Air conditioning is not all inverters, split systems, condensers and efficiency – believe it or not, this fascinating world can also be fun!
At Conduct Air Conditioning, we want you to be as passionate about the best air conditioners and your in-home comfort as we are, so here are some fun historical facts about Air Conditioning and this industry we love.
1. The term ‘air conditioner’ was actually coined by someone who wasn’t all that interested in escaping a searing summer. In 1902, it was a New York publisher called Willis Carrier who came up with the term after inventing a machine to keep the humidity from spoiling his paper and ink.
2. A few years before that, a Californian millionaire tried to air condition a small room in his house, but it required a false wall to hide a huge totally impractical array of machinery, which extended all the way to the roof. Not quite the efficient split system installation of today, was it?
3. So how did human beings keep the sweat from their brow before Willis Carrier invented this air-blowing machine? In England’s House of Commons, it was good old fashioned elbow grease that cranked a huge, seven-foot “blowing wheel” that was essentially just a big fan. And in true Arnold Schwarzenegger style, the lucky guy at the crank was called The Ventilator.
4. In the days when the technology was rare and novel, the best air conditioners were used as a clever marketing tool by movie cinemas. 100 years ago, theatres that were first on the air conditioning bandwagon would advertise their movies alongside the promise of a “state of the art” escape from the heat, often adding ice-themed lettering to the flyers.
5. Once the first window air conditioners started hitting the market in the 1940s, they were really only for the well-off. A very basic unit would cost about $350, which converts to about $3,500 in today’s money.
6. But it’s a good job that air conditioning’s pioneers persevered, because life-saving advances in medicine would have been impossible without a cool environment. The older methods of placing big blocks of ice in a room were not only inefficient, they tended to create quite the slipping hazard!
Conduct Air Conditioning is passionate about the fascinating world of air conditioning, so whether you want to know more amazing historical facts or just the best air conditioning solutions in Sydney, give us a call on 02 9708 5889.