Moemai Cooling Beds enable people to pay their last respects to a family member or friend who has passed, by providing a refrigerated base on which the loved one can be laid safely and naturally at rest before and during the funeral.

Designed and assembled in Aotearoa by New Zealanders for New Zealanders, they give people the choice to create a dignified and personal commemoration for grieving and paying tribute to a dear one without the unnecessary cost and disruption of removal to a funeral home or the need for toxic embalming chemicals.

Light and easily transportable, the cooling beds (also called cooling plates/cooling pads) are primarily intended for purchase by local funeral organisers and community groups as part of the bereavement support they provide.

The cooling bed consists of a refrigerated flat surface, connected to a small, quiet compressor motor, which can be plugged into a general electrical socket. The casket, mattress, harakeke mat or shrouded body is placed on the base, which can maintain the body at a suitable temperature for several days.

They are appropriate for many different cultures, religious beliefs and rituals of mourning – including wakes, M­­aori tangihanga, green funerals and natural burials – and can be used in a wide range of different locations – such as marae, churches, community halls, or even at home.

Coffin types can include wooden, cardboard, woven willow or harakeke/flax caskets, and the casket can be open or closed. They are equally suitable for bodies that will be buried or cremated.

We are a not-for-profit group set up to support communities across Aotearoa New Zealand. We have a number of Moemai Cooling Beds available and can provide supply pricing information for groups that may need to apply for funding.