Any of you in northern states or certainly Canada may think me a wimp for being concerned about effectiveness of seat heaters in Texas, but we have, in fact had quite a bit of freezing and near-freezing weather here this winter. And the truth is, we really are cold weather wimps. We don't get enough cold weather to get well acclimated to it.

Additionally, my wife is a little intolerant of the cold, and she also does some strenuous therapudic exercise, after which she appreciates the warmth of seat heaters for the ride home.

Both of us find the front seat heaters in the TCH to be puny - at least b comparison to those in our other car, a '95 STS. The heaters in the STS have high and low settings. High puts out a whole lot more heat than does low. Our TCH heaters have only "on" or "off", and "on" seems to put out less heat than does "low" on the STS.

Do all of you in truly cold climates get any useful heat out of these TCH seat heaters at all ?

Are there more powerful seat heaters available in colder regions ?

Are there aftermarket products that work out better in this car than the factory heaters ?

Any other ideas ?

Thanks for any help.

 

Not sure if this helps, but I had dealer (not factory) leather seats installed and asked for seat heaters to be added, so mine is considered aftermarket, I guess. Mine have a low and high setting (or if you work at Starbucks, "high and higher")
They work great. Not sure if my butt is more or less sensitive than the normal butt, but my butt is happy (and warm).
NJ is not as cold as some other areas, but when it's cold, it's cold.

 

Something is wrong.....the seat heaters in my 2007 hybrid are hot hot hot. I am in the northeast and use them often. I find myself turning them off after just a few minutes on the coldest days. I think a visit to your dealership is in order. I'm thinking it is something simple like a connection flaw, such as not all lines are connected. Good luck, keep us posted.

 

When I purchased my '08 TCH, I knew I wanted heated seats and no sunroof, so the dealer suggested having the heated leather seats installed by a third party (that they use for these sorts of things). The "aftermarket" seat heaters that were installed are by Seat Comfort Systems, Inc. (25051 Woodbridge, Lake Forest, CA 92630, 949-470-0696 if you wanted that info, haha) and have a high and low setting. The switches have high and low indicators (orange light for high, green light for low). Unfortunately, they positioned the switches behind the 12v cig plug/tray in the center console, where you can't really SEE the switches or indicators. This is my only complaint, however, as the heaters work really well! (Also comes with a 36 month, 36k warranty).

The leather seats are also very nice. 100% leather, unlike the factory seats, which are partially leather and partially faux-leather. They are by Katzkin Leather Interiors, and I'm very pleased with them after 2 years and over 33k miles.

 

Thanks for all the help so far.

It wold seem that there could be something wrong with my installation. BUT we have inadequate heat on both the driver's and passenger's seats.

Can anyone confirm whether or not their factory seat heater control has high and low settings, and if so how the switch and indicator work ?

 

Further to this, the seat heaters in my 09 TCH which seem inadequate are the factory heaters. Their controls look like the ones pictured in the owner's manual, and the manual description reads as if there is only "on" and "off" - no "high" and "low."

Does anyone with this kind of factory seat heater seem to get adequate heat ?

 

John, both our 07, and now our 09 TCH have the seat heaters, and there is only on or off, no variable control. It is a push in for on, push again for off. Indictor light orange (amber?) And they do get warm, but not as hot as our Venza..

Our 09 Venza has variable controls with a rheastat type **** and amber? indicator light. These do get hotter.

Hard for me to say if they are adequate in the THC...living in the desert SW, we only use them to take the chill off.

 

Thanks. That sounds just like mine.

I'm about ready to conclude that mine are working properly for the factory units but that the dealer-installed units are much more satisfactory,with "high" as well as "low" settings and owners finding that they get quite hot, while the output of the factory units is at best not as satisfactory as in some other cars.

Any other opinions out there (either agreement or dissent with this) ?

I now focus my attention to improving my equipment.

I suppose I could have the dealer replace my heaters with the ones they install locally.

Or I could look for an aftermarket solution to install myself.

Or I could shop for a heated add on seat cushion and seat back.

Any votes?

Anyone doe any of these alternates?

 

I have the factory seat heaters in my 2007 TCH, and I have to say they work great! I'm in Ottawa, and I've found that even on days where it was down below -20C, they've been warm enough that I've had to shut them off after a while. I would like to see a dual level control, but only so I could put them on a cooler setting.

 

Thanks, but now I'm confused again.

At 40F outside, mine definitely do not get warm enough that I would think of turning them off.