5 Things You Didn’t Know About Air Conditioning- Naperville IL

Although we’re at the halfway point of October today (crazy, right?), Mother Nature has been giving us more warm days than we’re used to, which has forced us to allow our air conditioner to run longer than usual this year. That being said, we wanted to provide you with a few random facts you may or may not already know regarding things you didn’t know about air conditioning.

Air Conditioning Fact #1 - During the days where air conditioning and refrigeration were not yet in existence, people used ice to keep things cool. After cooling units we’re developed, they were measured by how much heat power it took and how fast they could melt a short ton of ice in one day. From this derived the term “unit of refrigeration”. Today, 1 ton is equivalent to 12,000 BTU/h.

Air Conditioning Fact #2 - During the great depression, households did not yet have air conditioning. However, one type of establishment that did was movie theaters. This resulted in hundreds of people flocking to the movie theaters during hot summer days to keep themselves cool in the blistering heat without having air conditioning in their home.

Air Conditioning Fact #3 - The first air conditioning system was created in 1902 by an engineer at a New York publishing company. It stemmed from Willis Carrier wanting to create a machine that would decrease humidity and allow ink to dry faster. His “Apparatus for Treating Air” was patented in 1906.

Air Conditioning Fact #4 - The idea of cool air goes as far back to the early 1800’s, where Florida physician John Gorrie was looking for a way to keep his patient’s rooms cool, specifically those who were suffering from yellow fever.

Air Conditioning Fact #5 - Summer break actually stemmed from the heat back in the days before air conditioning. During the summer, the heat got so hot in schoolhouses that school’s closed for the summer.

We hope you enjoyed our random list of things you didn’t know about air conditioning! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the office at (630) 548-1500.