When Did You Last Service Your Evaporative Cooler?
Last weekend (Saturday 7th & Sunday 8th January 2017), CFA attended 4 House Fires caused by Evaporative Cooling Systems. Lucky no houses were majorly damaged and were contained to the area of the cooling unit.
CFA Fire Investigators are conducting further investigations into the exact origin and cause of the fires in these units.
Cooling Units should be serviced each year to ensure maximum efficiency and to help prevent issues that could cause an electrical fault or fire.
People should maintain their air conditioners and evaporative coolers by ensuring the dust filters and vent outlets inside the properties are cleaned regularly, along with having the units regularly serviced according to the manufacturer’s specifications.
Recent hot weather across Victoria means more people are cooling their homes with systems like evaporative coolers and these incidents may have been prevented had units been checked more regularly.
People cooling their homes with these units should also make sure they check whether the latest Product Safety Recalls online to ensure their system is not among these items.
If there is a recall notice for your unit, the website has instructions on what needs to be done to rework the system to make it safe.
– Nicole Harvey, CFA State Fire Investigation Coordinator.
Further Information
- You can Check Recalls at ProductSafety.gov.au
- Evaporative air conditioner – fire safety (PDF)
Source: CFA News
