About Kat´s Coolers Inc.

Kat´s Coolers was started for my daughter – Katherine.  That´s her on the left, and here´s our story.

My name is Brett and I´m a pilot.  I live in the desert southwest - in Arizona with work taking me more and more into the hotter parts of California.  In the summers here, it gets hot.  Temperatures of 116+ are not unusual.  That´s no fun, especially in a car, boat or plane without air conditioning.

I fly a small Cessna single engine plane - and if you know anything about small planes - you´ll know 99% of them don´t have air conditioning.  This makes flights miserable in this summer heat.  Its uncomfortable for me, but when you throw in a two year old (Katherine), your wife, and two dogs - its no fun.  I had to find a way to cool things down.

I looked into aftermarket air conditioners - but they were expensive, heavy and hard to retrofit.  The best quote I got was over $8,000!

There must be other options.  So I researched, and this is what I found:

Portable swamp coolers don´t work for me, as I don´t enjoy adding humidity to already hot air.  They work fine in open garages and hangers - but not in enclosed confined spaces like cars, trucks or planes.

I saw a $39.95 ice chest cooler thing on eBay - but after talking to folks and researching them on online, I found stacks of poor reviews from people who felt no cooler having purchased their devices.

I also saw in some of the aviation catalogs portable red coolers in the $475 and up range.  This seemed steep, so I found someone who had one and went and checked it out.  The technology isn´t that complex - but I still wasn´t impressed by their demo - they lacked serious airflow, and they weren´t the size I wanted.  I have also dismantled a broken one of these units and was disappointed to discover the quality of some of the materials.  I know some folks swear by them - but I just knew I could build a better unit with better quality materials at a lower cost.

So I set about building my own.... Here´s a brief overview of the development process.

●         My first working prototype cooled marginally, and had anemic airflow. 

●         Second generation models progressed with better cooling, but airflow remained a challenge. 

●         Revision three brought a new power plant, and greatly increased airflow. 

●         Revision four worked out pumping kinks that helped cooling and incorporated plumbing changes.

●         Prototype five included some electrical mods. - a separate battery pack was tested.

●         Six changed physical mounting of the components and incorporated the ability to add ducting  - Major improvements.

●         Version seven addressed noise issues and cleaning.

●        Number eight gave some valuable ergonomic adjustments and made major airflow improvements.

●         Number nine started the heat exchanger tests - went through too many to count before finally settling on one.

●         Number 10 addressed serious RF interference.  Back to finding a new power plant.

The list goes on and on.  Several thousand dollars later, I finally had a unit I liked.  Needless to say (ask my wife), this project had run amok.

...anyway - suffice it to say I´ve made close to 40 different test units, prototypes and changes, and have a garage full of orphaned parts and prototypes to show for it. But now I´ve finally settled on the parts that bring about serious airflow, and serious cooling.  I´m happy with what I´ve developed, and the family no longer hesitates to take summertime flights.

In the developmental process I showed it to friends, colleagues and co workers.  I loaned my unit out, and found it harder and harder to get back.  People wanted their own.  So I started making them for friends.  Word of mouth spread quickly, and I found myself busy building air conditioners.  I still work, I still like to fly, but now I´m growing this business on the side.

Katherine is still the boss, but now she doesn´t mind having me fly her around in the summers.  She can look out the window, hold on to her dogs and dream bathed in cool air.

So that´s how we got started.  Take a look around, I hope you enjoy the site, and if you have any questions, drop Katherine and I a line or give us a call.  Believe me, she loves to chat.

Sincerely,

Brett Tossell

Katherine´s Dad