Serta has introduced the Serta Arctic, a new cooling mattress targeted at people who often wake up in the middle of the night unable to sleep because of the heat. This is certainly a frustrating sleep problem, but how cooling can a mattress really be? Serta, which makes some of the best mattresses in the U.S., claims that its new Arctic series is designed to be 15 times cooler than previous series like the Serta Perfect Sleeper Luminous Sleep.

Cooling mattresses are usually made with layers of cooling gel or pods or use a hybrid (coil and foam) design to increase breathability and heat dissipation; Serta's Arctic (prices start at $3,099) features a cooling technology called Reactex designed to provide "peace of mind through overnight cooling," according to Serta. Since it is new, it is not yet expected to appear in the Serta mattress sale.

The Reactex system consists of three layers of cooling technology that work to move heat deep into the mattress and away from the body. Hot sleeping can happen to anyone," says Laura Brewick, Serta's senior vice president of marketing.

"If you're sleeping hot, it could be because your mattress is trapping heat from your body; the Serta Arctic Sleep System does the opposite, drawing heat away from your body for a restful, uninterrupted night's sleep."

Serta Arctic is available in both hybrid and memory foam mattress models, starting at $3,499 for a queen size; Serta Arctic Foam comes in firm and plush, and Arctic Hybrid comes in plush and medium. Arctic Hybrid comes in plush and medium.

Both versions offer a 120-night risk-free trial so you can try the Arctic at home and see if it lives up to its promise of a cooler sleep. We have yet to review the Arctic, but are eager to try it out on a hot sleeper.

The Serta Arctic Mattress comes with a 10-year warranty and is priced as follows:

We were surprised by the price. Serta is not alone in this kind of pricing, but the Arctic is definitely one of the more expensive cooling mattresses.

Casper Sleep introduced its own cooling collection, the Casper Snow Series, this April. Without lowering the cost with the Casper Mattress Sale offer, the Nova Hybrid Snow is $2,595 for a queen size and the Casper Wave Hybrid Snow is $3,195. Another popular cooling mattress is the Eight Sleep Pod Pro Max mattress, which offers dual-zone cooling and costs $3,595 for a queen size.

For an additional $500, the Serta Arctic can be upgraded to the Premier version. The price of the Arctic Premier goes up to $4,699 for the Cal King size, but it still pales in comparison to the Cal King size Tempur Breeze at $5,699.

You can buy boxed mattresses designed with better airflow in mind, which are usually much less expensive, but they are not proper cooling mattresses and therefore cannot be directly compared in terms of price.

The basic Serta Arctic is a 13.5" deep mattress that comes in plush or firm foam, or a hybrid of medium or plush The main feature of Serta's Arctic mattress is the Reactex system, a three-layer cooling technology (each layer is more powerful, according to Serta) to draw heat deeper into the mattress. In theory, this means that heat does not build up around the body, allowing one to sleep cooler.

It also uses high-density CustomFit HD Memory Foam to contour, cushion, and envelop the body. The foam models also use a layer of Evercool Fuse Gel Foam designed to increase breathability and dissipate heat.

The Serta Arctic Hybrid model, on the other hand, features the 1025 Hybrid Support System, with individually wrapped coils that conform to the curves of the body and relieve pressure. Upgrading to the Arctic Premier Hybrid also provides a layer of Deep Reaction Max Gel Memory Foam for deeper support and body cushioning.

If heat, aches, and pains are your biggest problems with sleep, the Serta Arctic is definitely tempting and we would love to review it, but its hefty price tag cannot be denied. If you don't have much of a budget and are looking for a breathable mattress for back pain, check out our review of the Saatva Classic Mattress.

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