A Short History of American Air Conditioning Systems

It’s truly a luxury to adjust the temperature of your environment according to your preference, and air conditioning allows us to do just this. In the Southern United States, 85% of residential housing contains an air conditioning (AC) unit, while in the Northeast just over half (44%) of homes have this feature. Heating and cooling services aren’t cheap and rack up a bill of $1,000 annually for the average American. This sophisticated system of controlling room temperature wasn’t always around; it might be easy to take it for granted that we can effortlessly change the degree of heat in our homes to suit our comfort. The first person to invent AC was Willis Carrier, while he was working in Buffalo, NY. If you’re wondering about the history of AC and want to know more about how your air conditioning repair company began, keep reading to learn about the origins of getting relief from the heat.

William Carrier invents air conditioning maintenance to blow cold air over cold coils

In 1902, the young Cornell graduate Carrier responded to a problem reported by Sackett-Wilhelms Lithographing and Publishing Company of Brooklyn. They were tired of feeling overheated in their offices, and his novel cooling system was the birth of the modern AC units we know today. This marked the beginning of humidity control that controlled four functions:

• Temperature control
• Humidity control
• Air circulation and ventilation control
• Cleaning of the air

Stuart Cramer coins the term ‘Air Conditioning’

You might think this term has always been around, but it was first used in 1906 by Cramer when he used moisture and ventilation to condition factories that produced products for the American public. This was necessary to make yarn easier to spin, which encouraged the forward movement of the Industrial Revolution. In 1945, Robert Sherman developed a unique system that allowed portable AC units, and this served as the beginning for Americans to bring AC into their own homes, and not just businesses .

Thomas Midgley, Jr. patents Freon in 1928

Midgley was a well-known chemist at the time, and he invented refrigeration systems that employed sulfur dioxide, propane, and ammonia. Unfortunately, these chemicals are dangerous and not suitable for use in homes. After many years of research, Midgley and his team developed non-toxic and non-flammable alternative to these options by creating a system based on alkyl halides that simultaneously was chemically volatile and inert.

Modern Air Conditioning Systems

The AC units you are familiar with are much more environmentally friendly than previous systems, and use the most advanced technology to cool your home. These systems are no longer detrimental to the environment and don’t emit CFCs like previous types of air conditioning thermostats.

Do you have air conditioning in your home? Do you have any suggestions on air conditioning maintenance? Do you know how to reduce the cost of heating and air conditioning repair? If you have any ideas on how to choose the best air conditioning maintenance service, or even how to keep the cost of choosing the right air down, please leave us a comment below and let us know about your experience. Find more on this topic here.