Heated and Cooled Seat question

[68blazer]

Hey all, I have a question that I need some help with. I am doing an LS swap on a 67 swb and I am into the interior of the truck. I want heated & cooled seats. Some vehicles claim they have heated & cooled seats but they are “cooled” by a fan or it just circulates unrefrigerated air. In my opinion, those vehicles need to claim that they are heated and ventilated. Some manufactures actually state they are ventilated or are only cooled by a fan. (BTW I don’t want that) Back to seats that use refrigerant or use the vehicles A/C, those aren’t efficient. Not to mention I can’t imagine creating/installing the plumbing from under the dash to both seats. So in my many hours of research I came across climate controlled seats. Like the picture below
http://www.pro-touring.com/attachmen...3&d=1339078022
I called this company (which is now called gentherm) and they don’t sell to the public (sounds ridiculous to me but their prerogative). Now these seats operate under the peltier effect or integrated Thermoelectric Device(s) (TED).
http://www.gentherm.com/en/page/climate-seats.
This is the most efficient way I can think of to have heated & cooled seats. Now obviously there is a list of vehicles (below) that already have these seats that I plan on going to the salvage yard and pulling for my truck (hopefully this list is accurate & they are true cooled seats and not ventilated)



My questions for everyone on the forum (who already own these type of seats in a new vehicle or have already found some and installed them in another vehicle) is how good are they? Also where is the climate control switches for the set? The reason I ask is if it’s on the seat itself I would assume it would be an easier install into the 67. Otherwise I would have to get switches/controls and a wiring harness to match which is not only more money I assume it’s a bigger headache. I know I may be asking for too much but who can direct me towards a thermoelectric device (TED) pair of front seats that are great for cooling & heating with the controls on the seats themselves?


thanks everyone

[Tomo]

My parents have a traverse with heated/cooled seats. I don't spend a lot of time in it but the few times I've have the heating and cooling works great. The switch is on the dash in the center. I believe they have a 2014 or 2015 traverse ltz.

Please let me know how it works out - I'd like to have heated/cooled seats in my k5. But I really want to keep the original seats.

[Tomo]

Looks like f150 seats have the button on the seat
https://www.ebay.com/i/372088833354

Might look on eBay (search heated cooled seats) before you go to the junk yard. Should help you decide what you want - hurts to say this but there are several ford seats that look nice.

[demian5]

You could add the components to stock seats. The reason the cooling works is because of foam with holes and perforated leather seat covers. Look for an old wrecked navigator with torn up leather and buy the components. Not to hard to get out, just make sure you get everything including the switches and the modules and wiring (at least connector ends with some wiring left).

[Overdriven]

I haven't been in a ton of newer cars with heated or cooled seats but all ones so equipped had the switches not mounted on the seats. Usually near the climate controls or on the center console.

If it were me I'd find a pair of seats you like. Then try using google and searching for the modules and wiring diagrams. To use the 2015 Traverse example above I just googled "2015 traverse heated cooled seat module" and got lots of info, even found a Traverse forum with people who know what they're talking about even down to adding heated/cooled seats to Traverse vehicles that didn't come with them. There are plenty of other forums out there for other makes/models and I'm sure they could help out with getting a wiring diagram and installing everything.

[darrellyates]

I will give you my opinion. I have a Dodge Ram with heated and cooled seats. The controls for both are in the center of the dash, above the floor mounted console on the actual dash. They are easy to reach, and light up to tell you the function being used.

I learned something here, I never knew how they worked. But they do work. The warmers are pretty balanced, that is, no hot spots that I can tell of. And the leather on the seats is perforated, and air does move thru and cools you off really well. I've made several 8+ hour trips, and your back never gets "sweaty or sticky"... Before I had them, had you told me about them, I likely would have scoffed at the usefulness, however after using them for about 8 years, I don't know that I will purchase another new vehicle without them.

I would say used seats from the list you have might be the way to go... Good Luck!

[Andy4639]

I have 99 Tahoe heated seats in my 71 but not cool seats. That would be nice but I'm not swapping out no time soon. Nice info though and hope it works out for you make sure you keep us up to date on it.

[68blazer]

Originally Posted by Tomo

My parents have a traverse with heated/cooled seats. I don't spend a lot of time in it but the few times I've have the heating and cooling works great. The switch is on the dash in the center. I believe they have a 2014 or 2015 traverse ltz.

Please let me know how it works out - I'd like to have heated/cooled seats in my k5. But I really want to keep the original seats.

I will look into the traverse but think the switch on the dash will hurt its chances.

Originally Posted by Tomo

Looks like f150 seats have the button on the seat
https://www.ebay.com/i/372088833354

Might look on eBay (search heated cooled seats) before you go to the junk yard. Should help you decide what you want - hurts to say this but there are several ford seats that look nice.

I understand your pain in saying but appreciate your honesty

Originally Posted by Overdriven

I haven't been in a ton of newer cars with heated or cooled seats but all ones so equipped had the switches not mounted on the seats. Usually near the climate controls or on the center console.

If it were me I'd find a pair of seats you like. Then try using google and searching for the modules and wiring diagrams. To use the 2015 Traverse example above I just googled "2015 traverse heated cooled seat module" and got lots of info, even found a Traverse forum with people who know what they're talking about even down to adding heated/cooled seats to Traverse vehicles that didn't come with them. There are plenty of other forums out there for other makes/models and I'm sure they could help out with getting a wiring diagram and installing everything.

Thats not a bad idea, i appreciate it.

Originally Posted by darrellyates

I will give you my opinion. I have a Dodge Ram with heated and cooled seats. The controls for both are in the center of the dash, above the floor mounted console on the actual dash. They are easy to reach, and light up to tell you the function being used.

I learned something here, I never knew how they worked. But they do work. The warmers are pretty balanced, that is, no hot spots that I can tell of. And the leather on the seats is perforated, and air does move thru and cools you off really well. I've made several 8+ hour trips, and your back never gets "sweaty or sticky"... Before I had them, had you told me about them, I likely would have scoffed at the usefulness, however after using them for about 8 years, I don't know that I will purchase another new vehicle without them.

I would say used seats from the list you have might be the way to go... Good Luck!

Thank you and i do appreciate your opinion

Originally Posted by Andy4639

I have 99 Tahoe heated seats in my 71 but not cool seats. That would be nice but I'm not swapping out no time soon. Nice info though and hope it works out for you make sure you keep us up to date on it.

I will and i have thought about just having heated only. I just know i wouldn't be completely happy.

[ACGUY71]

i did put 2018 heated/cooled seats in my 71. the heated part was easy. now the cooled part??? yeah getting a driver for those little brushless motors has been a pain. still looking for them. basically there is a positive wire, a negative wire, and a 3rd wire to "excite" the motor for speed. still working on it. however, the heated part has been glorious now that it's cold out!!

[geezer#99]

Cold out!
Not in your neighbourhood!
I see you have lows of 40 above zero.
You should try 40 below, then you’d need a seat heater!
By the by, you do know this is an old thread!
And welcome to the forum!

[68blazer]

Im glad he dug this back up. Maybe now someone has done something that will help. I am still in the same boat. I have done some research that lets me know the same generation of chevy truck (2007-2014) has heated & cooled seats. 2009 and newer if im not mistaken in denali's, 2500HDs, higher end trim packages and escalade's. If someone knows that programming my 2008 computer to accept (hypothetically ) 2013 seats work, i think i would be in tall cotton. Or if someone knew swapping out computers (with a heated/cooled year) & having matching year seats would also work, that would make me the happiest man on this site. I would be so greatful to this forum i would create and post all of our findings with pics to help all of the future cooled seat in classic truck fans on here. Are there any intelligent people on here who know?

[ACGUY71]

hi guys, sorry for dragging up such a old thread. so here is what I have done, we custom fabbed brackets for 2018 heated cooled seats. great, now they fit, center console (yea cupholders and cell charger) and they fit nice. I did remove the head rest. they simply just are too damn big. now, I purchased a seat heater kit on ebay, and simply used the wiring to the existing heaters on the seats. (perfect) so, the switch is now in the exact spot that the lighter was. (fit perfect with bezel) they are HI, LOW and only both, not back or bottom. but this is fine with me. this fixed my problem with the heated part and under 100$$ (now i have extra elements.) as far as the cooled part, this is the hard part. I was thinking of taking apart some aftermarket stuff to see if the cooler controls will work with the seat cooler fans. If I can't, the only other recourse would be to just put in 2 speed fan motors, and get rid of the brushless motors all to gether. however, seriously, this is not rocket science, there has to be a controller that will interchange, we just have not found it yet. There is only one thing I don't like about these seats. the airbags blew, a seat guy fixed the leather. but, the upper clips in the foam are not down like they should be and on hot days, there is 2 dimples. a foam back change will fix the problem, but hell, I just got them in, and I'm still trying to do other projects. thanks for listening, and if you hear of anything on the cooled seats.... please share. In agreement with the guy up a few posts.... after having these, it's hard to go without. (yes, our winters in CA are 50 degrees or so, but hell our summers are over 110... (good thing I'm an a/c guy!!)

[Andy4639]

I did 99 Tahoe seats several years ago now because there was so much trouble finding info on the Cooling seats I just went for heat.

I used 99 Tahoe 6 way electrics with heat. The heater pads where shot in the drivers side so I bought the E bay heater pads also and installed them and used the aftermarket switch in the factory spot on the seat. As stated it's just high are low for both which is what I like.
I haven't herd of anyone getting the cool seats to work yet.
It took me a while to figure out the heat but after some late nite talks with guy's at work I figured it out.

I ran my grounds though a relay hooked up to the seat belt buckle so that if the heater is turned on and a rider gets out of the truck it cuts off automatic without having to touch the switch. I didn't want to take a chance on a melt down.

[68blazer]

ACGUY71, you got pics?