I purchased two seat heater kits off of ebay for $100 and installed them myself in my wife's Honda Odyssey Minivan. I have factory seat heaters in my v70 t5. The aftermarket kits come with illumninated switches, two heat settings and all the necessary installation materials. The after market kits work great, at least as good as the Volvo seat heaters, maybe better since they have two heat settings. It's a bit of a job to install them under the leather seat covers, but doable. About a three hour job for each seat.

Eat lots of beans.

The simple answer is to buy a Volvo made for the Canadian market! All Canadian Volvo cars, since the mid '80s have what's called the "climate package" or as I recall the "cold weather option" as standard equipment. This not only included the heated seats, but the front headlight wipers/washers (although these only became standard eqipment in '98 with the 70 series). This is an optional package on new American market Volvos and also consists of a "rain sensor" all for $625, likely when you include these on a new Volvo. I doubt if there is a Volvo upgrade or anything aftermarket that would come close to what I have. Even my 1975 164-E had heated velour seats! Sorry ;-)

Coincidentally, the "driving" section of today's newspaper had a winter test of the AWD V50 and the XC70 done recently in Quebec City. Having just read this less than an hour ago, I did recall their paragraph on the heated seats.

"As you'd expect from a company headquartered in Göteborg, Volvo's winter preparations go beyond AWD. Its seat heaters, introduced as simple wire grids in 1974, have evolved into a web of sensors and composite material to warm both bottom and lower back to a few degrees above ambient cabin temperature. Unlike ruder systems that can become squirmingly hot, these can stay on for a continued pleasant feeling.

As well, you don't need the optional leather upholstery to get the heaters: in the S40 and V50, Volvo installs them under new, neoprene-like T-Tec upholstery it says is durable and easy to clean -- another selling point for active lifestylers. A split, T-Tec and leather covering is standard on T5 models of the S60 and V70."

The complete article can be found at:
http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/news/driving/story.html?id=92720840-4b57-486b-90e7-dc100c28ad38

It sometimes pays to live this far north!
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Cam a.k.a. CVOLVO.COM

forgo the entire idea.........its gonna be a lot of work to retro these into your car...........needing esepcailly all the harnessing! Use a sheepskin seat for the cold season and your done!

They're just heating pads under the upholstery.

I believe IPD once sold add-on seat heaters for the 240 at least. I also might have seen seat heaters in the Volvo accessory catalog as a dealer-installed option at some point ...ummm, well, if that wasn't the Saab catalog.

I have 'em on my '98, which also has the velour seats. They came bundled with the traction control and headlight washers/wipers. I wouldn't have actually paid money for them otherwise. With the velour, they really do pump out the BTUs a whole lot faster than my Acura with it's leather seats. I can undestand why you might find the seats cold if you have leather seats.

Have you considered a sheepskin?

http://www.rmsheepskin.com/

-BTC

'98 V70 T5 5-speed, 155k mi, front IPD stabilizer bar, rear factory HD bar, Bilstein HD, Volvo strut tower brace and skidplate, e-codes, V-1, Mobil-1 since new, Michelin Arctic Alpins

If there is a decent junkyard within a hundred miles, call and see what they have and go for it. Cost of shipping alone makes it worth some time going to get them yourself. Make sure you get the switches and that the underseat relays, if any, are there. Depending on where you mount the switches, make sure you don't need replacement trim panels / console, etc.
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We have met the enemy and they is us. [Pogo] S70 T5 cop car : Rough Rider suspension, Walmart fog lights, eBay speakers, ambiance by Pall Mall, trim by Le Duc d'Tape, 8-channel THD by OEM amps