Do-it-yourself seat heating installation. A simple seat heating control controller for a car How to make adjustable seat heating

November 9, 2017

Manufacturers usually install the front seat heating system on cars. maximum configuration. IN basic versions no such function is provided, although in the conditions temperate climate she's pretty much in demand. To the owner budget car there is nothing left but to make heated seats with your own hands.

Advanced motorists practice 3 popular options:

• buy and put on a ready-made heater in the form of a cape or cover;
• purchase an installation kit that is mounted inside regular pillows;
• make the heating elements yourself from scratch and put on the car.

Using heating pads

The easiest way to quickly organize the heating of the front seats is to buy a special cape with built-in elements. The product is sewn from a dense fabric and is supplied with elastic stretch marks with metal hooks at the ends. The latter are needed to attach the lining to the seat.

The advantages of a car accessory are obvious - ease of installation and connection (the heating circuit works from the cigarette lighter socket), the possibility of quick installation using extensions hooked onto springs. But the disadvantages of capes are much more:

• frankly unpresentable appearance;
• to charge the phone or connect another gadget to power, the heater plug will have to be removed from the cigarette lighter socket;
• only one chair out of two is heated;
• heated rear seats are not available.

Overlays also have less significant disadvantages that bring inconvenience. The accessory, attracted by elastic bands, fidgets on the cushion of the chair and constantly works on full power. Instances with temperature control are more expensive and often fail.

Variant with car covers, where the heating elements are sewn in, is more convenient and reliable, but expensive. The material of the products is genuine leather, various fabrics and the so-called eco-leather. The covers are designed to heat the front and rear seats, are equipped with thermostats and are connected to the on-board network separately from the cigarette lighter.

In addition to the considerable cost, heaters in the form of covers have a second drawback - the complexity of installation. It is better to entrust the stretching of products and electrical connection to the masters of a specialized car service.

Installation of factory elements

For almost any car, you can purchase a heating installation kit that includes the following parts:

• heating elements of seats and backs of chairs;
• connecting wires with connectors;
• power buttons;
• Temperature regulator.

There are 2 types of sets: original, designed for specific model machines, and universal. The latter are selected according to the size of the pillows.

To mount such seat heating with your own hands, it is recommended to completely remove the seats from the car. Then follow these instructions:

1. For convenience, disassemble the sofa into 2 parts, separating the back.
2. Carefully dismantle the outer skin (the method of fastening depends on the brand of car).
3. Lay the heating elements on top of the foam inserts and fix by gluing or in another way, provided for in the kit instructions.
4. Stretch and secure the trim, assemble the seat and install back into the cabin. Bring the wires down and lay under the floor covering to the point of mounting the buttons.
5. Carry out the punching of the button blocks on free space center console. Connect the heaters to the on-board network by installing an additional fuse.

It is easier to install the original set of products yourself - the buttons are made under regular sockets with end caps, and the heating inserts are perfectly matched to the size of the seats. You will have to tinker with the details of the universal set - the button blocks need to be cut into plastic panel by selecting comfortable spot. The protruding edges of the heaters are tucked under the side support elements.

Note. In some vehicles, the sofa upholstery does not need to be removed. The design allows you to push the heater under the cladding from the back.

The mass of advantages of such kits is overshadowed by one drawback - not too affordable price quality products. Cheap Chinese pieces to match sofas various machines, quite quickly fail, as evidenced by numerous reviews of motorists.

Materials for self-production of heaters

The cheapest way to get heated car seats is to make it yourself. For the manufacture you will need the following materials:

• heating wire;
• insulating heat shrink tube;
• dense fabric;
• connecting wires;
• fuse block, buttons or plug for the cigarette lighter socket.

The main question is which wire to use to make the heater. The simplest option- buy a ready-made heating cable, but such a decision is associated with financial costs. It is cheaper to make an element yourself using the following materials:

• thin wire of increased resistance, made of chromium-nickel alloy (colloquially, nichrome);
• LAN wires - a cable used to connect to the Internet (the second name is twisted pair);
• copper thin conductors from any other cables.

The length of the conductor for home-made heating is determined by the resistance of the section. Based on the power of each built-in element of 40 W, we get the required resistance of about 4 ohms at a supply voltage of 12 volts. Connect the first clamp of the multimeter to the end of the wire, and using the second, determine the length of the heating circuit: move the contact until the display shows 4 ohms.

Advice. If the conductor is covered with insulation, calculate the resistivity per meter by measuring the entire length and dividing the reading by the footage. Then beat off the required amount of cable with a tape measure.

If to create desired resistance you need to splice pieces of wire, connect the ends of the copper wires by soldering. Nichrome wire will have to be selected whole, since it is connected only by welding.

Instructions for installing homemade heating

To mount the heating elements yourself, it is better to remove the seats from the car in advance and remove the trim. Also disassemble part of the center console to install the buttons and connect the wires. Assembly is done in this order:

1. Take a thick fabric and cut it to fit the seat cushions.
2. Lay the previously measured piece of wire in the form of a snake or in zigzags over the fabric. For uniform bending, wind the conductor around 2 nails hammered into the board.
3. Cover the makeshift heater with a second piece of cloth and connect it to a 12V power supply to test. If the element is too cold, shorten the length of the outline, strong heat- lengthen.
4. Sew the heating wire to the top and bottom of the fabric, bringing the ends out. Solder connecting wires to them and make insulation with heat shrink tubing.
5. Place the heaters under the upholstery, assemble the chairs and put them back in place.

Connecting seat heating from the cigarette lighter is the easiest solution, since this electrical circuit already protected by a fuse. In order not to occupy the socket with a plug, bring the wires from the inside and attach to the contacts. Place the buttons and thermostat in any free space on the console, lay the wiring under the carpet.

Homemade heaters are definitely cheap. But how they will show themselves in the process of many years of operation is unknown. That's why the best option- use high-quality factory products, although this entails financial costs.

In the cold period of time (winter or autumn - spring, but my wife sometimes turns it on in the summer), seat heating is very convenient in the car. But the only problem is that it is not installed everywhere! Although I think - what, seats - should be in the base of all cars produced in Russia, we still have a harsh climate! Well, okay, we bought a car in the database, but there are no “warm” seats! What to do? Calm down, you can install them yourself, today I’ll show you which ones are better to install - and also how to do it ...

If you knock out all the installation options, it becomes clear that there are only four of them:

• External or "cloak", cover.
• Regular, installed on your car in the configurations above
• Internal or hidden third-party, but factory.
• Internal homemade - an option only for those who understand the electrics of the car.

External or "cloak" - cover

Overhead heating

The most that not to eat, an easy way. Probably everyone has seen such heating in car dealerships. Usually sold here is such an overlay on the seat, photo.

Which you just buy and wear for any front seat. It is an overlay made of rubberized or simply dense fabric, with heating elements inside. They are fixed on the seat with special stretch marks - rubber bands, with metal hooks. Pull - fasten the hooks below to the springs of the chair and the heater is ready. Power is supplied from the cigarette lighter, just insert it - it starts to heat, pull it out - it stops. A very primitive version. To be honest, I did not consider such heating - never! Just because I don't like it, it looks "like a collective farm." there are other disadvantages:

• The cigarette lighter is constantly busy, and if you have other gadgets that work from it!
• In 90% of cases, there are no temperature adjustments. It can get hot just like a frying pan.
• Constantly fidgeting in the seat, it is difficult to fix.
• It is difficult (almost impossible) to install on the rear seats.
• Once again, it looks bad!

You know, and the price is not always adequate, I personally saw such ones for 1000 rubles for 1 seat, I think it’s really expensive (although in most cases, this option is the most budgetary, about 300 - 500 rubles chair). So - if you need it urgently and there is no time to bother, then you can take it, but if there is time, then you can consider other options.

Heated case

Now a common option is stretching on the seats of the cabin, covers. There are a lot of them, ranging from fabric, ending with eco-leather or genuine leather. You can transform the interior and make it more representative.

So the secret here is also simple - heating elements are sewn into such covers - they are pulled onto regular "seats", and only then they are connected to onboard system car. Big pluses the fact that the heating is hidden inside, it is not visible, that is, it fits harmoniously. It can also be connected immediately, and on all seats, front and rear. Often with such heating comes a customizable level of comfort, that is, you can adjust the temperature - more and less.

However, there are also disadvantages - you are unlikely to pull these covers with your own hands, because it is better for masters to do this. The cost is high, just imagine how much just covers made of genuine leather will cost, and you also need to add heating to them! Connect and embed buttons again to professional auto electricians, or simply knowledgeable car enthusiasts otherwise you could burn the car.

This option is certainly better, but also not very desirable. I will say this recently, one friend pulled Salon KIA RIO heated ECO LEATHER covers. The covers themselves came out about 12,000 rubles + installation and connection of another 6,500 rubles. Total almost 20 000 rubles. Not a little!

Regular heating, installed on your car in high trim levels

This is probably the most best option, for example, in some foreign cars in the “base” there is no heating, although in “high” trim levels it is. You just need to purchase it and install it yourself, this is easily done either from official dealer or from sellers original spare parts. I want to warn you right away - as a rule, no complicated dances with a tambourine are required, because both the fuse box and the wiring will already be installed from the factory, you just have to connect the elements and thermostats themselves.

Of course, the only difficulty will be to remove the seat trim, but now on the forums you will find a lot of instructions, I think this is not a problem at all.

Then we simply glue it onto the foam rubber and put the regular covers back on - we cut in the buttons - we carry out the right wires, all the heating is ready. The procedure is done by hand in half a day. If you knock out the money, then it turns out that two elements for the two front seats cost about 3000 - 5000 rubles, it all depends on the class of the car + wires and buttons, this is about 2000 - 3000 rubles. Total for an ordinary foreign car of class "B - C" about 5000 - 8000 rubles.

Third party but factory heating

Well, what if there is no regular heating? What to do then? Calmly, you can buy a third-party factory one, now our Russian company "EMELYA" is highly praised, it is designed for almost any car.

The main thing is to choose the size of the “seats”, it is important to understand that it is not necessary to heat the whole place, but strictly in the center, side pillows (it is not installed on the support).

The principle is also simple - remove the regular seat covers, lay - glue the mats - then put on the covers and connect to electrical system. You can do everything with your own hands, the kit costs about 2000 - 2500 rubles, for two seats (back + lower part). small video, look.

Homemade, do it yourself

In modern heating, the so-called heating cable (or mats) is used, which are now widely available. Sometimes, they even just take nichrome wire and use it as a heating element. So, with the help of these elements, you can make the heating yourself, in the truest sense of the word.

For example, the cable can be sewn onto the fabric and attached under the seat. The mats are generally ready for installation.

The idea is not new. I will analyze, perhaps the most interesting with wire.

• We take 3 meters of wire and divide it in half, 1.5 for the “seat”, 1.5 for the back.

• We sew it on a piece of matter, even old jeans will do. The most successful way is zigzag.

• Next, we connect to 12V and check, the wire will slowly start to heat up, and after about 3-5 minutes the seat will be warm, not fiery, but warm.

Most modern cars among additional options proposed such a nice thing as heated seats. The presence of this option allows you to avoid hypothermia in the pelvic area, which often occurs in those who sit for hours driving a car in winter time. What is there to hide, a warm seat is also extremely comfortable.

Don't be discouraged if your car doesn't have heated seats, because today we'll show you how to make one your own. with my own hands and, mind you, get the result no worse than with standard heating.

What you need to install heated seats.

The heating element is a coil with thin tubes, which are the main heat accumulator. The heating element can be with or without a back. Which one is better - it's up to you!

Buttons for turning on and off heating (two-position) in the amount of 2 pcs.

Relay 4-pin with socket

wires different colors, terminals for connection

Tool kit and Supplies: wrenches, screwdriver, scissors, electrical tape

When everything you need is at hand, you can begin the process of mounting the seats.

Step-by-step instruction to work.

1. First you need to unscrew the slides of the front seats, remove them from the car. For the convenience of performing all subsequent manipulations, we recommend bringing the seats into the apartment.

2. Now you need to remove the trim from the seats. Take extra care here not to damage the fabric of the seats. The upholstery is fastened with metal plates (or hooks) at the bottom of the seat, on its back side, and also in the front part along the curly contours. Just do not use brute force, so as not to damage the seat upholstery.

3. In the event that you plan to install heating not only on the seat, but also on the back, the trim will need to be removed from it as well. To do this, you need to pull out the plastic bushings for the head restraints, and unfasten the fabric from the fixing plates at the bottom of the backrest.

4. After removing the fabric, the foam insert of the seat will be released in front of you, so attach the heater to it, aligning it with the center of the seat. Then, circle the heater around the outline with a marker.

5. Now, along the outlined contours, apply double-sided adhesive tape, and stick the heater itself on top of it. This is done so that when the seat fabric is further fixed, the heater does not slip to the side, but remains clearly in the place that we marked out for it.

7. We return the upholstery of the seat to its place, and install the seats themselves back on the car.

The main part of the installation is completed, then let's talk about connecting the heated seats with your own hands. How to connect seat heating?

Seat installation diagram:

1. Determine the location where the seat heating on/off buttons will be located. The ideal option is either the center console (if there is room for installing buttons), or in the gap between the gearshift and the handbrake. This arrangement of switches will be the most successful in terms of ergonomics and comfort.

2. In a decorative plastic casing (if any), we make inserts for buttons, and then we install them. At the same time, we connect the electrics (it is best to power the heated seats from the cigarette lighter, additionally putting the fuse on the heating).

3. Based on the suggested diagram, you need to connect the wires from the heated seats to the buttons, relay, cigarette lighter and ignition switch (if you want to be safe, by automatic shutdown heating after switching off the ignition).

4. We insulate all contacts and check the operation of seat heating (button functionality, heating uniformity, etc.)

5. We carry out final assembly interior, we hide the wiring under the carpet.

That's all, the process of installing stationary seat heating can be considered complete. You ask, wouldn't it be easier to buy pads for heated seats that work through the cigarette lighter? Of course, you can do this, but it’s one thing to put the system on and forget it, and it’s quite another to experience inconvenience with this very lining, which falls off all the time, fidgets around the seat, and interferes with protruding wires.

Now manufacturers offer drivers many options for completing a car. You can choose in advance which useful options will own your car. The most popular options among domestic motorists are such options as:

• air conditioner,
• electric windows.

Also, quite often, cars are understaffed with acoustic systems. But not everything is as simple as it might seem at first glance. The fact is that most music lovers will prefer to choose a system to their liking, and not a budget factory option. Although it is worth recognizing that more than good ones are installed on premium cars. Acustic systems.

But today we will not talk about them, but about such an option as heated seats. Every car owner, at least once sitting in a heated car, will want such an accessory in his car.

Attention! It usually takes no more than thirty seconds for a good heating system to make you feel like you are somewhere in the tropics.

Seat heating is of particular relevance for people suffering from various diseases of the back and cervical region. Sometimes it is enough to sit in a heated seat for 20 minutes, as all pains pass.

Unfortunately, not all cars still have the option of installing heated seats upon purchase. Typically, such a restriction applies to machines of medium and budget class.Moreover, even if available in the price list, this option is very expensive.

It is not surprising that every year more drivers decide to install seat heating with their own hands. This process is quite costly, but not particularly difficult. It is within the power of every motorist to implement it.

Heating types

It should be noted right away that in order to have warm seats in winter, it is not necessary to open the casing and connect it yourself wiring diagram heating. There are alternatives to avoid this. Of course, despite the advantages, this option was not without its drawbacks.

Special capes

This type of seat heating does not require any complex installation. It is enough to throw a cape on a chair, and you will provide yourself with warmth for the whole winter. At least that's how the concept looks at first glance.

In addition to capes on the market, you can also find special heated covers for car seats. They are much more comfortable, as they have a better fixation, and will not slip on sharp turns.

Attention! Capes and covers have special heating elements that provide the driver with warmth.

In addition to ease of installation, the advantages of just such a heated seat, which everyone can install with their own hands, can be considered low cost. Unfortunately, it was not possible to do without shortcomings. The most important is extremely low quality the whole structure.

If you search the Internet, you can find more than one case where the cape ignited right under the driver. Moreover, such devices are characterized by uneven heating. In some areas, the temperature rises to 40 degrees.

one more significant disadvantage cape or slipcover is the way to connect. To activate such seat heating, you need to use the cigarette lighter connector. Taking into account the fact that the average driver has a navigator, smartphone, video recorder, and so on in the car, this port becomes scarce.

Attention! Even a splitter is not able to help in such a situation. The fact is that given type the heated seats use too much electricity and the fuse just doesn't hold up.

Also, do not forget about the wires that will definitely appear in the cabin as a result of buying a cape or cover. Cables can create emergency, because at critical moments it is very easy to get confused in them.

built-in heating

Of course, to install built-in seat heating, you will need to spend much more time. However, if you follow the instructions, the time required for this operation can be significantly reduced.

The main advantages of built-in seat heating include:

1. Possibility of simultaneous heating of both front and rear seats.
2. All wires are hidden under the interior trim, so you won’t get tangled in them.
3. The system is connected to the vehicle wiring. Because of this, the cigarette lighter socket will be free. Besides onboard network can handle the load quite well.
4. Since the heating is introduced inside the seats, the original interior of the cabin is preserved.

As you can see, despite some complexity in installation, built-in seat heating has whole line significant benefits that cannot be ignored.

Choosing a kit

Before proceeding with the installation of heated seats, you need to decide on the kit that you need. The most popular now are the goods of German, Russian and Chinese brands.

Naturally, seat heating kits from leading manufacturers are considered the best in quality. German companies. But they are also priced accordingly. Of course, such systems are installed both on the front and on rear seats.

Quality kits should have at least several degrees of protection. Also, high-quality seat heating systems usually have more than one mode of operation.

It is worth noting that among Russian companies There are brands that provide quality and relatively inexpensive products. Suffice it to recall such giants as Avtoterm and Teplodom. Seat heating systems from these companies have protection, as well as high-quality heating elements. For greater reliability, they use armored cable. They also have an overheating protection function that turns off the device when a critical temperature is reached.

most low price traditionally have heated seats from China. Unfortunately, in most cases, goods from this country cannot boast of any robust design, nor a good security system. Of course, there are exceptions, but their price is not much inferior to their German counterparts.

When choosing a seat heating system, it is better to buy right away quality kit, since devices with a low price may have defects such as:

• failure of the control button,
• wire burnout,
• short circuits,
• uneven heating.

Taking into account the time that you have to spend on installation, it is better to immediately buy a high-quality kit so as not to waste your energy on repairs.

Do-it-yourself heating

With some knowledge of electrical engineering, seat heating can be done independently. Nevertheless, the reliability and safety of such a design will not be very high.

To make seat heating with your own hands, take a nichrome wire with a diameter of half a centimeter. Form four spirals. To do this, use a wooden beam with two hammered nails at a distance of 4 cm.

Important! Make a perm with an eight.

Take a thick denim and connect all the spirals on it parallel way. The power supply must be at least 12V. The final indicator of the calculated power will be 40 watts. Also do not forget to install the relay in the heated seats, made by yourself.

Installation

Preparation

Any worthwhile business starts with preparation. After you have chosen and bought a kit for yourself, you need to take care of the selection of tools and materials that suit your task. To install a car seat heater with your own hands, you will need:

• plastic clamps,
• multimeter,
• Screwdriver Set,
• spanners different sizes,
• scissors,
• electrical tape and double sided tape
• heat shrink tubing,
• marker,
• pliers,
• glue,
• soldering iron.

This standard set. Simply put, you cannot do without these tools during installation. But you should keep in mind that there are systems of varying complexity. Moreover, much depends on the basic package. Very often, cheap kits do not have the wires or fuse needed for installation. In this case, you will have to buy them yourself.

Attention! It is best to use stranded wire with a cross section of 2.5 mm2 as wiring.

Installation

Before proceeding directly to the installation, calculate in advance where you will install the control buttons. Also select suitable type mounts. After selection suitable place To install manipulators, just follow these instructions:

1. Remove the chairs and disassemble them. You need to remove the headrest and also unfasten everything plastic elements.
2. Remove the seat upholstery. Usually it is fixed at the very bottom with metal rings. Can do without complete withdrawal, the main thing is that you can safely install the heating elements.
3. Remove the upholstery from the back of the seats. To do this, you will need to unfasten the plastic bushings of the head restraints.
4. The heating element must be placed on the foam rubber and circle the contours with a marker. Then strips of double-sided tape are glued on them and glue is applied.
5. Elements are fixed on the back and seat.
6. Pull out the power wires.
7. Reinstall the trim.
8. Return the seat inserts and headrests.

At the very end, the seats are installed back, and the wiring is laid.

Connection

To connect seat heating, you need to use the scheme that will come with the kit. You can detect power circuits with a multimeter. In this case, the positive wire of the thermal relay is connected to the ignition switch, the negative cable goes to ground. The backlight of the button is connected to the cigarette lighter contacts.

Attention! All connections are soldered and insulated at the end.

Results

As you can see, every car owner can install seat heating. The main thing is to properly prepare for installation, collect the entire set of materials and tools, and also purchase quality system heating or do it yourself.

Every time the winter cold again reminds of additional warming. For even the ancient people bequeathed to keep their feet warm. But seat heating is not included. basic equipment many cars. You're going to have to freeze up a bit. There are two options here: buy this “additional comfort” or make your own car seat heating. A survey of closest friends - notorious motorists - shows: the second is more reliable. Purchased heaters are expensive and often break down.

Do it once: we think over and mentally tune in!

Before proceeding to the list of materials, we determine what we already have. Here we have three options:

• remake a ready-made, but broken heating;
• make from scratch;
• a costly and troublesome way - to make a heating built into the seat.

With a ready-made rug, it turns out much easier. No need to think about dense thermal insulation fabrics, look for them and sew them on a typewriter. Everything is already thought out. It remains to be replaced a heating element.

The heating element built into the seat is always with you in the car. You can display a button on the panel, and pretend that it was so. Difficulties sometimes arise with the analysis of the seat itself. And if the bottom is pliable, then the back is much more difficult to disassemble. But still understands!

We will take the second option as a basis. It is on its basis that work is built in all cases. Knowing the theory, you will cope with more difficult options.

Do Two: Let's go shopping!

List of materials:

1. Nichrome wire diameter 0.5 mm - 10 meters.
2. The bar is thicker.
3. 2 nails.
4. Old jeans.
5. Scissors.
6. Pencil.
7. Sewing machine.
8. Button.
9. The wire.
10. Plug for car cigarette lighter.
11. Connectors.
12. Heat reflector.

Do Three: let's get started!

• Cut out 2 rectangles from old unnecessary jeans. They do not necessarily cover the surface of the seat.
• We draw on one of them how the heating wire will pass: in zigzags or waves. It is better to choose zigzags. It is more convenient in drawing and bending. Although, who cares...

And now our fabric has become noticeably more interesting than before!

Tip: remember the popular TV program on remodeling an apartment. Our principle is the same as with the installation of a “warm floor”.

• Now the nichrome wire will lie right on the drawing.
• First you need to fold it in a zigzag. The fastest way to do this is with a bar and nails.
• We drive two nails into a wooden block at a distance of 40 mm.
• Now we consistently and monotonously wind the wire between the nails in a figure eight. There are just enough turns to cover the entire drawing.
• We transfer the wire zigzags to the fabric.
• We sew on a typewriter each zigzag 2 times. Above and below. The better we fix this design, the safer it will be to use. Attention: if the wires touch somewhere, there will be a short circuit!
• We close our workpiece on top with a second piece of jeans. We sew, leaving a hole for the output of wires.
• A thermal reflector can be sewn on from below. This will protect the seat from overheating.
• From above, the most used place, it is better to lay with foam rubber and another layer of thick fabric. This is done so that the heating element does not accidentally break the booty.
• We finish along the perimeter with a few more lines on a sewing machine.
• With the help of a connector, we bring the wire through the “window” in the fabric.

Testing. We need a 12 volt power supply direct current, such as will be in the car. You can use a computer power supply.

A minute later trial run, the ass starts to bake. So, in the cold cold car will be just right! We praise ourselves for the accuracy and proceed to further work. Now our main task is installation on site.

Do Four: Home Stretch

Where to power the invention in the car? The good old cigarette lighter will help out. We connect in series: invention - button - plug. You can do without a button, but then the seat heating works while the plug is in the cigarette lighter.

Phew! .. Exhale freely. Works. I'm done! The chair heats up in 2-3 minutes. Not a bad start!