Ventilated seats questions

[mike94silverado]

I think they are cool but if it was the one option hang up I had on the vehicle I wanted I would do without them

 

 

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[dodgehemi0]

I dont understand why the AC seat has not been around longer than the heated seat. I mean black leather seats in the south screw the heated seats I love the AC seats.

[TxTruckMan]

Trucks are designed up north by yankees. Most yankee engineers are clueless about the needs for the Southern USA. And that is why there are no rear AC vents in GM trucks too. The engineers are clueless.

I think you're the clueless one. My truck has rear AC vents.

[MikeNH]

Trucks are designed up north by yankees. Most yankee engineers are clueless about the needs for the Southern USA. And that is why there are no rear AC vents in GM trucks too. The engineers are clueless.

 

 

Ridden in the back of a GM crew cab in Houston in July. Can't say I was even close to being uncomfortable. Spent yet more time in the back of one up here in MI and I was actually cold and that was still with temps in the upper 90s. The vents under the seats to a perfectly fine job.

[mzodarg]

Please educate us. Post a picture.

One of these under each front seat.

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[TxTruckMan]

Cold air flows through them just fine. And the fronts vents push plenty of air to the back. This is a non-issue.

[mzodarg]

Those are toe warmers, not air conditioning vents.

Hmm mine must be broke then, cold air pushes out of them just fine. I agree with BlackYukon, this is certainly a non issue.

[00Silverado4x4]

Hmm mine must be broke then, cold air pushes out of them just fine. I agree with BlackYukon, this is certainly a non issue.

Mine too. Plus have the center vents as well. Plenty of cold air for everyone in my truck.

[chrisuns]

They are ventillated and cooled. No compressor/condensor, but the internal fan pulls air from the seat surface and out the rear of the seat. I'm under the impression that this is basically the way that all cooled seats work.

They're by every definition of the term cooled. They use a device called a thermo-peltier, it works by heat transfer, one side gets extremely hot 240+ the other really cold 0F. Here's a picture of one (TEC). To heat or cool, the seat climate control module simply reverses the polarity. They also push air into the seat cushion, not pull.

 

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Here's a picture of a typical oem blower and TEC assembly. There's 2 exhaust ports, one goes to the seat cushion the other goes to the vents you see in the back of your seat.

[chrisuns]

Here's the other side for you can see the other exhaust port. The purpose of 2 exhausts is to regulate both sides of the tec for proper heat transfer of the module. E.g., one side get cold the other side gets super hot.-Hence the reason some owners complain of hot air coming out of the rear of their sets with the heater/cooled seat option.

[dodgehemi0]

Are just the bottom of the seats blowing air or does the back also blow air? Reason I ask is I don't feel any air coming from the back of the seat just the bottom

 

 

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[chrisuns]

Both, there's 2 blower/tec devices in each front seat.

[totman88]

The round section I'm assuming is a intake filter the opening next to it is blowing out under my seat should this be and the air is neither cool nor warm

[troverman]

I found this topic very interesting. I recently bought a 2015 Ford (sorry) F-350 with heated / cooled seats. I've had plenty of vehicles with heated seats before, but this is my first with the cooled function. My impressions seem to echo what a lot of you are saying here: the heat is nowhere near as hot as a traditional heated seat. In fact, the pictures of the TEC module shown above is actually the one from Ford (see FoMoCo stamped on the plastic). The air filters must be replaced periodically as well.

 

Normally, a heated seat uses a pad with a thin-gauge wiring grid in both the seat base and seat back. Current is applied to this grid at a higher amperage than the thin wiring can handle, which heats the wires...this transfers through the pad to the seat. A thermostat cuts the current when a certain temp is reached; and reapplies it when the temp drops below a preset level.

 

Pros: cheap for a manufacturer to add to a seat, very even heating, relatively low current draw, and high heat transfer. Does not affect seat comfort.

 

Cons: does not warm up much without sitting in the seat; wiring grid is subject to breaking over time, or if you put a knee on the seat base.

 

The newer concept of heating and cooling uses a different strategy out of necessity. Initially, I assumed the cooling function was simply A/C ducted into the seats and blown through the perforated holes. However, this wouldnt be possible because the traditional heated seat pad would have blocked any airflow through the perforations. As mentioned above, the TEC module can either create or remove heat, depending upon the current polarity applied. The housing and fan is what allows for that heat or cold to be harnessed and directed into the seat base and seat back, and then out the perforations in the leather. In the Ford application, there are no exhaust vents to be seen. Perhaps they duct out under the seats somewhere.

 

Pros: one device handles both heating and cooling, excellent remote start performance on either heating or cooling the seat surface, actually cools the seat without the use of A/C compressor (think windows down on a warm day, cooled seats on, but A/C off)

 

Cons: Lots of them. Expensive, draw a lot of current, do not heat as broad an area as traditional seat heaters, nor seem to get as hot. May make the seat more uncomfortable due to ducting in seat, and device itself (so far not an issue for me). Cooling function becomes less efficient the longer the feature is used.

 

I'm curious to see if ultimately GM and Ford use the same supplier? I'm also curious as to where the exhaust vents are located on my truck.

 

I think its pretty cool this feature is offered on vehicles at all.