Who to hire for an evaporative cooler that needs servicing

Short answer

A heating and cooling technician who works on evaporative systems — it is a different skill set from refrigerated air conditioning, and not every business does both. It is roof work, which is the other reason not to do it yourself.

Plan itThere is time to get more than one quote, which is where the money is.

When it is someone else

Calling the wrong trade costs an attendance fee to be told so. These are the cases where this problem belongs to someone other than a heating and cooling business.

  • a roofer

    the unit is being removed or replaced and the roof around it has deteriorated. A cooler that has sat on a roof for twenty years has usually protected the sheet under it and rusted everything around it.

  • a plumber

    the water supply to the unit or its bleed-off drain needs work.

What to do before anyone arrives

  1. Book it before the first hot week. Everyone rings in the same fortnight and the wait is the whole problem.
  2. Note whether it smells, whether the pads look degraded from the ground, and whether it has been winterised.
  3. Check whether the water supply valve to the unit was turned off over winter and has been turned back on.

What to ask when you book

  • Does the service include replacing the pads, or is that extra?
  • Will you clean and disinfect the tank, and check the bleed-off is working?
  • Do you check the roof flashing and the duct connection while you are up there?

What changes the price

No dollar figures here: this directory holds no price data and an invented range is worse than none. What follows is what makes one of these jobs cost more than the same job next door, which is the part you can actually use when comparing quotes.

  • Whether pads are replaced or just cleaned.
  • Roof access and pitch.
  • Pump or motor replacement.
  • Whether ducting in the roof space needs attention.

What you can do yourself

Is this licensed work?

The electrical connection and the water connection are both licensed work. Evaporative cooling itself does not involve refrigerant, so the refrigerant handling licence does not apply.

There is no national register. Search the licence number with the regulator for the state the work is happening in.

Licensing thresholds and certificate requirements differ by state and change with amending regulation, so this page describes the mechanism rather than quoting a figure. The regulator’s own page is the current answer.

Common questions

Who should I hire for an evaporative cooler that needs servicing
A heating and cooling technician who works on evaporative systems — it is a different skill set from refrigerated air conditioning, and not every business does both. It is roof work, which is the other reason not to do it yourself.
Why does my evaporative cooler smell?
Stagnant water in the tank and degraded pads, usually because the bleed-off that is meant to continuously dump a proportion of the water has blocked or been disabled. A proper service cleans the tank and restores the bleed, and that is what stops the smell coming back in a fortnight.

Find a heating and cooling business near you

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Who to hire for

General information about who does what, not advice about your specific job. Licensing, consumer law and council rules differ by state and change; the regulator for your state is the current source. More guides to hiring a tradesperson.