Coolair by Seeley International

The Coolair brand is applied to a range of ducted evaporative cooling products sold in Australia.

Craig and Seeley were the original manufacturers of Convair portable coolers (see Convair brand history for further details). Seeley Brothers (Cedric and Frank Seeley) were put in touch with Dick Pawlowski, a manufacturer of commercial refrigeration cabinets, when he wanted to manufacture evaporative coolers in the late 1960’s. Cedric had previously headed up Craig and Seeley’s Convair Cooler Division for eldest brother, Harold Seeley, the Managing Director of Craig and Seeley. Although Harold no longer made coolers, he still retained the Convair name, so the younger brothers came up with the “Coolair” name for the new product.

Coolair manufactured a range of evaporative cooling products and Cosiflow fan assisted heating products. In 1969, the first Coolair rooftop evaporative cooler was introduced. The Coolair products used a combination of some corrosion-resistent materials such as stainless steel and plastics, plus introduced salinity controls to further reduce corrosion problems.

Two years after Cedric’s death in late 1969, Frank and Dick parted company and by 1978 the first Coolair organisation became insolvent.

In 1979, Anotron resurrected the brand and the first Coolair "Turbo" axial rooftop coolers were introduced. This was a pioneering effort for Coolair that broke away from the traditional centrifugal blowers of the time and reduced cost. Little did they know that just a few short years later their then competitor Breezair would release the remarkable EA series that would force many manufacturers of centrifugal coolers out of the market, and the need to follow Coolair into Axial fans, so this was indeed a decisive moment in the history of the brand.

Coolair continued throughout the 1980s as a relatively innovative manufacturer. By this time, it had ceased manufacturing portable coolers and concentrated on rooftop evaporative coolers. They began making stainless steel rooftop units in cylindrical shapes and larger units in marine grade aluminium. In 1989 the low profile and more conventionally shaped "LP" series rooftop cooler using the new cellulose fibre pad technology known as CELdek was released. A remarkable feature of this product was the slide in side panels - Summer's louvred panels could be replaced with Winter's solid panels providing an attractive, secure, weatherproof solution.

After the passing of Mr. Pawlowski in the mid 1990s, the company reverted to family control. However, soon after, the family decided to exit the manufacturing business and had discussions with its former agent, Frank Seeley AM, to establish his interest in buying the operation. As a result, Coolair was added to the Seeley International stable in 1997.

Under the control of Seeley International, the Coolair range was redeveloped to incorporate the all-polymer, corrosion free construction which Seeley had pioneered, but keeping the ethos of the Coolair brand as affordable, effective cooling. The brand maintains a unique design from other Seeley International products and continues today with the CPL series sold throughout Australia.