Crompton Optimus 100-Litre Inverter Compatible and Portable Desert Air Cooler with Wide Angle Air Throw (White)

I purchased this cooler in March 2023 to beat the summer. It has worked well in its purpose in most ways however there are some issues with this cooler. I will list them out:

– There is no pipe given with the cooler. Auto fill function and drain function exists but no pipe which makes it useless. We have to go separately to a hardware store and find the matching pipe and nozzle for the tap with circlips. A simple 7 meter long pipe and nozzle for pipe with additional stainless steel clips would have been good.
– Pipe circlips given are of cheap quality, not stainless steel and they rust within a few weeks of exposure to water.
– The cooler is very noisy and makes a loud drony sound. TV volume has to be increased to hear it.
– The water tank in the cooler does not have a cover as recommended by NICD and National Centre for Disease Control – refer to the image I have attached.
– Due to the lack of a water tank lid, mosquitos can easily get inside if the flaps are not kept closed. Yes, there are shutting flaps provided which is why I bought this model but not everyone in the house remembers to close them. The maid for example, family members or sometime even you yourself might forget to close the louvers.
– Due to the lack of a lid on the water tank, mosquitos easily get to the water and lay eggs. You can see mosquito larvae floating in the water in the ice tray, if the water is not changed in 2-3 days. This is a 100-litre tank so this means water has to be changed frequently which is a waste.
-When you drain the tank, the water does not drain completely. There is at least 3-4 liters of water left in the tank which can still be holding the mosquito larvae and other dirt. This makes it unhygienic and can cause break out of dengue and malaria.
-Opening the cooler to clean it is a very big challenge. There are a total of 12-15 screws that need to be opened to clean the tank.
-Once the back panel is open, there are lots of sharp edges and small compartments inside the tank that make it very difficult to clean the cooler tank. Your hands will get cut and scratched with the sharp edges. Since it is a cooler that requires regular maintenance – Crompton should have designed a tank that allows for easy access and cleaning but they have not bothered about this.
– Once you finish cleaning the tank, fitting the back panel back is another challenge. The angle of to fit back the side screws is extremely challenging and fitting the back panel into the rough cut grooves of the plastic molded body is very difficult and frustrating.
– The upper body of the cooler is not very sturdy and if you do not get a pipe to fill it but use a bucket to fill the cooler, it will break or cause damage to the cooler.
– It takes up a lot of space.
– The distribution of water on the cooling pads is not consistent – equal.
– The manner in which the cooling pads and attached to the back and side panels are again badly done. You will understand once you open the cooler. Unfortunately, I have not taken any pictures but the cooling pads on the back panel of my cooler has been smashed in from the rear in the factory itself and it is held with 2 bars with screws. To change the cooling pad you need to again open more screws. Too many screws in this cooler.
-Cooling pad quality does not seem as good as Havell’s because of there is a strong chemical smell from the Crompton cooler that takes at least 2-3 days of continuous use for it to go away.

Pros:
Good Air Throw and a Powerful fan but noisy
Everlast pump
Humidity Control – which is nothing but reduces water flow to cooling pads
Collapsable Louvers & removable Mosquito/ Dust nets over cooling pads
Sturdy Castor Wheels – so far no issues
Relatively sturdy body
Let’s see how long it lasts – I hope it works until the next 2-3 summers.

If you are looking for a cooler that meets NICD Cooler and National Centre for Disease Control – that is one that has a lid on the water tank to stop mosquitos from breeding in your cooler – you can look at the Havells Freddo I think. That is the only cooler that has this feature, though there might be others. I bought a Havell’s cooler for my parents and the though it is a base variant with not many features I like the fact that Havell’s has thought about implementing the NICD Cooler design and has some other features like metal fan and the cooling pads just slide out of the panels when you want to change them, opening the rear panel and access to clean the tank is also easier. Pipes and pipe circlip quality is better.

This Crompton Optimus Cooler could have been a brilliant cooler if not for Crompton doing some really silly cost-cutting. I hope Crompton addresses these issues and evolve the product design because they are selling this product very well, in fact, I wanted to purchase the same cooler again in April but due to unavailability I had to purchase a Havell’s for my parents and got some insights into better designs from other reputed brands. Some suggestions for Crompton to improve their product:

-Metal Fan so noise can be reduced
-Lid on Water Tank
-Auto-shutting louvers when the cooler is turned off
-Easy access and fewer screws – a better fastening mechanism to hold panels together so they can be opened and closed easily without damaging the body.
-Cooling Pads to be of better quality
-Cooling Pads to be held and removed in a sliding manner instead of screws that damage them and make it difficult to change.
-Provide Pipe, Tap Nozzle, and Stainless Steel Circlips.
– Create better finishing and easier cleaning design so the cooler is easy to clean and one does not get injured while cleaning it.