Heated seats vs regular heat?
 

I doubt that I'll ever fly when ground temps are sub-40F, though I have made a few x/c flights when it was below freezing at altitude.

Just wondering if anyone who flies in the more temperate areas (below the ice belt) who's omitted regular heat muff sourced heat & opted for only electrically heated seats/vests?

I can design for the extra electrical load; I'm just interested in whether electric seats/clothing can *replace* (and/or be better than) regular cabin heat.

Thanks,

Charlie

I would rather have cabin heat than bun warmers. Heated seats feel nice but don't do squat for fingers and toes.

I had heated seats and never really used them. My problem was never my buns or back, as they were up against the seat and trapped heat. It was my hands and feet. Even with the cabin heat full blast, I still got cold sometimes when it was super cold. Cabin heat is a must. Heated seats are a waste IMO, but I see a lot of people insist on having them on here.

No heated seats and I removed my heat muff as unnecessary. But I live in Houston and rarely fly at temps below freezing. If its in the 30's, I wear a jacket.

Heat muff both sides a must anywhere ground level temps get below freezing. I only put one on the passenger (wife's) side and with the battery box in the middle my feet get cold.
Wife's feet say warm because she stays home when below freezing.

I think it also has a LOT to do with how well the canopy is sealed, cabin heat doesn't do a lot if there's a inflow of cold or outflow of warm air. On a slider the roll bar to canopy is easily sealed with sticky back foam, I'm not sure if it flows in or out as mine has always been sealed. The side portion above the longeron sucks air out, air sucks a rubber strip against the canopy fairing to seal it and if you don't have a seal it will suck your shirt sleeve. The aft portion of the canopy doghouse over the slider rail tends to suck in. Not as familiar with the tip-up configuration.

I have a single heat muff and heated seats and use a mixture of both below 30 degrees, on a sunny day sometimes I'm in short sleeves with both heats off and a little fresh air blowing in. I've also been in airplanes with cabin heat and heated seats and still been cool. I used to wear insulated coveralls and hunting boots in a C150.

The folks that seem to think that heated seats are "a waste" all seem to be hailing from pretty warm climes, and might not understand the concept of keeping the body's core temp up.

In response to the OP who is hailing from the south? we rarely sued the seat heat we installed in the RV-3 when we lived in Houston - unless we were travelign up north or at high altitudes with sub-zero temps. Now we tend to use the seat heat a lot since we have much more real winters here in western Nevada, and we are flying much higher on a regular basis.

Cabin heat is nice for the toes, but we like to pump some therms into the core with the seat heat to keep from really freezing. The best thing you can do if you're cold? Wear a hat - 50% of the bodies heat loss is through the top of the head. Sure, fingers and toes get cold, but they won't kill you.

Oh - and yes, we run the heater full blast in in the winter in all our planes to keep lower body warm. Would never take them out.

Paul

More nice things about heated seats:

If you have a sore back, they are worth their weight in gold. I know.

or if your backside is getting numb from sitting too long, turn 'em on. Helps keep the blood moving.

Just my $.02 worth, but those are also 2 of the reasons that we started carrying them on our web store... my old bones need the heat.

Yeah, and they keep the wife happy too. Just that alone is reason enough.

Less complicated solution?
 

Cycle riders have some cool solutions, battery powered even.

No extra hassle of wiring, breakers, and worry about overloading the electrical system.

Also, no carrying of the extra weight for all that part of the year that the seat heater isn't needed.

Some good choices here:

http://cozywinters.com/battery-heated-clothing.html

Keeping the wife happy #1 on my list of why I'll have heated seats. NOWHERE on that list is because I now live in Michigan; they were in the plan even when I lived in California. I think not having adequate heat in the airplane just because you live in a warm climate is just as shortsighted as not priming because you live in the desert. I'm building mine to go places, and not necessarily down low...;)