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It wasn’t always like this. Back in the day, all you had to rely on was a pocket fan. Fanning yourself is a thing of the ancient past. The invention of the air conditioner, however, changed things forever and really allowed for development and growth in many areas, as parts of the country largely thought uninhabitable can now be tolerated thanks to cooling. We thought we would take a quick look at how these technologies came to be and how it is we are now cool inside our homes.
Back before the air conditioner was even conceived, the electric fan came around as one of the first modern methods of cooling off. It was invented in 1882 by Schuyler Skaats Wheeler who figured out how to use electricity to make the fan turn. Wheeler invented a desktop fan consisting of two blades powered by an electric motor. By 1910, the electric fan was being marketed as the next household item and boasting its low electricity costs. It seems like being concerned about the electricity bill is not new.
Not far from where the fan was being further developed, the first air conditioner came to light. Some credit is due here to the legendary Nicola Tesla, whose invention of alternating current motors made possible the invention of oscillating fans. It was thanks to that breakthrough technology that Tesla’s invention allowed the further development of the first air conditioner system by twenty-five-year-old Willis Carter.
Ironically enough the first air conditioner was not meant for human comfort. It was, instead, meant to solve a humidity problem at Sackett-Wilhelms Lithographing and Publishing company in Brooklyn where Carter worked. The pages of paper kept getting wrinkled and he was tasked with finding a solution to this. Through a series of experiments, he figured out that he could cool air and control the humidity using coils.
The concept was only picked up and expanded upon after that. Big players like General Electric and General Motors were in on the race now and soon the development of a self-contained room cooler came along. Engineers for General Motors synthesized chlorofluorocarbon coolants, which helped in improving the safety of air conditioning systems at the time because they were non-flammable. This material—although safer—was soon linked to ozone damage and would soon be subject to government regulation.
Once the technology improved, the cooling of public buildings became more and more commonplace. In some ways this was a big reason why people visited movie theaters on hot summer nights, to enjoy a cool night at the movies. Then came the invention of small enough cooling systems that could be placed on windows. While more accessible, they were still not fully available to the public due to high cost. Engineer Henry Galson developed a more compact version of this and by 1947, 43,000 of these units were sold.
By the 1960’s most homes had one of these units installed and today most homes have air conditioning systems running. Developments in other industries have also impacted the way ac technology moves forward. Architecture and design, cooling systems, refrigeration advancements, and now home automation and smart technologies.
The technology of air conditioning has not stopped there. It continues to change. Mechanical Technologies is always at the forefront of these developing systems and approaches to home cooling and we want you to get the most out of your system. When it comes to keeping your house a comfortable temperature year-round, rely on the experts.
