How Ventilated Car Seats Work

Heat builds in a car seat faster than anywhere else in the cabin. The body presses into the cushion and backrest, air stops moving, and on a long summer drive the result is familiar to anyone who has stepped out of a car with their shirt stuck to their back. A ventilated seat is built to stop that from happening.

What a ventilated seat does

A ventilated seat moves air through the seat itself, drawing heat and moisture away from the points where the body makes contact. In the Klima, integrated fans in both the backrest and the seat cushion circulate air directly through the seat, so the surfaces you touch stay cool rather than slowly warming to body temperature.

Active versus passive ventilation

Perforated leather and open-weave cloths breathe better than solid upholstery, and that alone helps. But without anything to move the air, perforation only lets heat escape slowly. Active ventilation adds the missing piece: fans that keep air moving for as long as the drive lasts. Perforation is a feature of the upholstery. Ventilation is a feature of the seat.

Cooling and heating in one seat

A seat that only cools is half an answer. The Klima pairs active ventilation with heat, so the same seat that keeps you composed through a desert afternoon warms you when the road climbs into a cold valley the next morning. It is built to work in both directions.

Who benefits most

Ventilation earns its place on long drives in warm climates, in vans and trucks whose large windshields let the sun bear down on the driver, and with leather upholstery, which holds heat more readily than cloth. It also suits travelers whose routes cross climates in a single trip, where a seat that only warms or only cools will be wrong half the time.

The Klima models

The Klima is available on two seats. The Vario F Klima brings ventilation and heat to our 14-way adjustable Vario F. The Vario F XXL Klima adds a seatback 3" taller, for drivers over 6'. Both keep the full range of adjustment of the seats they are built on.

Ventilation is one part of a comfortable seat. Adjustability, lumbar support, bolstering and fit matter as much, and we cover each in what makes an aftermarket seat comfortable.

To find the right Klima for your vehicle, call 503-395-4087 or email info@scheel-mann.com.