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.
It’s been an eventful journey for Seeley International! On the way, we’ve won a number of awards and accolades.
Seeley Milestones (For a full list of our awards visit our awards page):
2015 |
Launch of Australia's first and only InvertairTM true inverter add-on cooler
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2014 |
Australian Design Awards Good Design® Selection - MagIQtouch Controller
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2014 |
Australian Design Awards Good Design® Selection - Braemar "Super-Six ducted gas heating
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2014 |
United Nations Association of Australia World Environment Day Awards 2014 - Winner: Swinburne University of Technology Excellence in Sustainable Product Design Award Braemar "Super-Six" ducted gas heating
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2014 |
Launch of the Breezair and Braemar Supercool Series
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2014 |
Official opening of the National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA) accredited testing laboratory
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2013 |
Climate Control Middle East Awards - Winner: Best Manufacturer - Stand Alone Cooling, Seeley International
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2013 |
Sydney and Melbourne Design Awards - Product Design Winner: Housing and Building Awards, Braemar "Super-Six" ducted gas heating
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2013 |
Business SA 2013 Export Awards, Winner: Environmental Solution Award, Seeley International
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2013 |
Family Business Australia Award for Entrepreneurship, Winner: Mr Frank Seeley AM FAICD
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2013 |
The Australian business Award for Innovation, Seeley International - Climate Wizard
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2012 |
Induction into the Family Business Australia Hall of Fame - Seeley International
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2012 |
BRW Most Innovative Companies Top 30 List - Number 14 - Seeley International
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2012 |
Launch of Braemar's world first six star ducted gas heating range and Braemar's world first five star non-condensing ducted gas heating range |
2011 |
Advantage SA - South Australia of The Year Award - Frank Seeley |
2010 |
In Business - Top 100 SA Company Index |
2010 |
Family Business Australia - Finalist: Jason Lea Entrepreneur Award (Representing SA) - Frank Seeley AM |
2009 |
Commenced selling Climate Wizard |
2009 |
GreenPlumbers – Winner: Energy Efficient Product of the Year - Climate Wizard |
2008 |
GreenPlumbers – Winner: Energy Efficient Product of the Year - Braemar Ecostar ducted gas heating range |
2006 |
The Enterprise Award – for contribution to energy efficiency |
2005 |
Opened sales office in Italy |
2005 |
Frank Seeley AM named Entrepreneur of the year for South Australia |
2004 |
Australian Export Award |
2004 |
Winner DuPont innovation of the year award for innovative use of engineering plastics (Icon Series air conditioner) |
2004 |
Launch of the Breezair Icon series |
2003 |
Rated independently by the Australian Gas Association as the most efficient ducted gas heater in Australia |
2002 |
Large Manufacturing Business of the Year Award |
2002 |
Joint Winner – Engineering Excellence Award – Institution of Engineers South Australia (sponsored by AusIndustry) |
2002 |
Opened sales office in France |
2001 |
Frank Seeley made a Member of the Order of Australia |
2001 |
SA Employer of the Year Award - Training |
2001 |
Released Stealth axial fan fixed evaporate air conditioners into Australian and export markets |
1999 |
Winner – Manufacturer of the Year Awards |
1999 |
Winner SACFM Product Innovation Award (Millenia Portable air conditioner) |
1999 |
Acquired Tudor (Australia) – manufacturer of gas cooktops |
1998 |
Opened sales office in Spain |
1997 |
Winner SACFM Quick Die Change Over Competition |
1997 |
Acquired Coolair – evaporative rooftop air conditioners |
1997 |
Winner The Australian Gas Association Technology Award |
1996 |
Appliance Retailers Award |
1996 |
Top 500 Private Companies |
1996 |
Acquired Braemar – air conditioners and gas heaters |
1991 |
Quality Standard AS/NZS ISO 9001 |
1989 |
Opened European sales office in UK |
1988 |
Choice Award of Distinction |
1987 |
Commenced manufacture of electric motors for fixed evaporative air conditioners |
1987 |
Australian Design Award |
1987 |
Australian Export Award |
1986 |
Prince Phillip Prize for Australian Design |
1985 |
Australian Manufacturing Council Award for Best Practice |
1985 |
Opened USA sales office – Convair air conditioner Corporation |