Electrical energy management of heat transfer devices for vehicles

An energy management method for heating or cooling a surface of a component of a vehicle, the method comprising:

• determining, by a calibration system that is external to the vehicle, a heating lag time indicative of a lag time for a surface element of the vehicle component to heat to a first target temperature in response to a first power on-off or power off-on modulation of a heat transfer component, wherein the heat transfer component is configured to modulate (i) between a power-on state where heat energy is being generated and a power-off state where heat energy is not being generated or (ii) between a power-on state where heat energy is being removed and a power-off state where heat energy is not being removed, and wherein the surface element is formed of a material to be heated by the heat energy generated and provided by the heat transfer component or to be cooled by the heat energy removed by the heat transfer component;
• determining, by the calibration system, a cooling lag time indicative of a lag time for the surface element to cool to a second target temperature in response to a second power on-off or power off-on modulation of the heat transfer component;
• providing, from the calibration system and to a control system of the vehicle, the heating lag time and the cooling lag time;
• and
• controlling, by the control system, power-on and power-off times of the heat transfer component based on the heating and cooling lag times so as to perform feedback-based temperature control without requiring a temperature sensor.