On Tuesday, May 28, 2013 4:51:02 PM UTC-4, Bob F wrote:
dadiOH wrote:

Metspitzer wrote:

What would make a good insulating material for a water bed?



My niece has a water bed. The heater from the water bed makes her

room hotter than the rest of the house. I suggested that she take a

blanket and put it under the fitted sheet and try to turn the heater

down a few degrees. She says that even with the blanket, if she

turns the heater down any the bed is too cold.



Where is the temperature set for the heater and what is the room

temperature she feels is too hot?



The heater is heating the water in the bag so if the room is too hot

the heat is coming from the bag itself. Frankly, I can't imagine that

happening. We keep our water bed in the low 80s in the winter; in the

summer, the heater doesn't even function as the ambient temperature is

sufficiently high already.



Insulating the heater will do no good; the opposite, I imagine, as it

will just be on longer to maintain the bag temperature. About her

only solutions are to turn up the AC or lower the heater (bag)

temperature.



She needs to insulate to keep the heat in the bed, not keep it away from her

body. That means insulating under and around the mattress, and above her and the

mattress.

I don't think you understand waterbeds. They are heated because your body can not raise the adjacent bed temp to a comfortable one. That's what happens in a normal bed, your body warms the layer next to up. A cold waterbed is a heat sink and it just sucks the heat from your body. By insulating under the fitted sheet and the waterbed you can lessen that effect. Allowing you to set the waterbed temp a little lower. Not a lot but a little bit. Most of the heat loss is going to be through the top as well. They are normally in pretty thick frames to deal with the weight. I would not really expect one to heat a room up a lot but they do have 400 or so watt heaters..