Care · 4 August 2025
When and how to replace evaporative cooler pads
Pads do the cooling. Scale, dry streaks and a sour smell tell you they are finished long before the cabinet looks tired.
The season
Care
Pads, pumps, bleed-off, winter covers and the small faults that turn a good cooler into a damp, noisy roof ornament.
Care · 21 July 2025
Water quality, scale and bleed-off rates
Bleed-off exists to stop the tank turning into brine. The difference between 11 to 20 litres an hour, 3 litres an hour, and a hose that fills a bucket like a tap is the difference between clean pads and a wasted meter.
Care · 7 July 2025
Troubleshooting a weak, noisy or leaking evaporative cooler
Most rooftop failures are ordinary: dry pads, a blocked filter, a dying pump, a fan out of balance, a tank that overflows, or a musty smell from a cabinet that sat wet all winter.
Care · 23 June 2025
How to winterise a ducted evaporative cooler
An uncovered rooftop cooler is a hole in the roof. Covers, closed ceiling vents and a drained tank stop the house leaking heat all July, and they decide how the unit starts in spring.
Care · 9 June 2025
Evaporative cooler maintenance: pads, pumps and the pre-summer service
A rooftop cooler that skips its annual service will leak, smell, waste water and blow warm air when the first heat arrives. The work is ordinary and it has a season.
Questions this desk keeps hearing
- How often should cooler pads be replaced?
- In hard-water districts many households change pads every one to three summers. Soft-water, well-bled systems can last longer if they stay clean and evenly wet.
- Why winterise a rooftop unit?
- An uncovered ducted cooler is a hole in the roof. Winter covers and closed ceiling vents stop the house leaking heat all July.
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