Cooled seats

So I have been curious exactly how they are done from the factory and well still am, but I ran across a few companies offering kits for any and all cars. So I was curious if anyone has considered doing this or has done this. I am thinking it should be as easy as getting some super quiet computer fans around 3" in diameter and rigging up a switch and some wiring.

 

Here is one kit that looks pretty promising.

 

http://seatcomfortsystems.com/products/vent-heat

 

Just throwing it out there to see what you all think. Doesn't seem terribly hard to do.

Any system I've used is air conditioned aggressively. It's not just recirculating farts.

Any system I've used is air conditioned aggressively. It's not just recirculating farts.

There is a vent under the seat that could be used and Afaik it's always working.

 

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I love the 3 cooling setting they mention. The only thing they could do is change fan speed.

 

I personally can't see this being any good. To me if I wanted cooled seats, it would be most useful on my back.

 

I seriously doubt two fans inside the back of the seat are going to pull much conditioned air.

The seat back cover is just plastic, wouldn't be hard to make some vents there. I will have to pull a seat out and take a better look at how/if this could work.

With the leather perforated seats I think it should be relatively easy to do. But I'd be nervous about tearing into my seats

Impossible. Don't even bother trying.

 

As someone who has had my seat cushions off, and apart, and back together half a dozen times modifying the bolstering, I can tell you with utmost certainty that you are not going to pass any air through the seats. They are made of closed cell poly foam and the only way to get air through the letter would be to run a series of vinyl tubing throughout the cushions and push high pressure air through them so that they don't collapse under your weight.

 

Good luck. I'd guess you'd need 60 psi through 1/4" plastic fridge line, with many small holes in it to dispense the air with slits in the foam to let the air travel out.

 

Edit: I'm talking about the butt cushion. Maybe the back would be easier. But you'd need a hella fan.

Impossible. Don't even bother trying.

 

 

If everyone who was ever told that believed it imagine where our world would be now...

I have been thinking about getting air through the foam instead of cutting the foam out. I think making some large perforations in the foam maybe 1/4" and filling them with some type of open cell foam could work, but again I need to see the seat taken apart to get a feel for how to make this work.

 

And remember I live in Florida, so during the summer I regularly see 100+ degree temps in my car so cooling the seat even 20 degrees would help.

I am not saying its impossible to have cooled seats. I would love that myself. I am saying its impossible to move air through the foam.

 

Now.. If you got some kind of membrane between the leather and backing material that would let air flow through you would have a chance, but even so you would need to move a lot of air.

 

Suggestion: skip the air and run liquid cooling. You could run a 12v pump that would be much quieter, wouldn't have to be in the cabin at all and could circulate coolant in a closed loop cooled off a coil against your AC exchanger.

Or you could buy one of those 12v refrigerator coolers and take it apart and use the compressor and condenser to cool the liquid coolant lines through your seat.

Those 12v coolers are going to end up costing me a few years of life from my battery and/or alternator. I am just starting to look into it. My first step may be to locate some cheap seats lol!

That's actually not a bad idea. You're probably gonna have to find some used Mercedes seats with cooling. Couldn't imagine what they'd cost. I don't recall Subaru ever having cooled seats.... I bet there's a JDM only one, Hahaha.

The seats in my Father-in-law's '09 Maxima are fantastic. Cooled, very supportive, and extendable thigh support/seat-bottom. I hate that car, except the seats.

 

 

I still think its plausible to run a cooling line using refrigerator supply line or something through your seat back and circulate antifreeze through it. Make coil of copper tubing and mount against your AC exchanger and circulate the coolant through.

 

The only load on your alternator would be for the 12v low pressure circulation pump which would be squat.

I think you are over thinking the complexity of it.

 

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Perhaps

 

See, I just don't think you will be able to use fans to push air through the leather and ventilate one's back without a tremendous amount of air flow and pressure. Any decent OEM seat cooler uses auxiliary air conditioning and any of the ones relying on air moving out of the seat don't work well. You get air flowing out where your body isn't, like across your junk literally freezing your balls off while your back is hot and gross

 

So I am suggesting not trying to ventilate the seat, but rather just cool it substantially.

 

For example, you could run liquid cooling lines through the seat cushions (easy to do) and use a series of Thermo-Electric Peltier coolers to pump heat out of the water and into heatsinks with fans attached, dumping the heat to the interior atmosphere of the car. So.. liquid cooling your seat, pumping the heat out of the liquid into a sink with peltiers, and cooling the sinks with fans.

 

All 12v computer gear.. a few hundred watts of Peltiers would probably get your back icy cold. Would need to run antifreeze, naturally.

 

Peltiers, cheap: [ame=http://www.amazon.ca/SODIAL-TEC1-12706-Heatsink-Thermoelectric-Cooler/dp/B00L8VEOHU]SODIAL® 5pcs TEC1-12706 Heatsink Thermoelectric Cooler Cool Plate Module 12V 6A 72W: Amazon.ca: Computers & Tablets[/ame]

 

In short, using a series of tubing to circulate coolant to scavenge heat from your back/butt, pumped and exchanged with 1 or more CPU water-block/pump units attached to TECs to pump the heat out of the water block to near freezing temperatures and cool the TECs with a giant Heatsink/fan under the seat. So TECs sandwiched between CPU water cooler block/pump(s) and a heat sink with a fan.

 

TECs aren't as efficient as vapour-compression heat pumps (like A/C) but small, compact, no moving parts, and silent. The Fans wouldn't be too loud.. Computer gear.

 

You could probably build something for a few hundred bucks that would refrigerate you nicely. Using a few hundred watts - less than seat heaters.

Most of the seat "cooling" systems are really just ventilation. They use fans to pull air ambient air through the perforations, rather than positively venting conditioned air. It works simply because of evaporative cooling, rather than using a complex A/C system through the seat.

Perhaps

 

See, I just don't think you will be able to use fans to push air through the leather and ventilate one's back without a tremendous amount of air flow and pressure. Any decent OEM seat cooler uses auxiliary air conditioning and any of the ones relying on air moving out of the seat don't work well. You get air flowing out where your body isn't, like across your junk literally freezing your balls off while your back is hot and gross

 

And you would be wrong because ventilating is exactly what most of them do, who want to put an antifreeze based cooling system in their seat. When a line or joint goes your ass is going to be wet and gross in a whole other way, lol. And your seat will be soaked with antifreeze.

 

Most of the seat "cooling" systems are really just ventilation. They use fans to pull air ambient air through the perforations, rather than positively venting conditioned air. It works simply because of evaporative cooling, rather than using a complex A/C system through the seat.

 

That is exactly what I am finding, I found a thread on a raptor forum that shows the ford setup, it is a blower hooked into a goal post shaped cutout in the foam not hard or complex. Hook it into the lower cooling duct and you will feel it, and I never said it would only work on the seat bottom.

I'm almost positive that my father in laws maxima uses a peltier cooler, and not the HVAC AC. It does use air, but its cold long before the AC is cold and the AC doesn't need to be on. The seat is also designed for it, so it has places where air can flow, unlike our seats.

 

Liquid cooling would have lots of advantages, and if competently installed, wouldn't leak. It would be very low pressure circulation so I don't see the issue.

 

Anyway, go for it. Hopefully it works well for you.

My mum's F10 M5 uses fans in the seats for cooling, you can hear them if the car isn't running and it's dead quiet

Yup... And I bets its not just ambient air but cooled with a thermo electric cooler, I.e peltier. Especially in an M5.

http://www.fordraptorforum.com/f170/add-cooled-seats-25142/

 

I have sat in the f150 with cooled seat and they work pretty well to me. Hooking to the under seat ac duct and a blower should work pretty well.

 

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I'm interested to see what you come up with and how effective it is seeing as how FL and Houston weather isn't too different come summer time.

I looked into this awhile ago, ended up not getting the answer because I got sidetracked on other things (wedding, new house, new job) but its something I wanted. In all honesty though I might be more tempted to replace the seats entirely as they really aren't bolstered well for any hard cornering.

 

Regardless let us know what you find, I will keep tabs on this because if it turns out that it works and doesn't cost a fortune I will probably do it as well :-)

So I found some 5/16 mil spec spacer mesh which alleges to hold up under weight and ordered two 75mm cheapie pc blowers rated at 30 cfm. And Brandon's pointing out the closed cell foam not being good for airflow caught my attention. If the mesh is sandwhiched between the foam and perforated seat cover the air will be forced through the perforations win win. If I can do this the way I am planning I won't even need to cut the foam on the seat. Need to figure out tubing for the ducts and blowers.

 

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