Why do air mattresses deflate overnight?

Why do air mattresses deflate overnight?

The reason why air mattresses deflate overnight (assuming there is no leak), is most likely because of a drop in temperature between day and night.

The same volume of air will take up less space at a colder temperature than at a warmer temperature, thus making it seem like the air mattress has lost air.

While it’s normal to expect some air loss over time, this is most apparent after a cold night, given the change in the air volume inside the mattress.

Why do air mattresses deflate overnight? Due to a temperature drop

No inflatable mattress is entirely devoid of leakages. It’s normal for your air mattress to breathe a little, triggering it to lose a percentage of air throughout normal usage.

If you were paying attention during physics, you might remember the ideal gas law states that the pressure, temperature, and volume of a gas (air) are related.

Cold temperatures cause the volume of air inside the mattress to shrink (condense).

The mattress would appear to have actually lost more air; it’s just going through a physical modification. So when the temperature increases the next day, the air will take up more space.

This same physical phenomenon also causes the air pressure in your car tires to increase in summer (more inflated) and decrease in winter (deflated).

Why do air mattresses deflate overnight? Other reasons

There are several other reasons that your air bed may be losing air. Read on, so you get back that good night’s sleep you’ve been losing out on.

Not utilizing the air mattress appropriately

As dull as it may be to read through a whole direction handbook on correctly inflating your bed, it is worth your while.

Quit complaining. If you neglect what is described in the manual, there’s a great chance that you won’t be able to thoroughly enjoy your mattress, and it may not last as long.

Do yourself a favor: make an effort to check, understand and carry out the instructions, that’s why you’ve received them.

Doing so will not only help you in keeping a constant atmospheric pressure in your inflatable bed but will likewise increase its life span.

Loss of air through the external pump fill hole

In an ideal world, when you have filled your bed mattress, you can disconnect the pump without losing any air.

But since we don’t live in an ideal world, no blow-up mattresses on the market that used external pumps are actually air tight.

Many inflatables use an external pump to fill it, so a little air will ultimately be lost when detaching the pump from the mattress.

Luckily, some actually have built-in pumps to counteract this and are the easiest to use.

They fill with air well under 10 minutes, making it easy for any adult and kid to inflate the bed.

You can come across blow-up mattresses that boast a “never ever flat” pump innovation.

When the air bed mattress starts to lose air and a quiet pump will automatically kick in to re-inflate throughout the night.

Not too shabby, we thought. It sure is a great function to have if you can afford it.

Interested in getting one of those? Check out the best heavy-duty air mattress for heavy person sleeping.

Leaks in your air bed

Your blow-up mattress is not the strongest item you’ll ever buy. It is made from a thin material, vulnerable to piercing, stretching and rupturing.

With regular use, the chance of these issues happening increases substantially.

Thankfully, by just being careful about where you put the air mattress and taking great care of it, you can hold off the inescapable wear and tear for a long time.

When the inevitable happens, and your bed springs a leak, all you need to do is patch it up with a puncture repair set, and your bed will be as good as new.

How to prevent your air mattress from losing air?

Here are a couple of tips to prevent mattress deflation.

Regulate the room temperature

Keeping the space warm minimizes deflation of the mattress overnight.

You could place the air mattress on a floor of your house where hot air rises.

It is imperative to preserve constantly the correct air levels.

But, as explained above, when the surrounding air cools, the air in the mattress tends to condense (the air volume shrinks), and the bed deflates.

When that happens, the bed isn’t at its best any longer and is more vulnerable to holes or tears.

Check the temperature when you’re filling it up, and do your best to keep that temperature constant throughout the night.

Watch the nozzle carefully

Keep an eye on the nozzle through which the mattress is inflated.

This nozzle is opened frequently to blow air in and out of the mattress.

With time, it will lose its rigidness, and air may escape through the hole more easily.

You can tape over it when it starts to lose its strength.

Be especially careful not to overfill the air mattress, as this may increase the likelihood of the nozzle popping out.

Overfilling comes with other risks, too, find out here: What happens if you over inflate an air mattress.

When storing it away, do so with care

Since this is commonly the last step in using this mattress, careful handling can frequently be ignored.

That’s a massive mistake. Storing away your mattress is definitely one of the most essential steps and should be taken care of with precision to increase its lifespan.

In time, the stretching of the bed’s materials throughout the folding procedure will increase the possibility of ruptures.

Folding them incorrectly will increase this possibility, so to prevent this, follow the directions as detailed in the user manual.

Why do air mattresses deflate overnight? Conclusion

While the main reason for overnight air loss in your inflatable is temperature change, causing the air to contract, there are other reasons for this too.

The truth is, there is absolutely nothing that you can do to stop your mattress from leaking air at one point in its lifetime.

No matter the expense or the materials used, and compared to camp beds, all these air beds will eventually leak air or eventually suffer a rupture.

For that reason, take care of your air mattress and know how to use a repair kit, so you’re prepared when it happens.

We hope that you have discovered a thing or two from this post that will help you take much better care of your inflatable so it can last longer.

Related: Are air beds good for heavy people?