General Electric's Frank Faust improved on this design, developing a self-contained room cooler, and General Electric ended up producing 32 similar prototypes from to Around this same time, Thomas Midgley, Albert Henne and Robert McNary of General Motors synthesized chlorofluorocarbon CFC coolants, which became the world's first non-flammable refrigerating fluids, substantially improving the safety of air conditioners.
However, the chemicals would be linked to ozone depletion decades later and were eventually phased out by governments all across the globe after the Montreal Protocol in the s. Hydrofluorocarbons HFCs , which don't destroy the ozone, gain popularity but are eventually linked to climate change.
Recent breakthrough research by the Energy Department's Building Techologies Office and Oak Ridge National Laboratory is resulting in new refrigerants and technologies that are less harmful to the planet.
Home cooling systems got smaller after H. Schultz and J. Sherman filed a patent for an air conditioning unit that could be placed on a window ledge. The units hit the market in but were not widely purchased due to their high cost. Engineer Henry Galson went on to develop a more compact, inexpensive version of the window air conditioner and set up production lines for several manufacturers. By , 43, of these systems were sold -- and, for the first time, homeowners could enjoy air conditioning without having to make expensive upgrades.
By the late s, most new homes had central air conditioning, and window air conditioners were more affordable than ever, fueling population growth in hot-weather states like Arizona and Florida. Air conditioning is now in nearly million American homes, representing 87 percent of all households, according to the Energy Information Administration. As air conditioning use soared in the s, the energy crisis hit.
Since , the Energy Department has issued conservation standards for manufacturers of residential central air conditioners and heat pumps. The program has already driven huge efficiency improvements in new air conditioning technology that has helped consumers save energy and money.
No longer are the days of sitting at the kitchen table, sweating in your seat, and fanning yourself with the closest newspaper. When was air conditioning invented? When did we begin to know its chilly convenience? Obviously, many a person dealt with high temperatures and craved coolness before then. In the year , Benjamin Franklin himself along with professor John Hadley touched on the idea of air conditioning.
They experimented with alcohol and other such liquids, which were proven to evaporate quicker than water. They discovered that such liquids may be able to cool down an object enough to freeze water. What can we do with ice, after all? In the s, Gorrie picked up where Franklin left off.
He began to lay the groundwork for what would become our modern air conditioning system. This Florida resident was sick of its grueling heat and wanted to discover a way to offer relief. He experimented with artificial cooling and even developed a machine that creates ice. Willis Carrier. Even Albert Einstein kept a picture of Faraday on his study wall.
John Gorrie In , the Florida physician John Gorrie built his ice-making machine - a machine that used compressor technology to compress air and water to make ice. It then had air blown over the ice which in turn cooled the air in the room, keeping his patients nice and cool.
In he gets his ice-making machine patented and envisions a world full of his machines keeping everyone cool all over the world. Sadly, Gorrie lacked the financial backing and died in - along with his dream of commonplace air conditioning. Carrier was left with the task to improve the manufacturing process in a printing plant that suffered from excessive humidity, which wreaked havoc on the inks used to print. To remedy this Carrier submitted drawings of a system that would control temperature, control humidity, control the air circulation and ventilation, and cleanse the air - not bad for a 25 year old fresh out of college.
Using his knowledge of heating objects with steam, he simply reversed the process. Instead of sending air through hot coils, he sent it through coils filled with cold water instead. As the air cooled, moisture in the air increased, therefore the humidity, along with the temperature could be controlled. And thus, the modern air conditioner was born. Stuart W Cramer Deserving an honorary mention.
Stuart Cramer.
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