Cooled seats?

[TJP719]

I think it depends on how many layers of clothing you have on too. Yesterday I had a bathing suit on and a tanktop and the cooling was so much more noticeable.

Let the jokes begin...lol

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[Blk2015GT]

The ventilated seats are nice enough but they get overpowered very quickly in real heat. I think they basically work 'well enough' to counterbalance the extra heat retention you tend to get in leather/vinyl over some better ventilated cloth on some cars (no idea if the 2015 cloth is similar to the more 'spacer mesh'-esque heat friendly seats on other cars).

This.

They are using a heat exchanger and a fan, not refrigerant. They will never be as good as the more expensive cooled seats, but this isn't a Range Rover or Porsche at $100k either.

It also won't cool as well if you have the windows down in the summer as the ambient temp in the cabin going into the fax/exchanger matters a lot.

If you read some Mercedes or BMW forums they have the same complaints- it's more like a light breeze from a fan than cooled as advertised as, and many wouldn't had selected the option if they knew.

They aren't great but it dooes cool you a bit to at least semi-comfortable. I wouldn't call it cool though after it's been struggling for an 30-60+ min or so. I have noticed if you have the foot vent A/C on that cooler air gets under the seat to the fan and the seats work a bit better.

 

[Mikevercetti]

The summer is the best time for cooled seats. Also the Recaro's are manual as well, I love the easy exit feature as it moves the seat back to get in and out, another of my favorite features. If you aren't taking the car to a road course the stock seats should provide decent support especially when the seat belt locks. Have you driven a mustang with both options?

How do you enable the easy exit feature?

 

[GT Pony]

Are you guys testing your cooled seats with the A/C on or off? From the sounds of it, the cooled seats will cool without the A/C being on ... true?

Also, I'm assuming if the right seat cushions have been put in these seats that you should be able to feel air flow coming out of the perforated leather on both the bottom and back of the seat ... true?

They are using a heat exchanger and a fan, not refrigerant. They will never be as good as the more expensive cooled seats, but this isn't a Range Rover or Porsche at $100k either.

Sounds like the cooled seats in the Mustang use a thermo-electric cooling system with fans to blow the cooled air through the seat cushions. If that's the case, then they should cool without the A/C on.

But as the Ford Rep mentioned, if you have your window up and the A/C on so the cabin is cooled down, I would imagine the fans that blow the air through the cushions would also blow some of the cool cabin air through the seats and help cool them.

 

[wildsailor]

Are you guys testing your cooled seats with the A/C on or off? From the sounds of it, the cooled seats will cool without the A/C being on ... true?

Also, I'm assuming if the right seat cushions have been put in these seats that you should be able to feel air flow coming out of the perforated leather on both the bottom and back of the seat ... true?



Sounds like the cooled seats in the Mustang use a thermo-electric cooling system with fans to blow the cooled air through the seat cushions. If that's the case, then they should cool without the A/C on.

But as the Ford Rep mentioned, if you have your window up and the A/C on so the cabin is cooled down, I would imagine the fans that blow the air through the cushions would also blow some of the cool cabin air through the seats and help cool them.

My driver seat only seems to be noticeable with the AC on. My passenger seat, however, works great all the time according to my daughter. She uses it all the time when I pick her up from dance class. I have yet to approach this and actually map it out so for me it is up in the air!

 

[Blk2015GT]

Are you guys testing your cooled seats with the A/C on or off? From the sounds of it, the cooled seats will cool without the A/C being on ... true?

Also, I'm assuming if the right seat cushions have been put in these seats that you should be able to feel air flow coming out of the perforated leather on both the bottom and back of the seat ... true?



Sounds like the cooled seats in the Mustang use a thermo-electric cooling system with fans to blow the cooled air through the seat cushions. If that's the case, then they should cool without the A/C on.

But as the Ford Rep mentioned, if you have your window up and the A/C on so the cabin is cooled down, I would imagine the fans that blow the air through the cushions would also blow some of the cool cabin air through the seats and help cool them.

That's what I was saying. I think the Ford Rep said that it will work better with the windows up and A/C on. They will cool without the A/C on for sure.

But the heat exchange can only happen so fast if the cabin air is hot from the windows down. Windows up and A/C on the cabin is probably 10-15 degrees cooler to start, and the seat apparatus doesnt have to work so hard to cool.

I think a lot of people are seeing much less cooling with the windows (or top) down which should be expected. If isn't running refrigerant or else it'd always be cold regardless of the ambient temp in the cabin.

 

[GT Pony]

Ok, so I did a test to see what I see on my GT. Turned both seats on full cooling. I put an ear against both seat bottoms and backs and can hear the fans. Fan speed decreases as the level of cooling is changed on the dash. Less cooling makes the fans slow down with each of the 3 settings.

Also, I could definitely feel air coming out of the perforated leather where the fans were located in the bottoms and backs. Granted, air flow does NOT come out of all the perforated area ... just that area where the fans are located. Maybe when you are sitting on the seats the air from the fan might spread out over the perforated area of the seats ... don't know for sure.

Here's the clincher. I could definitely feel cool air coming out of the bottom of both seats, but not out of the backs of both seats. So maybe the fans in the seat backs are only designed to pull cold cabin air through the seats?

I'd like to see an exploded view of the seat assembly to see if they show a thermo-electric element in the seat back, or is there one only in the seat bottom?

 

[Blk2015GT]

Fordparts.com has exploded views of everything in the car.

19N550 is the part number, there is an B in the bottom and A in the rear of the seat (the 2 red smaller plates). I think the A is located in the lower lumbar though as per a Ford Rep here. The upper back doesn't cool.

 

[GT Pony]

Fordparts.com has exploded views of everything in the car.

19N550 is the part number, there is an B in the bottom and A in the rear of the seat (the 2 red smaller plates). I think the A is located in the lower lumbar though as per a Ford Rep here. The upper back doesn't cool.

Thanks for that exploded view. When I felt where the air was coming out on the back of the seat it was basically half way up the back, not low in the lumbar area. I think the fan assemblies are basically located about in the center of the bottom seat, and about the center of the back of the seat based on where I could feel air blowing through the perforated leather.

From the looks of it, I would venture to say that there is supposed to be a thermo-electric cooler built into each "fan unit" A & B (red assemblies you mentioned in the exploded view), that would cool the air that the fan is moving through the surface of the seat.

So the question to the Ford Rep to go find out from Ford Engineering is: "Is there an active thermo-electric cooling element included in the seat back fan assembly part number 19N550 in the exploded view?"

If not, then the backs are not designed to cool. IF there is supposed to be an active electric cooler in 19N550, then the seat back should cool just like the seat bottoms.

People have verified they can hear the fan and feel air flow through the back ... just not cooling at all - and some guys even claim their seat backs actually heat up with the seats on the full cold setting.

 

[Stangnut]

Thanks for that exploded view. When I felt where the air was coming out on the back of the seat it was basically half way up the back, not low in the lumbar area. I think the fan assemblies are basically located about in the center of the bottom seat, and about the center of the back of the seat based on where I could feel air blowing through the perforated leather.

I think someone at Ford got it wrong when we were told it was in the lumbar section. (which, of course, would make no sense at all to put it there) Even the diagram shows it in the center of the seat back.

 

[EcoSwag1990]

As long as I cool off deez nuts after a trip to the gym I'm good

 

[Blk2015GT]

I think someone at Ford got it wrong when we were told it was in the lumbar section. (which, of course, would make no sense at all to put it there) Even the diagram shows it in the center of the seat back.

The diagram is nothing more than a diagram though, not to scale I'm sure. A Ford Rep in another subsection confirmed that it's bottom and lumbar. Nothing in the middle/upper half of the seat.

 

[Tofino]

They are great !
And make my top 5 favorite things in the car list.

 

[Stangnut]

The diagram is nothing more than a diagram though, not to scale I'm sure. A Ford Rep in another subsection confirmed that it's bottom and lumbar. Nothing in the middle/upper half of the seat.

Yet everyone says the air is coming from the middle. Not the lumbar section. Plus it wouldn't make any sense to put it down there.

 

[Blk2015GT]

Yet everyone says the air is coming from the middle. Not the lumbar section. Plus it wouldn't make any sense to put it down there.

Well "lumbar" is the lower half of the seat. I don't think there is any one definitive answer on this issue though.

I am disappointed in them generally. Had I known they were so poor I would've just gotten the Recaros honestly. Since no one else drives it I wasn't concerned about the power seat being lost, mostly the cooled option (South FL so heated is rarely ever used).

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