The History of Air Conditioning – Part One

As Arizonans, most of us cannot imagine living in our beautiful state without air conditioning. We all understand the how truly wonderful it feels when it finally kicks in on our commute (usually about 5 minutes before we arrive to work) and the glorious feeling of the cool air when we walk into a grocery store on a hot summer day. While many of us feel as though we would literally evaporate without it, how often do we actually think about where air conditioning came from? How did people cool themselves before the modern invention we take for granted every summer? As the temperatures continue to rise, sit back in your refreshingly chilly home and join us on an adventure as we explore the history of air conditioning!

Modern air conditioning systems are relatively novel. Most ancient societies did what millions of people still do in scorching temperatures throughout the world – sweat, use fans, and hide out in shade. Some cultures, such as ancient Romans, however, came up with clever techniques to cool their homes. Roman aqueducts are miles and miles of waterways that provided clean water to the city and its residents. For the wealthy, this water could be pumped into piping throughout the walls – thus cooling the brickwork and lowering the overall temperature in the home. In second-century China during the Han Dynasty, an artisan named Ding Huan invented a 3-meter wide rotary fan with seven wheels. The catch? The device could only be powered by man. In medieval Persia, wind towers were invented to cool buildings in the 100+ degree weather. The towers had windows that caught the winds, and internal veins that sucked hot air out and funneled cool air into the rooms.

Dr. John Gorrie was a physician in Florida in the 1840s. At this time, Dr. Gorrie was concerned about the scorching heat, and warned the public about the “evils of high temperatures”. He believed that keeping hospitals and homes cool was imperative to negating diseases such as malaria. His original attempts at accomplishing this included transporting ice from frozen lakes in northern states to his offices in Florida. These efforts were not only expensive and time-consuming they were rudimentary and ineffective. To solve the problem, Dr. Gorrie began experimenting with artificial cooling methods. He was granted a patent for his designs in 1851, however he was unable to bring his technology to the marketplace. Dr. Gorrie is part of this history, however, because his ideas laid the foundation for the invention of the modern-day air conditioner.

After Gorrie’s efforts, advancements on the technologies were stagnant for many years. It wasn’t until 1902 when an engineer named Willis Carrier was tasked with solving a problem at Sackett-Wilhelms Lithographing and Publishing Company in Brooklyn. The company was concerned because magazine pages were becoming wrinkled due to heat and humidity. Carrier invented a system using cooling coils and was issued a patent for his “Apparatus for Treating Air”. With his device, Carrier was able to both cool down and heat up air. It didn’t take long for Carrier to understand the worth of his invention, and how it could have an impact on many industries outside of publishing. He eventually left his role and started his own engineering company called Carrier Engineering Corporation.

The first time a public building was artificially cooled for patron use was at the St. Louis World Fair in 1904, however, the concept was not widely spread until the 1920s, where movie theatres became the “cool” place to be on a hot summer day. The original cooling systems made for hot and muggy temperatures for in the upper sections of the theatre and extremely cold temperatures in the lower sections. In 1922, Carrier Engineering Corporation debuted a much more effective cooling system, that had less moving parts, was more effective and less expensive than previous systems. This breakthrough led to the widespread use of “air conditioners” in public venues across the country.

Join us next time as we explore a more modern history of air conditioners – picking up in 1929 when air conditioning systems first appeared in private homes, through to today’s technologies, and beyond into the future of air conditioning technologies. In the meantime, consider staying cool with sun screens and patio shades! Contact us at CC Sunscreens today for a consultation.