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Are the seats ventilated or air conditioned?


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Okay, so lets say it is -3 degrees out, like it is today. I have the car set at 72 degrees, my wife has her passenger heated seat on, but I just worked out and am a bit hot. I turn my cooled driver's seat on, what happens? We know the A/C compressor won't go on......

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Turning on the cooled seats does not turn on the car's A/C compressor, but there's more than just a fan that circulates air. The cooled seats will produce a cooling effect even if you have the HVAC system turned off. There is a Thermal Electric Device (TED) that provides both the heating and cooling functions. It's a Peltier Device for those that want to search the Internet. The TED is limited to a certain temperature differential from the inlet air, so if it's 90 degrees in your car and you turn on the seat A/C it's only going to be able to cool the seats to that differential limitation, maybe something like 20 or 30 degrees. Similar for the heating function.

 

-Rod

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I know that in warmer weather if I turn the cooling on the seats I can feel the cooling coming through the seats, since I am normally wearing shorts in the summer and it does feel like cool air, not just circulated air. As for the heated seats I know it seems to take longer to feel the effect of the heat, but I've always thought it was because of being in long pants it just takes a bit longer to actually "feel" the heating of the seat. But if I am cold (normally from diving in cold water) in the summer if I turn the heat on my seat and I'm in shorts, the seat does seem to heat faster. Again, that's what led to my theory that feeling the effects of heat/cool does have something to do with the level of clothing that you are wearing....

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SHO Rod's right....however, when comparing "apples to apples", many manufacturers only include a ventilation effect, which is only a fan that picks up residual air from the AC, if it is on. The higher end makes include this thermal electric device. So, next time you see that ad for the cheap car with ventilated seats, it's not exactly the same setup. :-)

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