Heated and cooled leather seats ? | Page 2 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Heated and cooled leather seats ?

That's strange then. I had the heated seat on "High" for a 6 hour drive back from family over the holidays, and didn't hear the fan turn on once. I hear it turn on with the cooled seat every time. Guess there's enough ambient heat in the car the peltier doesn't need to direct heat towards the heatsink on the "cold" side when in heating mode.
 



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The peltier device is used to heat and cool the seats. The fans (one in the bottom and one in the back) does indeed come on with the heat, it just cycles on and off depending on what setting you have selected. Each setting has a maximum temp it's set to maintain. If there was a traditional heater mat (like the XLT and rear seats on Limited) there would be no way for the air to flow through the perforations in the seat while in cool mode.

I agree with Riley. In my ExSport too when the heated seats are turned on, i do hear the fan turning on and off (Cycling) depending upon the heat or Cold setting I have set it on.
 






Like amd2800barton, I have yet to hear the fan. I don't doubt there is one but I just haven't heard it in either the 2011 Ex I had or in the MKT. Perhaps that is because I have either the radio on or the heater running or both.

Peter
 






Peter, With radio on it is impossible to hear the fan. The whole interior has to be quite for you to be really able to hear the fan noise.
 






Thanks for that info. I think I'd rather listen to the radio than the fan anyway.;)

Peter
 






I know this is an old thread but I'm new and doing research on seat cooling. We have a 2014 Explorer Limited with air conditioned front seats like many of you do. I've used it on many occasions and it really doesn't cool that much. I have a friend here at work with a 2015 Lariat Pickup with cooled front seats and boy do those work great. Have any of you had to repair this feature on you explorers? I wasn't that concerned about it until I rode in the Lariat and the difference was huge. Thoughts?
 






Welcome to the Forum.:wave:
If the seat is cooling then I'm guessing it is working. There are quite a few post in other threads about the varying levels of cooling that these seats work at. Are getting much cooling from the seat back? Have you checked the seat filter to see if it might need changing?
You might be interested in this thread as well. http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/index.php?threads/cool-seats-not-so-cool.360553/

Peter
 






I have not checked the seat filter as I didn't know there was one. I just read on the other thread how to check and replace. To be fair, our explorer has 63000 miles and my buddies Lariat has 14000 miles so, the difference in usage could be great. We bought the explorer used with 52000 miles on it. I'll check and see. Thank you
 






Checked the filter last night and it really seemed pretty clean as has everything in this used explorer. It was in incredibly good shape for 52,000 miles on it when we purchased back in February. I took the filter off and blew it out with my air hose and nothing really came out of it, no dust or anything. As I researched though, it seems that later seat filters have been redesigned and Ford removed the filter media and it now looks like an open grate that might only stop bugs from being sucked in, not dust. I haven't looked on my buddies Lariat to see what kind of filters he has.
 






I use the cooled seats whenever it's hot out! I can feel the cold in the actual seat and the bottom third of the seat back. It helps a lot with a black truck with black leather seats that's parked in sun and its hot&chunks out!

Like others have already said, it takes a while for the heated seats to get warm. But once it does, they get hot within minutes and then I shut them off.
 






I turn the cooling on but have never felt it "cooling" anything and honestly can't tell any difference with it on or off. FYI I am fit/athletic 6'2, 185 lbs.

The heaters are soooo SLOW to warm up. Our other cars are nice and warm within 2 minutes but the Explorer takes 7.
 






I'm curious in the difference between my friends Lariat Pickup and our Explorer in regards to the Air Conditioned seats. His really cool very well and you feel a lot of cool air flow. I haven't checked his filters to see whether he has the old kind with filter material or the new kind that look like a grate that would let much more air through.
 






Has anyone replaced the old fuzzy filters with the new 'lifetime' style? I'd be interested in hearing if it's possible.

There seem to be two hindrances to the cooled seats in my '15. They work well if it's 80 and in the shade, but if it's 90 and sitting in the sun they do take a long time to cool. I'm sure the seat/interior being heat soaked is a lot for the small cooling unit to overcome.

The second, more ironic factor I think is the seats don't work as well if someone is sitting in them. Yeah, that sucks, but I think when you're sitting on it and essentially blocking all the perforations the air is supposed to be coming through it doesn't work as well. Sometimes it feels like I only get cool air from where the back and seat meet. The workaround seems to be to use the remote start. Starting it 5 minutes early seems to cool the seats more than starting it and driving 5 minutes, at least in my experience.

Have others found the same?
 






There seem to be two hindrances to the cooled seats in my '15. They work well if it's 80 and in the shade, but if it's 90 and sitting in the sun they do take a long time to cool. I'm sure the seat/interior being heat soaked is a lot for the small cooling unit to overcome.

The second, more ironic factor I think is the seats don't work as well if someone is sitting in them. Yeah, that sucks, but I think when you're sitting on it and essentially blocking all the perforations the air is supposed to be coming through it doesn't work as well. Sometimes it feels like I only get cool air from where the back and seat meet. The workaround seems to be to use the remote start. Starting it 5 minutes early seems to cool the seats more than starting it and driving 5 minutes, at least in my experience.

Have others found the same?

I agree with your observations but I think some folks may have unrealistic expectations. The seats were not designed to alter your core temperature (or blow your skirt like Marilyn) but for comfort to keep the seat from feeling sticky from perspiration. The effectiveness of the cooling is obviously impacted by the types of clothes you wear - you're not going to feel it much through thick denim or heavy sweater.

On the other hand, the heating element can get pretty warm. My seats cool and warm quickly, but the ambient temperature of the car is going to be a factor initially.
 






I checked the filters in my friends Lariat Pickup and they are the new Grate kind of filter with no filter material in them. No wonder they flow more air. There is a marked difference between his seats and our Explorer in Cooling and air flow. His seats really move some air. If the vehicle was another brand I'd say maybe design differences but they are both Fords and only 1 year apart in year model so I would think the difference is the filter on ours not allowing the same air flow. I may experiment with temporarily removing our filter to see if it makes a difference.
 






Fan is loud, little to no cooling on the back.... Most of the air pumps out near the front of the seat, just behind my knees. The design could be better.
 






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