows the cooling water running through the grid of the Cool Buddy.

Here’s the actual video where I put my hand over the grid while the water is running:

In conclusion. Ths is a great solution for women experiencing hot flashes from menopause or anyone in general who just sleeps hot. The pad itself will firm up your mattress so there are some tradeoffs there but if you find yourself waking up constantly because of heat, this may be worth it. To minimize the feel of the pad underneath, you can add a mattress pad over it but just make sure not to add too many layers as it will negate the cooling effects. Over time you should get used to the feel.

The motor on the cooling unit will make some noise but it is a white noise that should help cancel out other noises at night. There is also a timer on the system so if you forget to turn it off it will automatically shut off after a certain amount of hours so you don’t wrek the motor.

This whole system is priced under $300 which is the best priced water cooling mattress pad I have found. If you buy off Amazon you can take advantage of the 30 day trial they have for products and it is Prime eligible.