This is my non-sponsored and unbiased review of chili‘s OOLER system, which I purchased for myself and have been using for about 6 weeks at the time of writing this.
$700+ for a cooling mattress topper? I must be out of my mind, right?
We sleep every night and for those of us who are privileged enough to be able to, investing in our sleep setup can bring incredible benefits to our well being.
I had the good fortune of dating someone who already owned this very same cooling mattress topper, and I therefore got to try it out (and get a positive word-of-mouth review) before deciding to purchase the system.
I’ll be honest. It didn’t take much to convince me. The science is clear that we get better quality sleep in a cool environment. But blasting my AC all night during Baltimore summers would cost me a fortune.
What is a cooling mattress topper?
A cooling mattress topper is what it sounds like. An insert that goes on top of your mattress, beneath your fitted bedsheet, and somehow provides a cooling effect.
In the case of the OOLER, the system consists of a control unit which heats or cools water (depending on the temperature you have chosen) and circulates it throughout many small tubes that run throughout the mattress pad.
Is the OOLER cooling mattress pad comfortable?
If you were to lay on top of your sheets with the OOLER set up and specifically try to feel the cooling pad, you could definitely feel it there. By design there are lots of tiny tubes running through the pad which contain the temperature controlled water.
98% of the time I don’t notice the feeling of the OOLER pad at all. I have to look for it to notice it there. It hasn’t at all detracted from the comfort of my mattress.
Is the OOLER system loud?
Yes, the control unit (which controls the temperature of the water and then sends it through the tubes into the mattress pad) is far from silent.
If you are someone who sleeps well with white noise (and I think most of us do), you’ll find that the OOLER creates a welcome kind of white noise. Sometimes I notice it makes some particularly loud sounds when I first start it up at night, but within about 5-10 minutes it shifts into a continuous humming.
I find it relaxing and even helpful for my sleep, but if you are sensitive to white noise this product probably isn’t right for you.
What is the setup and storage like for the chiliPAD system?
When my OOLER arrived in the mail, it probably took me about 30 minutes to get it completely set up. Compared to some IKEA furniture I’ve assembled in my day, that was nothing. It was little more than placing the mattress pad on my mattress and plugging in a couple of things, and then adding filtered water the storage tanks.
You’ll need to find somewhere to store the control unit(s) near your bed. The control unit is 15x10x6 inches, so it’s not exactly tiny.
The instructions say to place the units in an unobstructed location with 18 inches of clearance, but this simply wasn’t possible due to the dimensions and layout of my bedroom. I placed mine on the lower tier of my nightstands, like so.
How is the OOLER controlled?
If you buy a classic chiliPAD, you’ll use a remote control to turn on and off the unit and select your preferred temperature. If you buy an OOLER, you’ll use the OOLER app, which is available for both iOS and Android devices.
The OOLER app isn’t the best app I’ve ever used.There is a lot of latency throughout the app and the bluetooth pairing distance between your phone and the units is pretty small, so if you walk into the next room you probably won’t be able to remotely turn off the OOLER from there.
The “Warm Awake” feature is interesting. I’ve been playing around with it this summer. Starting at your scheduled wake time, the unit will gradually warm your chiliPAD to about 120 degrees over an approximately 30-minute time period. The idea is that this will naturally wake you up, rather than needing to hear a harsh alarm going off.
In my experience, this feature works very well for that use. It consistently wakes me up in a non jarring way. I haven’t needed an alarm often at all since starting to use it. However, if you wake up early and turn off the OOLER before the warming period starts… it will actually turn the OOLER back on to begin the warming period, which I think is pretty clunky, especially since I’m probably not there to turn the system off again.
Overall, despite the app being flawed, it works well enough for scheduling and controlling the units. It lets me set separate temperatures and schedules for my side of the bed and my boyfriend’s side. And the Warm Awake feature, especially if they can improve the scheduling side of it, is really cool and useful.
Is the OOLER difficult to clean?
With the original chiliPAD, it’s recommended that you occasionally add a cleaning solution to the water tank, then empty it and run clean water through it again. The OOLER (the pricier model) has a UV cleaning system built in, which is one of the main value adding features of the OOLER (in addition to the mobile app and its features).
That leaves you with the mattress pad fabric itself to clean, which is machine washable in both cases. You’ll need to treat it a bit delicately when taking it apart and washing it, but can use a washing machine!
Does chiliPAD really help with your sleep?
I’m a bit neurotic about my sleep, and I track my heart rate, respiratory rate, body temperature, and sleep cycles every night.
My historical data unequivocally shows a lower resting heart rate, body temperature, and more REM ever since I installed the OOLER on my bed.
If I look at a graph of my sleep quality every night, I can tell exactly when I went out of town (and didn’t use a mattress cooler) because my sleep stats are so much better when I’m at home. I’ve been tracking my sleep since the beginning of 2020 and this effect was not present until I got my OOLER.
You can see in the above screenshot that when I stopped using the cooling pad for a few days, my resting heart rate immediately increased nightly, from the mid-40s to the low-to-mid-50s. This can have a significant impact on the restorative effect of sleep.
Aside from the data, I feel more comfortable while I’m sleeping. You know that feeling when you roll onto a different side of the bed and the sheets are still cold there? Imagine feel like that all the time. That’s what it’s like to use a (good quality) cooling mattress pad.
Is a cooling mattress system worth the cost?
I’ll be completely honest. I shelled out $1399 for the OOLER system for both halves of my queen sized bed (because I love my boyfriend and decided to cool his half, too :)). Prices start at $699 for a half queen OOLER or $499 for a half queen original chiliPAD.
This is an expensive product, and even for relatively inexpensive things like soy milk, I’m very particular about what I recommend.
So I don’t mean this lightly when I say that the OOLER system has my full support. Sleep quality is incredibly important to our health. I want to live a long and happy life and I am completely comfortable recommending that, if you have the means to do so, you invest in this product to improve your well-being.
I was compelled by the science before purchasing this product and after I did purchase, the data on my own sleep clearly showed a significant benefit. I am extremely glad to have made this investment.
In addition, I believe the product will pay for itself over time, at least in my case, due to a reduced need for running the AC at night. I now keep the house about 2-3 degrees warmer at night than I previously did and am saving on my AC bill.
What is the resale value of a cooling mattress system like the OOLER?
Maybe you plan to get a different sized bed in the future, move in with someone and consolidate your belongings, or just don’t know what the future will hold. You’d understandably want to know if you can recoup some of the cost of your mattress cooling system.
Based on some research on eBay and local sale groups, it seems that you can resell your chiliPAD products for a decent percentage of the original purchase price.
Interest in sleep science has been trending upward for years now and will likely continue to. As long as we still have a middle class that’s able to save up for purchases like this, I would expect that there will be demand for both new and used mattress cooling products, since the concept is based on established science rather than a fad or trend. I think the resale prognosis for these products is good. At least, that’s what I’m hoping!
What are the competitor products like?
Most of the alternate products on the market to those made by chili are cooling mattress pads that work by using certain materials that wick away or absorb heat – as opposed to the OOLER and chiliPad, which circulate temperature controlled water.
There is one predominant competitor that uses an actual temperature control unit, and that’s the Dualtemp by Sleep Number. The Dualtemp circulates temperature controlled air, rather than water. The temperature control is much less precise, with choices to cool, heat, or maintain the temperature. With chiliPAD, you can set the exact temperature you want, between 55 to 110 degrees Fahrenheit.
The chili systems also use vastly less power than the Dualtemp, and so for these reasons alone and due to the similar pricing, I’m almost certain that chiliPAD or OOLER would be a better investment.
OK, I’m convinced. What are the next steps?
All that’s left to do is order online! If you follow this link you can use the following coupon codes to save on your order:
- OOLER15 to save 15% on any OOLER system
- CHILIPAD25 to save 25% on any chiliPAD system
- CHILIBLANKET10 to save 10% on a chiliBLANKET
Once you order your ChiliPAD system it takes approximately 1-3 weeks to arrive. Happy sleeping!
Disclosure: I purchased the OOLER system of my own accord with my own money and was not paid or even asked to write this review. However, this article does contain affiliate links which will earn me a small commission, at no cost to you, if you choose to make a purchase. I chose to sign up for the affiliate program because I am a huge fan of this product. Thanks for reading!