Throughout the years air conditioning has
become a necessity for our day to day
activities. It has become a norm for cars,
homes and office buildings to be equipped
with air conditioning systems. In the late
1800's it was a mere curiosity for engineers
to think of cooling buildings. The idea had
been pondered upon but it was not until the
early 1900's that the concept of
refrigeration technology matured to the
point that it could be considered for
applications such as building
cooling. Currently these types of systems
are referred to as HVAC (heating, ventilation
and air conditioning) systems.
With the idea being discussed
frequently throughout the late 1800's there
was even some cooling systems installed
using ice or mechanical refrigeration.
However, it wasn't until Alfred Wolff, along
with several other leading engineers, pushed
right through their invention for cooling
buildings. Alfred Wolff was considered the
leading heating and ventilating engineer of
his day, he was among the first to install
air conditioning systems in many famous New
York buildings. Among one of the famous
buildings was the New York Stock Exchange,
the first 300 ton air conditioning unit. The
cooling was provided free by using the waste
steam from the building's electric power
plant to operate the refrigerating machines.
Mr.
Wolff went onto installing other air
conditioning units is such building as, The
Carnegie Hall, The New York Public Library,
and the Plaza Hotel. The new invention had
everyone impressed and amazed that the once
thought about idea had come to a reality.
Now, it wasn't until newly graduated
engineer, Willis Haviland Carrier who
mastered the art of cooling. He was able to
control the air's dew point, and sold his
systems to customers with a promise of
specific temperature and humidity
performance.
In
1907, appointed to be the chief engineer as
he launched a new company division, The
Carrier Air Conditioning Co. of America.
The
public was first exposed to the cooling side
of air conditioning at the Louisiana
Purchase Exposition, in 1904. They were
treated to an air conditioned 1,000 seat
auditorium exhibit. The rest of North
America did not get introduced to air
conditioning til 1917, when movie theaters
installed their cooling plants. As the
temperatures increased people found movie
theaters to be a haven to the unbearable
heat waves.
That is where the idea of home air
conditioning arose, it wasn't until 1930
when most offices and department stores
installed their comfort cooling systems. Air
conditioning for homes and small offices
presented another challenge. This is where
refrigerator companies put their skills to
the test. It was Frigidaire who introduced
the first "room cooler system".
By
the 1930s, these companies were combining
cooling and heating technology with central
home air conditioning systems,
with circulating filtered, tempered air to
all of the rooms in a house, office, or
business. The cooling system has come a long
way from luxury to a necessity.
So our hats tip off to all the engineers for
making our lives more cooler and
comfortable.
