10 COOL Facts about Air Conditioning that will boost your Trivia Skills

Did you know HVAC systems are important for any household and the need for them is stronger than ever.

Now that summer is approaching, everyone is looking to ditch the heat and relax in a wonderful climate-controlled house. Air-conditioning can be the difference between being in misery or in total comfort. However, air-conditioning has been around longer than you think. If you want to know all about air conditioning, keep reading!

Did you know that some of the most basic forms of air-conditioning were used by the Ancient Egyptians, Romans, and Chinese? Or that one of our founding fathers had a hand in the research that would lead to AC units? No? Well, prepare to be surprised because we’re bringing you 10 fun facts about air conditioning and HVAC trivia that you (probably) didn’t know:

1. Keeping Garfield on Ice
   In 1881, a wounded James Garfield is tended by doctors in the White House after being shot by an assassin. In order to keep Garfield comfortable in the Washington summer heat, Navy engineers rig up a makeshift air conditioner that drops the temperature in the room by 20 degrees. Even though the device works, it uses a massive amount of ice in the process. Despite these best efforts, Garfield succumbs to his wounds months later.
2. Ancient Air-Conditioning
   The most basic form of air-conditioning uses evaporative cooling. In Ancient Egypt, water-soaked reeds were hung on window sills. When the wind blowed, it evaporated the water on the reeds and made the air around them cooler. In Ancient Rome, water from aqueducts was circulated through the walls of certain houses to keep them cool.
3. You can’t have your Cake and Eat it too
   In 1939, the American luxury car company Packard invents the first automobile with air-conditioning. A welcome addition, right? Not exactly: in order to activate the air-conditioning, the driver had to stop the engine, open the hood, and disconnect a compressor belt. It wasn’t  the most consumer-friendly design, but it worked. You have to start somewhere we suppose…
4. Summer Blockbuster
   Do you know the first public place to use air-conditioning? Movie theaters. Yep, it’s true: the cool climate inside the theaters was used as a ploy to get moviegoers to stop by. The tactic worked, and ticket sales skyrocketed during the warmer months.It’s the reason why popular films were shown in the summer, and it’s how the term “summer blockbuster” came about.
5. The Cadillac of Conditioning
   In 1931, air-conditioning was nowhere near wide-spread and only the wealthiest of people could afford air-conditioning for individual rooms. Invented by H.H. Schultz and J.Q. Sherman, these units sat on a window ledge and cost between $10,000 and $50,000. That’s the equivalent of $120,000 and $600,000 today!
6. Practical Value
   Although we like to think that the purpose of air-conditioning is for comfort, AC has other uses as well. Researchers that study pharmaceuticals require the air in the laboratory to be cooler and less humid. Also, air-conditioning in hospitals helps keep the production of bacteria down and helps prevent the spread of disease. Also, some of the first air conditioners were used for publishing companies because, without the cool air, the paper in the office would expand and contract throughout the year.
7. Grueling Heat
   Before modern air-conditioning was invented, many offices and places of business allowed their workers to take a month off during the summer because of the heat. Employee performance was sluggish and productivity rates were low. air-conditioning allowed employees to work year round and increased productivity. In fact, you can thank air-conditioning for the population and productivity boom in states like Texas or Arizona. However,  Europe continues this summer vacation tradition because many places of work still don’t have central air.
8. Blinds are your Best Friends (tip)
   Shades and blinds are your best friends in a home with air-conditioning. The reason is simple: light is heat, and the sunlight coming through your windows will gradually increase the temperature in the room. In turn, your ACs have to work harder to keep the rest of your house cool and this results in more stress on the AC unit. On the next hot day when the sun is beaming down, make sure those blinds and shades are closed. You’ll thank us, don’t worry.
9. Catchy Name
   The term “air-conditioning’ was coined in 1906 by a North Carolina textile manufacturer after air-cooling technology improved the quality of fabric being produced in the plant. We will admit, it’s a much catchier term than An Apparatus for Treating the Air which was the patent title of one of the first modern air cooling systems. In the end, we guess it doesn’t matter what it’s called, as long as it works!

Choose NJ Air Pros Central NJ as your Air Conditioning Specialist

If the summer has you feeling like a boiled potato, don’t suffer any longer – call NJ Air Pros and get cooled down.
Serving Central New Jersey, NJ Air Pros is the goto source for all of your Air Conditioning service needs.

Our expert technicians provide only the best service for all of your climate-control desires and will install, repair, and maintain your HVAC system.

Staying cool doesn’t have to be hard, just give us a call today at (732) 823-4036 and we’ll make your world a lot more comfortable.

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Category(s): Air Conditioning HVAC tips