History

The origins of Seeley International go back to 1972, when our founder, Frank Seeley AM, moved from selling portable evaporative air conditioners to manufacturing them himself. He set up the operation in his garage at home in suburban Adelaide, South Australia, manufacturing 1,000 air conditioners in the first year.

In his previous work selling portable evaporate air conditioners, Frank had noticed that they had one real problem… the metal parts corroded. He thought that, if they were made entirely of plastic, he could overcome that problem and produce a corrosion-free air conditioner.

While most people told him it couldn’t be done, Frank persisted. He successfully developed all plastic evaporative air conditioners – first portable and then, in 1983, ducted rooftop air conditioners. This wasn’t just a breakthrough for Seeley International, it was a breakthrough for the industry. The all-plastic air conditioners helped grow the rooftop cooling market in Australia from 12,000 units each year to around 70,000 units a year. The plastic air conditioners became industry standard – and still are today.

The company’s growth led to expansion in its manufacturing capacity and approach. While, initially, the company had assembled parts manufactured by suppliers, we gradually brought more and more processes in house. This included doing our own injection moulding of plastic, as well as making motors, pumps and filters.
At first, the decision to bring processes in house happened because a number of suppliers had a monopoly over their markets and were increasing their prices. Since then, it has become our philosophy to provide local employment by keeping processes in house wherever possible.

During the 1980s, Seeley began exporting evaporative air conditioners – first to the Middle East, then the USA, then the UK. We opened several sales offices around the world and began winning awards for design and manufacturing best practice.

In the 1990s, we made a number of key acquisitions – Braemar (gas heating and evaporative cooling), Coolair (evaporative cooling) and Tudor (gas cooktops). These brands joined Breezair and Convair in the list of quality Seeley International brands.

The company continued to open sales offices around the world during the 2000s and won some key commercial and residential business around the globe.

Frank Seeley’s passion for innovation has not waned over the years, with 2010 seeing the launch of its innovation revolution in cooling technology, Climate Wizard. Climate Wizard offers exceptional cooling for a fraction of the running cost of traditional cooling methods – which is good for the environment, too.

Also in 2010, we began distributing and servicing Haier-branded cooling and heating products in Australia. Based in China, Haier is a global leader in white goods manufacture and part owner of Fisher and Paykel.

It’s been an eventful journey for Seeley International! On the way, we’ve won a number of awards and accolades. 

Seeley Milestones: