Continuous coil springs

The continuous coil is the cheaper and more simplistic of the two basic bed spring concepts. For information about the alternative pocket spring system you will need to go to this pocket spring description page. To find out about continuous coil or inner spring beds and open coil beds read on.

What are inner springs or continuous coil springs?

The continuous coil mattress is made from a single looped wire. This wire is coiled into springs, all of which are on the same loop and therefore interconnected. The result is that either directly or indirectly, every coil or spring is connected to every other coil or spring. This means that when one coil flexes it directly affects all of the other coils that are adjacent to it. The result is that applying a pressure or affecting a movement in one area of a continuous coil mattress has a passive effect on the mattress as a whole.

In sleeping terms, if two people sleep on a double bed made up of continuous coil springs, the movements of either sleeper will affect the area of the bed on which the other sleeper is resting. This can lead to disrupted sleep.

Pros and cons

There is only one advantage to this type of bed and that is price. It is manufactured quickly and cheaply and it produces a budget priced bed. If you want a cheap bed, but one with a comparatively short life expectancy, then this is a good option. However, the springs will start to wear out and fail far more quickly than they will with a pocket spring based bed, so you will need to replace this type of bed far more frequently.

The negative features of continuous coil beds are all comparative to pocket springs and the more expensive visco elastic memory foams, composite beds and latex foam beds. All of these bed types offer superior sleeping surfaces and all can be orthopedic in quality.

Inner spring beds are not orthopedic. They do not have a high enough spring count, a good enough quality of coil or the level of body support that is required. Any continuous coil bed claiming to be an orthopedic bed is being misrepresented.

Open coil mattress

The open coil mattress is intended to fall somewhere between the pocket spring mattress and the continuous coil mattress. It has independently made springs (like the pocket spring mattress), however rather than placing each spring in a fabric pocket, the springs are all interconnected by wire. This connecting wire may attach to the springs at their base or at the base and the head.

The open coil mattress has the same basic problem as the continuous coil bed in that any movement of one springs sees a corresponding movement or deflection on the adjacent springs. The result is that if there are two people in a bed and one of them moves, that movement will be felt by the other person.

Open coil beds are very much at the budget end of the bed and mattress industry and, whilst they are cheap, they offer poor orthopedic support.

Spring counts gauges etc

Most continuous coil and open coil beds will have spring counts of between 400 and 800. It is very unusual to see a spring count higher than 800.

The nature of manufacture, namely having a continuous loop of wire, means that the springs will be of a low gauge (thickness) and this will normally make this kind of bed very springy and bouncy. There will also be a high degree of flexing over the whole surface of the bed when pressure is applied to any local area.

Beds of the types described above can be OK for anyone who can sleep easily and on any surface, however many people find them uncomfortable and disruptive to sleep. The golden rule with beds and mattresses is to buy at the top of your budget. You will normally get what you pay for.

Continuous spring beds are most frequently found in the divan bed format (with or without drawers).