Welcome back to our two-part “Throwback Thursday” series! If you missed out on part one last week, don’t fret — just click here to catch up. Once you’re all set learning about the early days of air conditioning, see below to continue our journey through HVAC history!
1939 – Imagine driving around town on the hottest day of the year with no air conditioner. Terrible right? Lucky for folks living in 1939, Packard developed the first ever air conditioned vehicle. Unfortunately, the only way to the air on and off was to stop the car and get under the hood!
1942 – The need for large scale air conditioning operations became evident in the U.S. This idea alone prompted the first ever “summer peaking” power plant to be constructed, which was intended to handle the surge in electricity usage from air conditioning in the summer months.
1947 – Air conditioning continues to gain popularity with the U.S. recognized for it’s success. Simply put, British scholar S.F. Markham stated that “the greatest contribution to civilization in this century may well be air-conditioning — and America leads the way.”
1950s – As a response to post-World War II’s booming economy, many homeowners began purchasing residential A/C units for personal comfort. In fact, it was reported that upwards of on million air conditioners were sold in just the year 1953.
1970s – Americans are ready to upgrade to bigger, better and more efficient — central cooling systems that is! That’s right. Window units began to lose popularity as the first centralized systems became available in the home.
1994 – Up until this time, Freon-12 was the preferred refrigerant for both residential and commercial cooling systems. However, it was soon discovered that this chemical was damaging to the ozone layer, making it banned for use in several countries. Luckily, many top HVAC brands, like Carrier® and Honeywell, were able to develop more environmentally friendly cooling agents.
That’s all for our time traveling trip! Hope you enjoyed learning about your favorite cooling capability — and remember, if your A/C unit is a relic of HVAC history, we can help bring your home up to speed!
Tyler Heating, Air Conditioning, Refrigeration LLC is a full service heating and cooling provider, offering a wide variety of HVAC repair and installation services to New Haven County, Fairfield County and the surrounding areas. To learn more, call (203) 378-4700 and schedule an evaluation today.
