How do vented seats work?

[Steve7647]

I took a trip to the beach over the weekend it's was 82 and sunny so I had my windows down and sunroof open. I turned on my vented seats due to my back was a little sweaty. They did not cool me off at all so I rolled up my windows and turned on the air then I noticed they seem to cool slightly. I was wondering do u have to have your AC on? Is just a fan that blows so if there is warm air in the car it just blows warm air?

 

[Bryceb]

they are independent of the AC system. I think they just can't keep up when the air is warm like when you have the windows down on a nice day.

they are a peltier device with a fan that blows air through th eset. if it's blowing warm air in the seat, the cooler just can't cool it much.

 

[Boostking]

I believe the seats in regards to the "seat" versus the "back" are different. For example, the seat will be cooled or heated, however the back will only get heat.

I believe this to be because the seat itself has a vent and fan blowing hot or cold air. It would make sense that instead of routing ducting up to the "back", instead its heated through an electric heating pad. There is no ducting in the seat backing to bring cold air up to the back portion. I could be wrong.

So I think only your butt would be cooled, while if you are using the heated seat you would get your butt and back.

Windows down and you probably cant feel the butt cooler that much.

 

[Steve7647]

If the cooler seats can not bring me down to room temp doing 80 with all windows down. What's the point of them turning on when u remote start the car it's well over 100 in there at that point

 

[peterk9]

I believe the seats in regards to the "seat" versus the "back" are different. For example, the seat will be cooled or heated, however the back will only get heat.

I believe this to be because the seat itself has a vent and fan blowing hot or cold air. It would make sense that instead of routing ducting up to the "back", instead its heated through an electric heating pad. There is no ducting in the seat backing to bring cold air up to the back portion. I could be wrong.

So I think only your butt would be cooled, while if you are using the heated seat you would get your butt and back.

Windows down and you probably cant feel the butt cooler that much.

Both seat and seat back are cooled and heated if you have the ("climate") heated and cooled seats.

Peter

 

[Boostking]

Both seat and seat back are cooled and heated if you have the ("climate") heated and cooled seats.

Peter

Well then I feel that I may have an issue with my car. We have the heated and cooled seats. I can certainly feel the heat on both the seat and the back, however the cold air is only from the seat. This is on both the drivers and passenger seat.

Its at the dealership now for other work, so I should probably contact them.

 

[peterk9]

Well then I feel that I may have an issue with my car. We have the heated and cooled seats. I can certainly feel the heat on both the seat and the back, however the cold air is only from the seat. This is on both the drivers and passenger seat.

Its at the dealership now for other work, so I should probably contact them.

There are a few threads on the seats. I checked through some of them and you are not alone in not feeling anything from the seat back. Some say it works very well while others mention that they seem to feel little or no air. I've only used mine a couple of time and did feel the cool on my back.

Peter

 

[Boostking]

There are a few threads on the seats. I checked through some of them and you are not alone in not feeling anything from the seat back. Some say it works very well while others mention that they seem to feel little or no air. I've only used mine a couple of time and did feel the cool on my back.

Peter

Thanks for letting me know. I am going to have to investigate more.

I had just assumed it would be more difficult to put some "ducting" to bring cold air up to the back so instead they would just cool the seat, and then for the back it would get an electric heating pad so to speak for the heat.

Thanks again for clarifying for me.

 

[Motoarzan]

The seats are cooled from the seat back too. On the hottest day of the summer I had them going and were amazing...I'll never buy a vehicle again without "cooled" seats. Best feature ever. Maybe put driver and passenger cooling on full , wait 10min and try them both out to see if one cools more than the other.
Interesting to know the Peltier cooling system...I thought somehow a duct was snaked in there from the main AC vent of something to achieve the cooling.
Question: Where is the hot exhaust air from the reverse side of the Peltier system exhausted too? Back under the seat into the cabin? or vented outside through the floor or something?

 

[VinceL]

It is exhausted into the cabin, I believe under the front of the seat, as I can feel a slight breeze on the backs of my calves when the A/C seats are on.

As for their effectiveness, they are par for the course (Comparing to other Fords, Lexus, and GM). The cooler the ambient air in the car, the better the performance of the seat coolers. The back of the seat does cool, but it is not as pronounced as the seat cushion. I have found that a sweaty back feels the cooler air a bit better, lol.

If the remote start is given at least 2-3 minutes to do its job, I can feel the seat coolers when I sit down. Much less than that, and the A/C has barely started to cool the car.

The peltiers have the advantage of simplicity in that reversing the current switches the hot and cold sides so the cooler becomes a heater. As for the heated (as we inch ever so slowly toward winter) seats, I have found that they don't seem to startup until a minute or two after they are activated. I am not sure if that is to give the pelts enough time to warm up or what, but it makes sense not to have cold air blown on one's nether regions in the dead of winter!

 

[Riley]

The seat backs don't feel as cool due to their design. The seat bottom can get plenty of fresh (cooler) air as the fan module has a lot of space under the seat. The seat back however has the fan module buried deep between the foam and leather and doesn't get near as much airflow through it. The hot air is exhausted through a flexible tube routed out the bottom. The only real benefit I usually feel is your back doesn't stick to the leather like an un-cooled seat. The system is only capable of putting out air 14 degrees cooler than ambient. Therefore they will feel much cooler with the A/C on versus windows down.

 

[Harley#356]

If the cooler seats can not bring me down to room temp doing 80 with all windows down. What's the point of them turning on when u remote start the car it's well over 100 in there at that point

Because if it's 100* in the car it'll drop them to roughly 85*, because as mentioned above they're rated for typically a 15* drop over the ambient temp, and while 85* may not sound cool, compared to 100* on everything else, they feel great. And thats why with the windows down, and ambient being higher, they don't feel like they work as well, and windows up, the cabin cooler so ambient cooler, they feel like they work better.

I've found if you arch your back a bit or lean forward a bit for a minute, then sit back into the seat again, you'll feel the little chill knowing the seat backs are working.

I got cooled seats in my Raptor and it's my favorite feature of the entire truck lol, it was a no brainer must-have when we got the explorer.

 

[Motoarzan]

Question. Since the cooled seats have a blower fan to blow cooled air. I'm wondering, when you have the heated seats on (the Peltier working in reverse) does the heat just sort of resonate up or do the fans actually "blow" the warm air up just like the cooled setting.
Excuse me for asking but I don't Physically have my 2014 Sport yet. Delivery is expected mid Sept so I can;t check it out myself..

 

[tinner]

Riley hit the nail on the head. The seats r designed to draw cold air from the duct under the seats via a filtered fan mounted under the seats. There is no refrigeration tubing running thru the seats,if the a/c is off, then you r just drawing ambient air thru the seats (example- 85 degrees =85 degrees thru the seats) A/C needs to be on. The seats work great when its 95 degrees,butt and back.

On the heated seats there is actual heating elements in the seats, and my 13 X has the 2nd row seats heated also due to its late production date, ( added for the '14 X's Limiteds and Sports).

 

[Ryan327]

I have noticed the same thing, if i don't have the ac going, my seats just don't cool at all, if anything they feel like they are blowing hot air.

 

[Riley]

Riley hit the nail on the head. The seats r designed to draw cold air from the duct under the seats via a filtered fan mounted under the seats. There is no refrigeration tubing running thru the seats,if the a/c is off, then you r just drawing ambient air thru the seats (example- 85 degrees =85 degrees thru the seats) A/C needs to be on. The seats work great when its 95 degrees,butt and back.

On the heated seats there is actual heating elements in the seats, and my 13 X has the 2nd row seats heated also due to its late production date, ( added for the '14 X's Limiteds and Sports).

Actually they blow the warm air on climate controlled seats. On heating only seats (and the rears) there is a heating element pad.

 

[VinceL]

Riley hit the nail on the head. The seats r designed to draw cold air from the duct under the seats via a filtered fan mounted under the seats. There is no refrigeration tubing running thru the seats,if the a/c is off, then you r just drawing ambient air thru the seats (example- 85 degrees =85 degrees thru the seats) A/C needs to be on. The seats work great when its 95 degrees,butt and back.

On the heated seats there is actual heating elements in the seats, and my 13 X has the 2nd row seats heated also due to its late production date, ( added for the '14 X's Limiteds and Sports).

That is not entirely correct. The front seats use a peltier device and a fan to move either cooled or warmed air through the seats and out of the perforations, so there is no refrigeration tubing in the seats, but neither are there any heating elements. The peltier devices in the seats do in fact actively cool or heat the air being blown through them by the fan.

The rear heated seats, since they lack the cooling feature, should have the usual heating elements in them.

 

[peterk9]

That is not entirely correct. The front seats use a peltier device and a fan to move either cooled or warmed air through the seats and out of the perforations, so there is no refrigeration tubing in the seats, but neither are there any heating elements. The peltier devices in the seats do in fact actively cool or heat the air being blown through them by the fan.

The rear heated seats, since they lack the cooling feature, should have the usual heating elements in them.

I do believe that there is a heater mat in the seats. They seem to warm up quite a bit warmer than the heated air being blown into the cabin. Check out the following link.

http://www.justanswer.com/ford/5xfb...actory-heated-seats-the-wiring-dashboard.html

Peter

 

[Riley]

I do believe that there is a heater mat in the seats. They seem to warm up quite a bit warmer than the heated air being blown into the cabin. Check out the following link.

http://www.justanswer.com/ford/5xfb...actory-heated-seats-the-wiring-dashboard.html

Peter

No, there is not a heater mat in climate controlled seats. That diagram evens says it. If there was a heater mat it would block the perforations and not allow the air to flow. They do blow warmer than the regular cabin air but that is because it uses a Peltier device.

 

[peterk9]

No, there is not a heater mat in climate controlled seats. That diagram evens says it. If there was a heater mat it would block the perforations and not allow the air to flow. They do blow warmer than the regular cabin air but that is because it uses a Peltier device.

I guess I should have said a 'heating device' and not a mat. According to the diagram it is a 'seat cushion thermoelectric device'. I guess that heats up and the fan blows the heated air. It definitely does not seem to use the cabin air temperature as a source of actual heat. I was able to turn on the heated seats and feel the heat even though I had the A/C on.

Peter