Here we are on the second day of summer, and although it has been on the cool side lately, it’s not hard to imagine the misery of life without air conditioning, especially if you were working in an office building on a hot and humid day in 1899 or so. Fortunately for all of us, 23 years earlier to that date Willis Haviland Carrier been born.
A newly-minted Cornell graduate in engineering in 1901, Carrier (1876 – 1950) was trying to solve a humidity problem for the Sackett-Wilhelms Lithographing & Publishing Company of Brooklyn, New York. He succeeded, and voila–air conditioning was invented. His electrically powered humidity-removing machine had the pleasant side effect of also lowering the temperature. In 1915, Carrier went on to form his own company – Carrier Engineering.
In 1929, The Central Square Theatre proudly advertised that the theatre was “COOLED BY REFRIGERATION.” The Cambridge Sentinel (June 15, 1929) touted this achievement, noting that the cost of installation had been $100,000 and (quaintly) that the air was taken into the “breathing zone” first before being distributed throughout the theatre.
After Carrier’s original invention, it took another twenty years before a small air conditioning unit for residential windows was patented in 1931 by H.H. Schultz and J.Q. Sherman. Again, excerpts from the Cambridge Sentinel July 4, 1931:
“Made To Order Weather”
“St. Louis. – Made to order weather in which the average householder will be able to press a button on winter days and produce a climate of tropic warmth, or press another button and obtain bracing mountain air, was predicted by Willis H. Carrier, president of the American Society of Heating and Ventilating Engineers…. Research work at Harvard, co-ordinated with experiments of the American Society of Heating and Ventilating Engineers at the bureau of mines, indicates… ‘The average human being at rest has a heat output of about 400 body temperature units per hour, the approximate equivalent of a 120 watt electric light,’ he said. ‘This remains remarkably constant throughout normal ranges of temperature, moisture variation, and changes of clothing…..” (This measurement was accurate: today the average heat output of a male body at rest is 100-120 watts per hour.)[i]
By 1934, one of Cambridge’s own, the Air Conditioning Engineering Company at 171 Second Street, began marketing Perfectaire, designed by Raymond A. Sheffield, chief engineer and a senior partner of the firm.
“…It is just as necessary to have proper humidity in the home as to have ample heating. Furthermore, there is a direct relationship between heating and humidity. When humidity of forced air is kept at the proper level less heat is required than under the old dead air system. Air washed and then forced through filters to be immaculately cleaned and distributed throughout a home means better health and reduced heating bills.
Air conditioning equipment protects your investment in a home or business…The writer suggests that you consult the Air Conditioning Eng. Co. at 61 Rogers Street, under the management of Raymond A. Sheffield, for further information pertaining to air conditioning. Mr. Sheffield is an authority on the subject and his connection with the best engineers assures you of competent, dependable service in air conditioning and refrigeration problems. Your old home can be equipped with air conditioning just as well as a new home.
The Air Conditioning Eng. Co. is in a position to supply you with any type or make of system that would best suit your individual requirements on buildings of any kind. By calling Kir.2700 a courteous representative will call and give you a free estimate without obligation.
Do you know why air conditioning is so important to health and comfort?”
Cambridge Sentinel June 27, 1936
Sales Statistics and Costs: (from The Air Conditioner Then and Now)
In 1931, when Schultz and Sherman invented the home air conditioning unit, they could cost from $10,000 – $50,000 per unit. By 1938, the Chrysler air conditioner cost about $416 per unit.[ii]
1940 – Just 1 in 400 US homes had an air conditioner.
1950s – National Homes, manufacturer of pre-fab homes, begins offering central air conditioning as an option for $500.
1960 – The US Census shows that 13% of American homes had AC in at least one room.
1970 – The US Census shows that almost 37% of American homes had AC in at least one room.
1993 – 68% of housing units had air conditioning.
2009 – 87% of housing had some form of AC.
2016 – 100 million US homes have central air conditioning, or about 87% of households.
In 2021 6.28 million window units were sold in the U. S.[iii] , with prices ranging from $15–$800, depending on features such as the BTU, brand, efficiency etc.
Today’s post was written by CHC volunteer Kathleen Fox
SOURCES
“Air conditioners shipments in the U.S. from 2001 to 2020 (in millions)” Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/220357/manufactured-shipments-of-unitary-air-conditioners/.
“A Brief History of HVAC” Coyne College. https://www.coynecollege.edu/a-brief-history-of-hvac-air-conditioning/.
PickHvac. Cooling & Heating Guide, April 28, 2022.
Rardin, Nic. Air Conditioning: Then and Now. July 8, 2015. https://www.hvac.com/resources/air-conditioning-then-and-now/.
“Who Invented Air Conditioning?” MD Air Conditioning & Heating. https://mdairconditioning.com/who-invented-air-conditioning/.
“Willis Carrier” Carrier Company. https://www.carrier.com/carrier/en/worldwide/about/willis-carrier/.
[i] http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2016/ph240/stevens1/Human Body Heat as a Source for “Thermoelectric Energy Generation,” Matthew Stevens, November 27, 2016
[ii] https://www.hvac.com/resources/air-conditioning-then-and-now/
[iii] Statista.com
