Seeley International Revenue and Competitors

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.