The Important History of Air Conditioners

In the great state of Florida, an air conditioner is a must-have. When the sun is beating down in the middle of summer amidst the humid climate, a person with AC is a happy person. Without this heat removing technique, millions of people across the globe would suffer from heat exhaustion or even worse side effects from heat. While the air conditioner is such an important invention, how many people actually know how it came to be? 

While cooling homes, offices, and other buildings, knowing how the air conditioner was invented is important.

The Inventor of the AC 

In 1902, Willis Carrier had a problem to solve. A talented engineer, Carrier was trying to develop a machine that would help fix the air quality of a printing plant in his home state of New York. The result of his endeavors was the first modern air conditioning system.

This system not only controlled the temperature in the air, it also could control the humidity, aid in air circulation and ventilation, and it cleansed the air of harmful particles. While the first machine worked, Carrier spent four more years perfecting it before requesting a patent in 1906.

In 1907, he patented an automatic method for the machine. By the start of World War I, the company Carrier was working for turned their attention away from air conditioning units and decided to focus solely on manufacturing. The result was that in 1915, Carrier and seven other engineers put together their life savings and started the Carrier Engineering Corporation. 

Why the 1900s?

Carrier’s invention came at a much needed time in the United States. After the industrial revolution in the 1800s, large populations in the north worked in factories of one sort or another. The manufacturing plants were full of machinery that created heat as they ran as well as byproduct particles that would float into the air. Include the humidity, and the air in these factories was decidedly bad. 

Workers would get byproduct particles in their lungs or faint from heat exhaustion. Many factory workers started protesting working conditions. In order to keep their factories up and running, factory owners had to find a way to provide better working conditions for their workers. The air conditioner did just that.

The First Air Conditioner

To make the first modern air conditioner, Carrier took inspiration from the process of mechanical refrigeration, a cooling method that was established much earlier. To do this, a compressor was used to force refrigeration gas through a condenser, which would in turn cool down the gas and liquefy it.

Afterward, the gas was circulated through coils, which would cause the gas to evaporate and cool down the system. This system mainly served to make ice, which was great for a refrigerator but not so much for an air conditioner.

To make his system, Carrier used the refrigeration method but exchanged hot coils that would cause evaporation for cold coils that were filled with water. This enabled Carrier’s machine to control the humidity as well as temperature.

About AAA Modern Air

AAA Modern Air has been taking care of air conditioning and ducts in the Dania Beach area since 1969. Their company provides duct cleaning and indoor air quality control - along with AC services. No matter your cooling needs, their expert staff is there to help. 

• 
  +
• 
  +
• 
  +
• 
  +