Method for operating a heating system of a vehicle

A method for operating a heating system of a vehicle, wherein the heating system includes at least one panel heating element with several heating regions, is arranged on an interior component of the vehicle, and is assigned to a vehicle seat, the method comprising:

• determining, by a first sensor unit, a sitting position, a posture, or a position of limbs of a vehicle occupant located on a vehicle seat, wherein the first sensor unit is a capacitive sensor unit, an optical sensor unit, a lidar sensor unit, an ultrasound sensor unit, or a seat occupancy sensor unit;
• determining physical characteristics of the vehicle occupant located on a vehicle seat;
• determining, by the optical sensor unit or the capacitive sensor unit, a distance between at least one body part of the vehicle occupant and the panel heating element;
• determining, by a second sensor unit, a heating requirement of the vehicle occupant located on a vehicle seat, wherein the second sensor unit is a further optical sensor unit, a further capacitive sensor unit, or a thermal sensor unit;
• and
• specifying a heating power of the several heating regions of the at least one panel heating element assigned to the vehicle seat as a function of the heating requirement of the vehicle occupant determined at least using the position of the vehicle occupant on the vehicle seat, the physical characteristics of the vehicle occupant, and the distance between the at least one body part of the vehicle occupant and the panel heating element.