Now Serving Owatonna, Rochester and Surrounding Areas!

Learn More

Brief History of Air Conditioning

Imagine a world without
air conditioning: what would you do during the 100-degree days in the middle of summer?
Some of us take it for granted, but without it we would be in a much sweatier place.

Where did it begin? Who invented it? What was it like back in the day?
See below to find out some answers to these questions.

1758 – Benjamin Franklin and John Hadley discover that liquid evaporation
has a cooling effect. Alcohol and other volatile liquids can cool down
an object enough to freeze water.

1830s – Dr. John Gorrie builds an ice making machine in the Florida hospital
where he works. He uses compression to make buckets of ice and then blows
air over them.

1902 – Willis Carrier invents the first machine that blows air over cold
coils to control room temperature and humidity and calls it the Apparatus
for Treating Air.

1914 – This is the first time air conditioning comes to the home. It was
used in Charles Gates’ mansion and stood 7 feet tall, 6 feet wide
and 20 feet long.

1950s – Residential air conditioning becomes popular during the post-World
War II economic boom.

With advancements in technology, air conditioning continues to modernize.
We now have
ductless ac systems and we are able to control the temperature in our homes while we are away.

Need ac repair or replacement? Contact the cooling experts at
Uptown today!

Skip to content