Why are cooled seats not a more common option?

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Mon 2 Dec 2019 07:12
Why are cooled seats not a more common option? - jadenfrancis

So ever since basically the start of September we've been hitting a daily average of about 28 to 35 degrees Celsius, and it's going to stay like that till roughly April, which means that the majority of our year

However I recently been looking into buying a new car for the wife and everyone seems to heated seats, no I mean they're probably really good in climates where it gets cold, but when the average winter temperature here really gets below about 10 degrees in most of the country, and even in the coldest parts it only get 2 maybe -5, it seems that for about the 3% of the country that gets really cold, heated seats and not much of a selling point.

Conversely in the other 97% of the country where it is almost consistently hot most of the year, you think cooled seats would be a much bigger selling point.

So why don't more cars come with seats that cool? I mean today is an average day and it's already 35 degrees, some cooled seats would be really nice right about now, and probably until around April.

Edited by jadenfrancis on 02/12/2019 at 07:13

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Mon 2 Dec 2019 08:27
Why are cooled seats not a more common option? - Will deBeast

Ha, ha, ha. It -4.5C here in the UK, and this is a UK site so seat heaters are the favoured option here. I'd never have specified a heated steering wheel, but my car came with one and it is lovely.

As you live in a warmer place, I suggest you address your concerns to the importing agent in your locality!

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Mon 2 Dec 2019 08:37
Why are cooled seats not a more common option? - gordonbennet

Leather seats have to be the worse i really don't get the attraction and wish there had been a choice of nicer material for whoever originally bought my car, presumably aircon is supposed to suffice for overall cooling, but choosing sensible cloth (or wool if you have the choice of a proper large JDM Toyota) upholstery would make life much more pleasant.

If you are already stuck with leather then a decent quality sheepskin cover makes the world of difference, wouldn't be without mine, warm in winter cool in summer.

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Mon 2 Dec 2019 08:45
Why are cooled seats not a more common option? - Falkirk Bairn

Grandchildren and incontinent relatives makes it a 100% vote for leather.

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Mon 2 Dec 2019 08:53
Why are cooled seats not a more common option? - Will deBeast

Leather seats have to be the worse i really don't get the attraction...

Dog hairs and children's mess are MUCH easier to wipe/vacuum from leather.

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Mon 2 Dec 2019 09:16
Why are cooled seats not a more common option? - Andrew-T

I get the idea, but I'm struggling to think of a practical way to achieve it. It's easy to put some amps down some wires, but harder to extract heat from anything without pipework somewhere. Any suggestions?

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Mon 2 Dec 2019 09:22
Why are cooled seats not a more common option? - dadbif
When we lived in Spain, we used a reflective cover for the screen that kept both the interior and the seats cooler.
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Mon 2 Dec 2019 09:42
Why are cooled seats not a more common option? - gordonbennet

If it's a problem of mess that dogs children or incontinent oldies leave behind then pick ups spring to mind, but no one's suggesting cruelty so a hard top is permissable :-)

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Mon 2 Dec 2019 10:04
Why are cooled seats not a more common option? - Terry W

I've never understood the attraction of leather seats - they are, after all, just animal skin coated with a thin layer of plastic.

You could either save money by lusting after vinyl seats, or going for a quality fabric which is frankly more comfortable irrespective of temperature.

The only issue is that kids are not allowed sticky sweets (you are the boss!) and the odd incontinent should wear pads (or get a taxi instead)

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Mon 2 Dec 2019 10:28
Why are cooled seats not a more common option? - badbusdriver

You do get 'cooled' seats in some high end cars. Trouble is, it's much harder, more complex and therefore more expensive to do than heated seats. I haven't actually looked into it, but i'm assuming that cooling the seats would require ventilation ducts within the seat, possibly connected to the a/c. Not practical for everyday cars.

I'm also not really a fan of leather seats, though there are practical advantages for a family car, certainly compared to some kind of velour!. But it does amuse me that back in 'the old days', the truly luxurious choice would be some kind of cloth for the seats, while the driver (the staff, if you will) up front, sat on leather. Especially if the car body was a 'Sedanca De Ville' type, where the rear of the car was enclosed, but the driver was exposed to the elements!.

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Mon 2 Dec 2019 15:21
Why are cooled seats not a more common option? - Theophilus

10-15 years ago I remember the Saab 9-5 with the option of specifying cooled seats ... seems strange that the innovation was in a car built for Swedish winters!

Found a link which shows how they worked:http://www.saabhistory.com/2007/11/17/ventilated-seats-saab-innovation/

Edited by Theophilus on 02/12/2019 at 15:24

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Mon 2 Dec 2019 16:50
Why are cooled seats not a more common option? - veryoldbear

I can assure you that my Saab 9-5 Aero Estate most emphatically has cooled or heated front seats with individual controls for driver and front sea passenger.

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Mon 2 Dec 2019 18:38
Why are cooled seats not a more common option? - Engineer Andy

Why do you I get the distinct impression that the OP is either unaware that this is a UK-based website or they are a spammer pretending to post a 'credible' question before posting another with ads.

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Mon 2 Dec 2019 23:01
Why are cooled seats not a more common option? - drd63
My Mustang has cooled and heated seats, 3 settings for both. “Climate” seats were one of the few options so I specced them for the heating. I didn’t think I would use the cooling much but it is fantastic in the summer.
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Mon 2 Dec 2019 23:12
Why are cooled seats not a more common option? - Metropolis.
Agreed, i’ve been in Lexus with these and it’s even better than the ‘crotch vent’ they used to put in old Chevy’s, i think some JDM cars had them too
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Tue 3 Dec 2019 21:22
Why are cooled seats not a more common option? - jadenfrancis

So ever since basically the start of September we've been hitting a daily average of about 28 to 35 degrees Celsius, and it's going to stay like that till roughly April, which means that the majority of our year

However I recently been looking into buying a new car for the wife and everyone seems to heated seats, no I mean they're probably really good in climates where it gets cold, but when the average winter temperature here really gets below about 10 degrees in most of the country, and even in the coldest parts it only get 2 maybe -5, it seems that for about the 3% of the country that gets really cold, heated seats and not much of a selling point.

Conversely in the other 97% of the country where it is almost consistently hot most of the year, you think cooled seats would be a much bigger selling point.

So why don't more cars come with seats that cool? I mean today is an average day and it's already 35 degrees, some cooled seats would be really nice right about now, and probably until around April.

ISSUE SOLVED!


Edited by Avant on 03/12/2019 at 23:49

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Tue 3 Dec 2019 23:53
Why are cooled seats not a more common option? - Avant

After all the helpful posts, this useless sub-human specimen comes back with the same post with two links added. It's not even obvious what the links are, so it (I won't dignify it with a gender) isn't even any good at advertising.

I've disabled its account but left the thread up as the topic could be of interest generally.

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Thu 5 Dec 2019 22:20
Why are cooled seats not a more common option? - Smileyman

I can count on both hands (feet too) the number of times my legs have got burnt when sitting on leather upholstery on a hot day ... fabric is much kinder to skin when heated by sunlight ... my gripe is why is it that heated seats may be standard on leather upholstery cars but not nearly so often if the upholstery is fabric ....

Edited by Smileyman on 05/12/2019 at 22:20

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