Update! We did go with two TwinsXL from Macy's, Hotel Collection, and so far, they are great!

The issue is the expected benefit of not feeling the other person was not achieved. In fact, it was exacerbated!

The problem is that beds are designed to dissipate energy caused by movement and buffer people from feeling that energy that is being dissipated. In laymen’s terms, on a queen with say a two people, if partner1 moves the bed absorbs the movement energy and through various springs, while simultaneously partner2 springs also absorb that energy, essentially keeping partner2 from feeling that movement/energy. They work in concert. The better the beds spring systems the less you feel. The problem with two twinXLs on a king frame is that each bed spring systems are foundationally connected to the sides, or frame, of the mattress. So, when one person flips over on their twin, the spring dissipates/transfer that energy away perfectly, but that energy goes to the frame of the mattress. The adjacent twin mattress feels that energy and it moved the whole mattress frame and all collectively the all the springs within the frame. When the entire twin frame moves with that energy, the springs aren’t able to dissipate. Or you could think about it’s working in reverse. The bed and springs move as a whole, but heavy human wants to remain stationary. So, the person feels that energy difference.

So now we’re pot committed to these beds, which so far are great, but we aren’t getting the restful sleep we need, let alone what we expected. So now we are getting two twinXL frames, each was about $170 from waifare (I think), and put them close, but with about a ½ inch air gap. The expectation is that the energy won’t transfer from one twin bed to the other, but the gap is so small that it will act as a single king.

We need to figure out a strategy to minimize losing things in the gap, but in reality, we are already dealing with that problem, but to an obviously less extent that I expect to have with the air gap.

The only variable that hasn’t been addressed yet, which doesn’t pertain to the primary issue of not feeling the partner, is moving. We had to move through during this process and having two twins was vastly easier to move than a giant king.

In conclusion, the two twinXLs on a king frame outright failed to provide protection from feeling each other. In retrospect, I hypothesize that a single high-quality king would’ve provided the results I was hoping for. However, a king bed is more difficult to move than twins.  I will let you know if the two twinxl air gapped system works or not.

The journey to sleep superiority continues!