The History Of Air Conditioning

Being a Florida resident – it’s hard to imagine living through a summer without AC, but it wasn’t that long ago that residents of warmer climates had no means to artificially control the temperature in their homes and businesses.

You may not be familiar with the name Dr. John Gorrie, but he is the father of Air Conditioning. Back in 1851 Dr. Gorrie was granted the first U.S. Patent for mechanical refrigeration.

Dr. Gorrie served as mayor of Apalachicola Florida in 1837, and that is where he developed his machine. It’s purpose was to ease the suffering of yellow fever and malaria patients. It basically blew air over a bucket of ice and helped cool down hospital rooms full of patients.

However it wasn’t until 1902 that Willis Carrier came up with his idea "Apparatus for Treating Air" which was built for a Publishing company in New York. Chilled coils were used to cool air and lower humidity. Within the next few years air conditioners were installed in some hospitals, but mainly industrial buildings such as printing plants and textile mills.

The first Air conditioner units were very large, very expensive, and dangerous since ammonia was used as coolant.

Almost twenty years later a different coolant was used, and a central compressor was developed that greatly reduced the size of the air conditioning unit. By 1927 air conditioners were being installed in office buildings and department stores. A couple years later the white house was furnished with AC. Soon after world war II, smaller less expensive window units became available to the public.

So it wasn’t until the mid 1950’s that air conditioning was widely used in residential homes.

A lot has changed in the last 60 years – and most of the important changes have happened relatively recently. Sean McCutcheon’s Air Conditioning and Heating, Inc. stays on the leading edge of new air conditioning technology. With high efficiency units and alternative coolants, we help you save money in cooling costs, and we all help protect the environment.

If you are considering upgrading or replacing your current AC System, we would like the opportunity to work with you and help you find the best system for your needs.

If you have already talked to another company and are confused, or unsure if you have all of the information – we are happy to provide you with an expert second opinion.

At Sean McCutcheons Air Conditioning and Heating, Inc. We give our customers the quality and service they expect!