Active Ventilated Seats- Opinions Wanted

[X5FX]

I am in Louisiana, and the heat and humidity are pretty high. Whatever is happening under the seat, it feels like very cold air instanstly when the ac is turned on coming thru the seats.I am very surprised that there isnt a vent under the seat.

[Viperfreak2]

I just looked, and there is a large A/C vent under each front seat. So while there is no 'direct connection', it does draw the air from those vents up into the seats. Maybe those who experience less than frosty cold air prefer the a/c setting on manual, with 100% of the a/c blowing through the upper vents, while those who leave it on auto (or the feet level setting?) get a quick burst of cold air. Something to consider.

[Penguin]

Originally Posted by Viperfreak2

I just looked, and there is a large A/C vent under each front seat. So while there is no 'direct connection', it does draw the air from those vents up into the seats. Maybe those who experience less than frosty cold air prefer the a/c setting on manual, with 100 of the a/c blowing through the upper vents, while those who leave it on auto get a quick burst of cold air. Something to consider.

Makes sense to me.

[X5_Newbie]

Originally Posted by Viperfreak2

I just looked, and there is a large A/C vent under each front seat. So while there is no 'direct connection', it does draw the air from those vents up into the seats. Maybe those who experience less than frosty cold air prefer the a/c setting on manual, with 100% of the a/c blowing through the upper vents, while those who leave it on auto (or the feet level setting?) get a quick burst of cold air. Something to consider.

[xnsf]

doesn't make sense to me to output ambient cold air, and have some mechanism to underneath the seat to suck that air into the seat and blow it on your bottom and back...

that vent is for the rear seat passengers' feet

...anyways....

[Penguin]

Originally Posted by xnsf

doesn't make sense to me to output ambient cold air, and have some mechanism to underneath the seat to suck that air into the seat and blow it on your bottom and back... that vent is for the rear seat passengers' feet

'

Doesn't matter what that vent is "for," just what it's effect is.

Since the seat must have quite a bit of adjustment forward/backward/up/down, it does makes some sense, as it simplfies the system quite a bit to avoid a direct connection to a/c output... for assembly, operation, reliability, and service.

Imagine what kind of a direct connection would be required to allow seat adjustment. And then if it was a direct connect, you'd also need to add some sort of damper/valve control to shut off the air when you didn't want any, since a direct connection to the Heater/A/C would be pressurized by the HVAC system.

[X5_Newbie]

Originally Posted by Penguin

'

Doesn't matter what that vent is "for," just what it's effect is.

Since the seat must have quite a bit of adjustment forward/backward/up/down, it does makes some sense, as it simplfies the system quite a bit to avoid a direct connection to a/c output... for assembly, operation, reliability, and service.

Imagine what kind of a direct connection would be required to allow seat adjustment. And then if it was a direct connect, you'd also need to add some sort of damper/valve control to shut off the air when you didn't want any, since a direct connection to the Heater/A/C would be pressurized by the HVAC system.

Again - nothing to add but:
Maybe just: If you don't use the seat in the very extended seating positions but just in "average" positions (not too high, not too low, not too far backwards/forwards), direct lines would probably hang around loose and produce noises, won't they?

[Viperfreak2]

Next question: Does anyone make an "Air-Conditioned" seat, or are they all 'ventilated'?

[Penguin]

Originally Posted by Viperfreak2

Next question: Does anyone make an "Air-Conditioned" seat, or are they all 'ventilated'?

Good question.

This paper by Delphi talks of three main current types, none of which seem to use a connection to the HVAC system, relying either on cabin air or devices in the seat assemblies themselves. The paper then talks about a novel new system which would use the vehicle HVAC system partially:

http://delphi.com/pdf/techpapers/2007-01-1193.pdf

The paper above is a good example of the depths to which automotive engineers go to in their analysis and design of car features. Yes, they do think about this stuff a lot before they put it into a vehicle.

[xnsf]

Originally Posted by Penguin

Good question.

This paper by Delphi talks of three main current types, none of which seem to use a connection to the HVAC system, relying either on cabin air or devices in the seat assemblies themselves. The paper then talks about a novel new system which would use the vehicle HVAC system partially:

http://delphi.com/pdf/techpapers/2007-01-1193.pdf

The paper above is a good example of the depths to which automotive engineers go to in their analysis and design of car features. Yes, they do think about this stuff a lot before they put it into a vehicle.

Bingo, I was referring to the first method. Thanks for the article