What Are Ventilated Seats And How Do They Work?

Ventilated seats used to be a very premium feature restricted to cars from higher segments. At least until a few years ago. However, this has now slowly changed, as most cars come equipped with this feature this days. This is a life-saver for some people, especially for those of us who get rather sweaty from behind... erm, if you know what we mean.

Here, we shall dive into the details of ventilated seats and how do they work exactly. However, first make sure to join the 91wheels WhatsApp Community to keep up with the latest news and automotive updates.

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Ventilated Seats And How Do They Work?

Ventilated seats are a special type of seats that come with an additional air circulation system. These seats are equipped with an additional perforated plasic upholstery, and while some systems suck air into the seat, drawing the warm air away from the seat occupants, there are other systems that blow air out. We will get into this shortly.

A series of fans inside the seats circulate air through the upholstery. The air from the fans streams through the holes in the backrest and seat via the perforated upholstery. The fans usually draw air from under the seat, where the temperature is lower than the rest of the vehicle. This cools both the inside of the seat and the person sitting on it, and it also prevents the formation of sweat stains.

Let's get into the other aforementioned system that is a bit more expensive and complex, which makes use of a mini-condenser along with a series of fans. The mini-condenser cools the air, which is then pushed out through the seat material. In some cases, this system allows seats to be both heated and cooled with precise temperature controls.

Do note that this operation is different from cooled seats. It is true that both seats work by circulating air through them. However, cooled seats make use of refrigerated air, which drops tempertures much faster, and therefore cools down things faster as well.

One can also get aftermarket ventilated seat covers as well, such as the ones from Riggear, which can be had from Rs 8,500 onwards.

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Ventilated Seats Pros And Cons

The most obvious advantage of ventilated seats is that they prevent sweating and body heat, even during peak summers. By preventing sweat and body oils from saturating the fabric or leather, these seats can also extend the life of your vehicles upholstery, thus also maintaining the look and feel of your car seats, while also ensuring comfort.

The disadvantage with ventilated seats is that with the addition of mechanical parts, they also require occasional maintenance snd repairs. Along with that, ventilated seats are usually reserved in higher variants of most cars, which may exceed the budget of most buyers.

Some Popular Cars With Ventilated Seats

Until some years ago, ventilated seats were a premium feature reserved for high-end cars. However, things have fortunately changed, as the Tata Altroz Racer is currently the most affordable car to offer this feature at Rs 10.99 lakh (ex-showroom). Some other popular cars in the mass-market segment include the Kia Syros, Mahindra XUV 3XO, the Tata Nexon, Hyundai Venue, and so on.

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