Can You Install Aftermarket Cooled Seats Your Vehicle?
Like most questions regarding vehicle customization, the answer is yes, if you're ready to put in the time and money. If you want to add seat cooling units to your vehicle, but keep your existing leather, you need to know some important information. This project is not easy or cheap, and it requires some special skills and tools.
There are two primary ways that we can achieve the goal of having cooled seats in the vehicle. The ideal way to achieve this is by using factory equipment - this means sourcing a set of factory heated & cooled seats for your vehicle and then wiring them up accordingly. If that's not an option then you're stuck adding cooling to your seats manually.
Retrofitting Factory Cooled Seats Into Your Vehicle
This is typically the most cost-efficient method. The installation depends greatly on the type of system used. If the seats are just ventilated, simply use a variable voltage switch. If the seats are truly heated and cooled do not try and operate the unit with manual voltage controls as it will almost certainly damage the TED unit. TED systems require a computer to operate.
We offer Heated & Cooled Seat Wiring Kits for select seats that use these systems, including many Ford, Chevy, and Nissan vehicles. Our system gets the heating & cooling systems up and running, simply provide 12 volts. We also offer this system for heating and cooling on our custom seat builds.
Adding Cooling To Your Existing Seats
The first thing you need to know is that you will need leather seats with perforated leather inserts. These are the small holes that allow the cool air to flow through the seat surface. If you don't have perforated leather seats, you will have to buy new leather skins for all your seats. If you do have perforated leather seats, you will still have to remove the skins from your seats and cut out the thin foam on the back of the perforated area. Then you will have to add Reticulated Foam to the back of your leather where you removed the factory foam. This step is necessary to allow the cool air to come out of your perforated leather holes.
This is just the first step and it gets more difficult from here. You will also have to install the cooling units under your seats, either a simple fan unit or a more advanced Peltier air conditioning unit. You will have to mount them properly, connect them to the ducts and wires, and make sure they work with your seat functions. Here is a diagram of a Peltier cooling unit.
Note that a fan unit creates a ventilated seat, while a Peltier unit creates a true air conditioned seat. For more information on how these units work, read "How Cooled Seats Work: The Basics".
Are There Any Cheaper Alternatives?
If you are looking for an easier and cheaper way to get some cooling effect on your seats, you can try some cooled seat cover kits. These are covers that have fans inside them and blow air on your back and bottom. They are not as effective as seat cooling units, but they are simple to install and use. You can find some cooled seat cover kits on Amazon.