Am I using my heated seats wrong?

I used the 13 Elantra today to take the kid to school because I didn't feel like fighting with a battery charger in the snow. It is fancy enough to have heated seats, a luxury I only really experience in other people's cars. The buttons have 3 positions, 2 lights, one light, and off, in that order. 

My curiosity stems from it not seeming to matter which setting I have it on, inside of 5 minutes my ass is on fire. Is this by design? I remember older VWs (ok early 2000s) had settings that went from "grill" to "lava", is it just the same with more modern Korean cars?

I was just hoping for a "warm" option while I waited for the vents to heat up, but it seems there isn't one. Is this universal with the new fangled technology? Is there an easy ish way to fix it that wouldn't void the warranty, like adding a thermostat or potentiometer?

2 lights will be Really Hot, 1 light will be Hot, no lights is Self-generated Heat.

The E46 on Really Hot would roast your ass within a minute or two; the Hot or Kinda Hot settings were perfect and would maintain a very even temperature (it had 3 levels).  The TSX seems a little slower to respond and has more conservative settings to the thermostat - on Kinda Hot it gets notceably cool and needs to be occasionally bumped back to Really Hot to get it warm again.  It also only has 2 settings to the BMW's 3.

The e39 has lava, roast, unnoticeable, and off.

I generally run lava for long enough to let the idle come down, switch to roast, and leave it.

In a similar vein, are there good ass/back warmers for retrofit into older seats? My truck needs these now that i found them....

There are pep boys seat covers with cigarette light heaters. Not sure how well they work. There are also aftermarket inserts to put into your seats under the covers and I've heard they work pretty well.

Good story I heard recently about seat warmers: my fil talking to his mom, she was in the late stages of life, but when seat heaters were relatively new.

Mom: does this thing have heated seats or something?

Fil: sure does!

Mom: Good. Then I didn't just piss myself.

Generally, I wind up turning on the seat heaters for 5 minutes until the cabin of the car warms up, then turn it off.  At that point, there's enough warmth in the seat and the cabin to render the heater unnecessary.

Yeah, I'm learning that on the E46 you set it to '1' or '2' until the heat catches up, then turn it down to '0' or maybe '1' if it's stupid cold.  '3' lights your ass on fire and ANY setting on the passenger seat lights one corner of your right leg on fire sooooo we don't use that side any more. :(

I love them in our Sedona. They’re the best I’ve had; the hottest setting is seriously hot and is really good for my back. 

Fun fact, Robbie has a heated computer chair. 

scardeal said:

Generally, I wind up turning on the seat heaters for 5 minutes until the cabin of the car warms up, then turn it off.  At that point, there's enough warmth in the seat and the cabin to render the heater unnecessary.

This does seem to be the route I'll need to take. Wonder if I can just set it on a timer..

our Maz6 has three levels. None of them are stupid hot but the top one gets pretty warm. I usually run them for a few minutes till the car warms up, or longer if it's a cool day and I'm driving with the windows down and the sunroof open. The middle one is heaven on my back when driving home from a long bike ride. I'd love to be able to turn on just the back but not the seat.

I want to fix the ones in the ZJ by buying Okole seat covers with their built in heaters but I haven't heard any reviews of how well they work.

There are aftermarket heater grid kits with wiring and switches.  They are quite affordable but installation requires taking the seats apart to fit it and getting a good wiring source for the load.   We put a set in Mrs. Sonics Mazda3 several years ago, they act like OEM and have been flawless and much appreciated.  Under $100 total in parts, including new seat hog rings. 

The high setting is for keeping your drive through or pizza warm on the passenger seat until you get home.

In reply to Sonic :

Do you remember a brand/source?

I found that on the Rover, the temp of the seats is controlled by the HVAC system. Warmer you keep the heat, the warmer the seat gets. As I tend to drive with the heat on max, the sunroof open, and adust temps by the fan, my butt and back are always toasty

I've installed 2 sets of them from http://www.heatedseatkits.com.  Plan on spending a day to do it your first time if you've never done seat upholstery before.  I think my second set took me 5 hours working slowish (breaks for lunch, etc.)  I'm about to install a set in Tuna's old 2011 Dodge Caravan for my wife.

They work great, but hot will roast your arse pretty quick.  Low is fine to leave on for a half hour or so, then it gets uncomfortable.

I just went and searched my Amazon orders and found it:

The PT Cruiser my sister used to have had "unwanted extra lava during the middle of summer because you somehow bumped the switch getting in the car".

The Crosstour has a normal high and low. I use low to warm the leather up to tolerable and then turn it off. High is used on the passenger side in an attempt to keep takeout warm as previously mentioned.

mtn said:

Fun fact, Robbie has a heated computer chair. 

Can confirm. I did a build thread on here somewhere. It's one of the seats from my first challenge car, a '90 750il. I hooked up an old laptop power supply, so all the power functions (up, down, recline, headrest, heater, etc) still work. I'll look for the thread.

Edit: here:https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/one-post-build-bmw-7-series-office-chair/108124/page1/

This clearly is a symptom of all that is wrong with this country.  I ask you, what kind of MAN would give a rat's butt about whether or not his vehicle had heated seats?  The lot of you bun warmers need to man up!

RevRico said:

I used the 13 Elantra today to take the kid to school because I didn't feel like fighting with a battery charger in the snow. It is fancy enough to have heated seats, a luxury I only really experience in other people's cars. The buttons have 3 positions, 2 lights, one light, and off, in that order. 

My curiosity stems from it not seeming to matter which setting I have it on, inside of 5 minutes my ass is on fire. Is this by design? I remember older VWs (ok early 2000s) had settings that went from "grill" to "lava", is it just the same with more modern Korean cars?

I was just hoping for a "warm" option while I waited for the vents to heat up, but it seems there isn't one. Is this universal with the new fangled technology? Is there an easy ish way to fix it that wouldn't void the warranty, like adding a thermostat or potentiometer?

I had a '13 Elantra too, and I agree that the high (two lights) setting is really hot.  Hotter than other cars I've experienced.  Like others said, I would just turn it on long enough to get hot, then shut it off.  Rinse and repeat as needed.

My G37 has 4 or 5 settings and is much easier to modulate.

1988RedT2 said:

This clearly is a symptom of all that is wrong with this country.  I ask you, what kind of MAN would give a rat's butt about whether or not his vehicle had heated seats?  The lot of you bun warmers need to man up!

Part of living in the future is having warm seats and not suffering like cavemen.  We harnessed the atom for Christsake, enjoy the miracles science gives you.

In reply to 1988RedT2 :

I don't hear any complaints about not having to get out and Crank start our cars anymore. Welcome to the comfortable future. Besides, it's my 64 year old moms car, I can't afford a vehicle with such luxuries. Hell, I've never been able to have working air conditioning in my own vehicles. 

1988RedT2 said:

This clearly is a symptom of all that is wrong with this country.  I ask you, what kind of MAN would give a rat's butt about whether or not his vehicle had heated seats?  The lot of you bun warmers need to man up!

lol. If the want for physical comfort is a feminine quality, I want to identified as women. Or maybe I should just identify as the seats in my Grand Cherokee because the lower setting on the bun-o-rators is perfect.

1988RedT2 said:

This clearly is a symptom of all that is wrong with this country.  I ask you, what kind of MAN would give a rat's butt about whether or not his vehicle had heated seats?  The lot of you bun warmers need to man up!

THIS kind of man.  I'm also pretty hooked on steering wheel warmers, too.

Heated seats were completely irrelevant to me, an undesired optional expense... until I bought a car that had them as standard equipment.  Now, they are a 100% requirement in a DD.

Yep, I used to hate heated seats too.  Until I really gave them a try.  Now they are also a must for me.  And I'm dying for another car with a heated steering wheel.  My Nissan Leaf had one and I loved it.

Now that it's cool in the morning, say 40 or below, I typically turn the seat heater on full blast in the 135, then crack the windows and the sunroof. 

Fresh air instead of inside air and the heat feels good on my back. I'm the type that is in on the car on the way to work within about 20 minutes of waking up. So it helps loosen it up.