Giving passengers control over how hot or cold they want to be in their own seat is the latest innovation from Lantal. The company’s new Seat Heating and Cooling System is now in preparation for qualification in the fourth quarter of 2019, before entering service on the new Boeing 777-X.
“With the 777-X, we’ll be starting with premium seating – first and business class and possibly premium economy,” says Thomas Steiner, the company’s vice-president, Pneumatic Comfort Systems. “We’ll then move on to qualifying for other aircraft.” Early take-up for economy seats is unlikely as these seats cannot yet provide the power required for the system.
The system is modular, so its components can be easily combined and integrated into any seat concept. For heating in both the seat pan and the back, the additional weight per seat is less than 1 kg, while the sweet spot for power usage is 25W for the heating element.
“The heating needs a fast response from the moment it is switched on, so that’s the reason for the greater power draw,” Steiner says. “For cooling, the surface fabric is very important, so we have developed fabrics especially to enable the optimum airflow.”
The Heating and Cooling System is based on Gentherm technology, to which Lantal has added its own expertise in terms of software and components.
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Source: Flight Daily News
