I will hopefully be ordering a 2013 fx4 at the end of september. I was wondering how well the heated and cooled seats hold up. How much will it afected the tiny holes if Im at the beach and I get in my truck and I am damp and a little sandy? Or if I am a little wet from hunting or fishing and I get in my truck? I am more worried about the tiny holes and the heat and cooling function more than the leather. I will always carry towels in my truck. Should I just take care of the truck the best I can and not worry about it?

Thanks Hunt

 

That's a good question. I would say that the seat would need to get pretty saturated to affect anything. The heating is done with elements behind the leather and the cooling is done by circulating air, so really the elements would be the issue. Take care of it the best you can and just try to limit how much moisture you expose your seat to.

 

I have heated and cooled seats and I have yet to have any problems. I would say that as long as your not caked with sand you should be ok.

 

I disagree. My 2010 Plat had the cooled seats and they did not work very well when I sat in my truck right after being at the beach (because of the moisture, not the sand) or sweating my butt off after playing summer ice hockey. In other words, there was very little airflow until it dried off. My two cents.

 

Both the heat and cool works off air flow from a TED device. The heated only seat works off a resistive element.

 

Ok, I'll ask, what is a TED device???

 

I was thinking the same thing but I just wanted to see what yall had to say about it.

Thanks everyone for the responses.

I would like to know what TED is too.

 

As I understand it you are correct...the heated/cooled seats blow hot or cold air into the seats...there is no heating element. I would ,much rather have it this way anyway since I am so hot blooded and the heating elements even on low are usually too hot for me.

 

TED - thermo electric device. Current thru the device will make heat, reversing the current will make it cold. In cool mode though, the device will heat soak and become very un-efficient but usually the truck and your body has cooled down enough before that happens.

Resistive elements for heat pull 1/2 the power compared to a heated portion using a TED in the heated/cooled seats.

 

I always wondered why my heated/cooled seats have a fan blowing, when none of my other cars (with only heated seats) have a fan. I guess TED needs the fan to circulate the air.

So does Ford use resistive elements on F-150 models that don't have cooled seats? Or do they use TED for both heated and heated/cooled?

 

Yeah the TED device creates the cooling/heating effect but needs the fan to circulate within your seats. It is only used for the heated/cooled seats. For heated only seat, they use a resistive element.

 

Hmmm that's very interesting. Thanks for that info.

I'm just going to get the heated/cooled seats and not worry about them. They sure did feel nice when I test drove a truck that had them in there when it was 100 deegres outside!!!

Thanks for everyones input.

 

Go for it, I have had them in my 250 for a year now, no issues.

Only a few of the small holes have grains of sand in stuck in them, but I'm sure I could get them out if I REALLY wanted to.

 

I have a pic of the foam inner cushion with channels and vents if I can get it to attach

 

Had mine a year with multiple beach trips and not a single issue. I used them all winter and should be using the cooled soon.