Project Overview
Seeley International’s new Braemar Superstealth evaporative air conditioner is super quiet and super cool, up to 50% more efficient than the previous Braemar evaporative cooler. Outstanding cooling performance and energy efficiency with a powerful Superstealth axial fan and Braemar’s first inverter motor. With a patented super quiet axial fan and high efficiency inverter motor, this product is the first of its kind in the world!
This product represents a major breakthrough for the industry, significantly reducing energy usage and noise and therefore the impact on the environment, which is a crucial consideration for consumers. The key motivation for developing the world’s first high performance inverter axial fan evaporative cooler range was to significantly increase the energy-efficiency of the air conditioner, reducing the amount of power used to cool and therefore reducing the impact on the environment.
Organisation
Team
Seeley International employs more than 390 people at two manufacturing plants, Lonsdale SA and Albury NSW and has a team of dedicated engineers.
Project Brief
Seeley International’s new Braemar SuperStealth is super quiet and super cool, up to 50% more efficient than the previous Braemar evaporative cooler. Outstanding cooling performance and energy efficiency with powerful SuperStealth axial fan and Braemar’s first inverter motor. With a patented super quiet axial fan and high efficiency inverter motor, this product is the first of its kind in the world!
Key features:
• Fan uses unique forward swept curve fan blade design, generated from extensive computational modelling and laboratory testing in Seeley’s state of the art NATA accredited testing laboratory. Blade design provides improved performance while minimising noise.
• High efficiency axial fan meets stringent European ErP 2015 fan efficiency directive.
• Fan manufactured from light weight, plastic composite material, for high stiffness and strength.
• New high efficiency motor incorporates integrated inverter electronics that maximise efficiency and performance, particularly at low speeds.
• Motor and electronics are fully enclosed for improved durability and operating life.
• Quietest cooling in the Braemar range
• Savings in running costs of up to 90% compared to reverse cycle cooling*
• Advanced touch screen MagIQtouch Controller.
Project Innovation/Need
Seeley International is Australia’s leading manufacturer of heating and cooling products. Seeley International’s latest product release the Braemar Superstealth, launched at a gala event in October 2015, is the world’s first high performance, inverter motor, axial fan, evaporative air-conditioner.
Innovative features include:
a.Patented ‘Invertair’™ Inverter motor
This highly efficient fan motor is a single phase inverter motor, with die-cast fully enclosed aluminium frame. Inclusion of this motor makes this product the first of its kind in the world.
b.NEW Superstealth™ fan
Improved blade design, with forward swept curved blades to increase efficiency and decrease noise. The fan is a multi-blade assembly constructed of glass reinforced polypropylene. The blades are aerofoil shaped making this the quietest product in the Braemar range. All made in house at Seeley International’s Lonsdale, SA factory.
c.‘Venturi’ housing
Specifically designed to mount the motor and fan and ensures minimum disturbance of air stream, hence super quiet operation. The motor and fan assembly are supported on an injection moulded glass reinforced ABS venturi ring via a glass reinforced polypropylene motor mount. All made in house at Seeley International’s Lonsdale, SA factory.
d. MagIQtouch Controller
The Braemar SuperStealth is powered by the intuitive MagIQtouch touch-screen controller. It features a ‘smart’ touch screen, similar in size to an iPhone. The self-explanatory symbols lead to an easy-to-understand menu.
Design Challenge
The product was newly released to the Australian residential market in summer 2015/16 with a limited field trial initially in SA which enable a quick and localised response to some teething issues, and then expanded nation-wide later in the season. As this is new technology and was only drip fed to the national market towards the end of the season, sales to date are 129 units. We will be surveying our customers for feedback shortly and this will feed into our product development for 2016/17. Feedback from our sales staff on customer response has been positive however.
Consumers are now being offered the most efficient evaporative cooler in its class in Australia. Its innovative technology including the inverter motor, Superstealth fan and the MagIQtouch controller contribute to a user friendly, super quiet and cost effective cooling solution for the whole home.
This product is a breakthrough for the industry and is now almost equal to our premium product the Breezair, causing us to re-evaluate this product range for even greater efficiencies. Further to this we are conducting research in the marketplace for consumer feedback on our product R&D to make sure we are hitting the spot.
Sustainability
Seeley International currently has approximately 48% of the market share of evaporative cooling in Australia, which is a significant achievement for the Australian owned and operated company, that has been growing stronger and stronger for over 40 years. World first product innovations like the Braemar Superstealth are contributing to this success.
The Braemar Superstealth is the quietest evaporative cooler in the Braemar range and is only outdone by our premier product the Breezair. Seeley International has the quietest products on the market as confirmed by noise tests that were conducted prior to the Superstealth's release in September 2015 (results available upon request). Less noise reduces noise pollution during the peak of summer when households are running their air-conditioning consistently and makes for peaceful neighbourhoods.
Consumers can save up to 90% in running costs (which equates to $346 per year)& 1329kg of CO2 emissions per year, when compared to a ducted reverse cycle system, which is a significant saving for householders in times of rising electricity costs and environmental concern.
It shows a 14% increase in cooling performance, a 3% increase in airflow and a 78% reduction in power (on low speed) compared with our previous Braemar model.
Product Design - Technology
This award celebrates creative and innovative design for either a component or overall product. Consideration given to aspects that relate to human usage, aesthetics, selection of components and materials, and the resolution of assembly, manufacturing and the overall function.
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