How do cooled seats work?

[pavetim]

I have a 2011 Denali HD and want to try to modify the cooled seats but before taking them apart want to know how they work. Are they just basically fans or are there Peltier Heaters/coolers in there with fans?

 

[A. Stock Lbz]

Interested in this. I have the same truck and the a/c seats seem to not work as well as they used to.

 

[PACougar]

They're just fans, nothing so exciting as using a Peltier.

 

[JoshH]

I'm not sure what they use, but they are definitely not just fans.

Each heated/cool seat has 2 ventilation modules, one located under the seat cushion and one located in the seat back. These modules are controlled by the climate control seat module (CCSM). Each ventilation module contains a thermo-electric device (TED), a temperature sensor, and a blower motor. The TED and temperature sensor are mounted downstream of the blower motor. Each TED consists of a circuit of positive and negative connections sandwiched between 2 ceramic plates. Each ceramic plate is equipped with copper fins for heat exchange. The air flowing past these fins is either directed as conditioned air into the seat cushion and seat back, or directed into the cabin as waste air.

TED is essentially a solid state heat pump that is used to heat or cool the air supply to the seat cushion and seat back. When voltage is applied to a TED, one side releases energy as heat, while the opposite side absorbs energy and gets cold. When the polarity of the current flow to the TEDs is switched, the hot and cool sides of the TED reverse.

So I googled peltier because I've never heard of them before, and it sounds like it is a peltier that they use. Interesting stuff.

 

[pavetim]

I don't think they are peltier because when you use the heated portion it just seems like it heats up, i'll have to double check but when you use the heat I don't think the fan comes on. I would think if it's peltier the fan would operate in both cool and heat? But not sure that's why I am asking. Really I would just like a stronger fan, I get hot especially in south Georgia and the seats work OK but stronger fans would put them over the top I think.

 

[TROJAN366]

what has the world come to? my air conditioned seats aren't air conditiony enough....oke:

 

[bfmine]

what has the world come to? my air conditioned seats aren't air conditiony enough....oke:

Don't act like your next truck won't have heat-a/c seats. And steering wheel.....

 

[pavetim]

And they aren't air conditioned seats they are ventilated seats. And I'm sure If you spend 40-60K on a truck you want the same too. Plus you live in Mass I'm sure it's not as hot up there as it is in southern Georgia most of the year, pretty much all of the year.

 

[TROJAN366]

And they aren't air conditioned seats they are ventilated seats. And I'm sure If you spend 40-60K on a truck you want the same too. Plus you live in Mass I'm sure it's not as hot up there as it is in southern Georgia most of the year, pretty much all of the year.

You be surprised how much heat my backside generates.

 

[Noreaster]

You're pretty much a ginger sasquatch

 

[lutzjk913]

Until you have heated and cooled seats along with a heated steering wheel you can't knock them. Lol

 

[Cougar281]

I don't think they are peltier because when you use the heated portion it just seems like it heats up, i'll have to double check but when you use the heat I don't think the fan comes on. I would think if it's peltier the fan would operate in both cool and heat? But not sure that's why I am asking. Really I would just like a stronger fan, I get hot especially in south Georgia and the seats work OK but stronger fans would put them over the top I think.

Peltiers are heat pumps, and the direction they pump the heat depends on the polarity of the power applied. The description definitely sounds like a peltier, and while technically, they could use it to pump heat into the seat, they probably use traditional heating elements for that.

Sent from my 0PJA2 using Tapatalk

 

[A. Stock Lbz]

what has the world come to? my air conditioned seats aren't air conditiony enough....oke:

LLY's are not cool enough to be graced with cooled seats...............oke:

 

[kiwilml]

Just for interest sake here, lol but my Yukon says A/C on the button and my new pickup now just has a fan symbol on it.. I think gm has or had two different setups maybe?

 

[AJH]

Until you have heated and cooled seats along with a heated steering wheel you can't knock them. Lol

Just more shit to break. Wouldn't own a new truck after 100k that's for damn sure.

 

[chevyburnout1]

Last one I had apart was a peltier setup with a fan that forces the cool air through the seat, and the hot air out the back/bottom of the seat. But it still utilized old school heating elements for the heated portion.

 

[chrisuns]

They're 100% peltier elements in the GM cooled seats. Here's the one of them (there's two). You can't add a larger fan as you can see and if you could, you'd likely cause the control module to fault.

They're monitored by the seat climate module under the passenger seat. The blower blows across the TED, then into ducting in the seat and that's how you get the heated or cooling effect. All the module does is reverse the polarity of the TED to change between the two modes and exhausts the other side of the TED under the seat.

One of the biggest reasons they stop working well is there is a filter before the blower that gets dirty that needs periodic cleaning.

 

[pavetim]

Oh ill have to find that filter, may be its clogged up

 

[NC-smokinlmm]

Just for interest sake here, lol but my Yukon says A/C on the button and my new pickup now just has a fan symbol on it.. I think gm has or had two different setups maybe?

They do have 2. The version in the trucks is not the same as the new corvette, they cool but have no ventilation holes. The seats just get cold...

 

[duratothemax]

nothing so exciting as using a Peltier.

Actually, yeah they are a peltier device.............