The world is filled with wacky and wonderful inventions. Many common household items that you may not think twice about actually hold a very fascinating and unique history.
One such item that falls under this category is the much-beloved air conditioner. Known for cooling a room’s air, this household appliance has gone through a quirky timeline that’s not as straightforward as you may assume.
But, in a way, the A/C unit has helped pave the way for a lot of inventions and present-day norms. Who knows, if the A/C wasn’t invented, we’d probably be watching cinemas outdoors instead of in a cinema!
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. If you’re curious about the interesting history behind a standard AC unit, you’re in the right place. Open your minds and let’s unravel the unusual and quirky side of this unassuming household appliance.
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The First Home Coolers Were Ice Blocks
It was the peak of summer, and a lot of people were suffering from yellow fever and malaria in the southern region of the United States.
Wealthy people and hospital patients wanted to keep cool, and during this time, they didn’t have machines to cool them directly. Instead, they relied on large chunks of ice shipped from the colder, northern states.
While the cooling effect of the blocks was nice, it certainly didn’t last very long. It was during this time when a physician called Dr. John Gorrie invented a machine that turns water into ice cubes through the principle of condensation and rapid gas expansion.
While this invention has been useful, it has never been commercialised. However, this has opened the door for a new range of possibilities for cooling a building in a self-sufficient manner.
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Airconditioning Units Help Stop Allergies
People who experience seasonal and dust allergies—good news. Your air conditioning unit doesn’t just cool you off, but it also comes with allergen-reducing properties to help provide relief to sufferers.
There’s a scientific reason behind this—multiple, actually. First of all, your standard air conditioning unit helps draw out moisture. This keeps your room cool and dry, and this is good because many allergens and pollutants are water-soluble and found in these water particles.
Secondly, your A/C unit also helps circulate the air inside your room and house. This constant circulation prevents the build-up of stale air and keeps your home from accumulating mould and pathogens in the air.
Another indirect way an air conditioning unit helps stave off allergies from happening is by forcing you to close your windows. If you live in a polluted area, keeping windows closed stops the entry of pollutants and allergens that may be circulating outdoors.
Of course, these benefits can only be realised if you do your part and constantly maintain the quality of your air conditioning unit as well. Replace filters every month, and if you find yourself with a bigger A/C-related problem, get in touch with some local air conditioning experts, Alliance Climate Control.
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Modern A/C Wasn’t Meant to Cool Humans
Back in the early 20th century, the ground temperature across the world was still fairly bearable, even during summertime.
However, the ground air and humidity were quite high—so much so that it interfered with and slowed down the process of drying ink in newspapers and magazines of a publishing company. In some cases, the magazine pages would even crease and deform.
The company didn’t like this, so they called an engineer named Willis Carrier to the scene to somehow find a solution to this problem.
Over time, he found success in his attempts to create a cooler that removed humidity in the room. But he wasn’t done. He refined the machine some more, and eventually made the first line of air conditioners that work fairly similar to the ones we use today.
After inventing the product, he fully intended his creation to only be used to cool ink on paper. However, the utility of cooling rooms to make people comfortable was eventually made evident, thus earning him the title “the father of air conditioning”.
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A/C Helped Attract Moviegoers During Summer Months
Watching cinema and film is a pastime many people enjoy, both in the past and the present.
However, back in the middle of the 20th century, people didn’t solely go to the cinema to immerse themselves in visual entertainment. Many of them also went to the cinema because they wanted to be cooled by early versions of modern-day air conditioning units.
During the early stages of A/C adoption, this appliance was quite bulky and costly to produce. This meant that most households couldn’t afford them at the price point of that time.
However, A/C units did find their way into public spaces like hospitals, shopping malls, government buildings, and of course, cinemas.
With summer days being especially hot, the cinema provided moviegoers a place of refuge to watch some entertainment while enjoying the cool comfort provided by the A/C unit.
The culture of moviegoers going to the cinema during summertime was so rampant, that it made a lot of movie producers of that period time their films during the peak of summer. This, in turn, has reinforced a culture of summertime releases that have persisted up to this day.
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Summer Vacation Started From The Heat
Did you know that the transition period in the US education system (aka, summer break) was scheduled during the summer months to keep students away from the sweltering heat?
Well, it’s true. And even as air-conditioning units have become adopted in schools across America and the world, this schedule has persisted to this day.
Without air conditioning, classrooms were stifling during these months. This was compounded by the fact that there are thirty to forty people all in one room—which can increase the humidity and discomfort of everyone there, on top of the already-scorching temperatures.
Even with the A/C unit being commonplace across all classrooms in the present day to help reduce the effect of the hot summer months, this tradition persisted simply because the schedule has already been baked into the system.
And as the old adage goes, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
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A/C Units Made Uninhabitable Places Livable
A lot of places around the world are exposed to extremely arid and scorching temperatures, especially during the summer months. Think Dubai, Las Vegas, and sub-Saharan Africa. Without an air conditioning unit, living in these cities can be very, very uncomfortable—if not downright dangerous.
However, human life finds a way, especially after the mainstream adoption of A/C units. As more A/C units provide a cooling effect in buildings within these cities, more people can thrive and survive even if the outside conditions are experiencing really high temperatures.
This simple invention changed the way of life of millions of people living in hot metropolitan cities, and if that doesn’t sound impressive to you, then we don’t know what does!
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A/C Units Changed Modern Architecture
Did you know that A/C units have played a big role in influencing modern architectural design in hot climates?
It’s true. Before air conditioning units were invented, a lot of building designs revolved around high ceilings, thick walls, and shaded courtyards to keep the premises cool. Most building designs revolved around these features—with not much room for creativity and diversification.
However, as A/C units start becoming more and more popular, architects have shifted towards building more enclosed structures with windows and glass. Before A/Cs were invented, this design was unheard of as it can lead to very hot indoor temperatures.
In essence, A/C units have given architects more creative freedom to design a building with aesthetics in mind. The world’s most iconic skylines like New York, Singapore, Sydney, and London could look very, very different if it weren’t for the presence of this humble cooling appliance.
