HVAC Trivia

True or False: Before Air Conditioning, industrial workers had month long vacations in August?

True or False: Before Air Conditioning, industrial workers had month long vacations in August?

TRUE. Industrial workers were sluggish in the hot buildings during the summer, slowing or even stopping production during the sweltering summer months. Even the government shut down during parts of the summer for the very same reason!

How has architecture changed since the advancement of air conditioning?

How has architecture changed since the advancement of air conditioning?

Gone are the cool brick structures with high ceilings, transoms, breezeways, strategically placed shrubbery, and sleeping porches, all of which were designed to keep inhabitants cool. Today’s glass skyscrapers and low-slung tract housing don’t have the same ventilating and heat-defeating features, so going without air conditioning today feels more unbearable than it used to.

True or False: The development of effective temperature control, refrigeration has revolutionized almost every aspect of industry?

True or False: The development of effective temperature control, refrigeration has revolutionized almost every aspect of industry?

TRUE. Without air conditioning, the following things would be virtually impossible: the manufacture of computers and chipsets; data storage centers; the production, delivery, and storage of food; pharmaceutical manufacturing; and chemical manufacturing.

How has air conditioning allowed for exponential advances in medicine and human life expectancy?

How has air conditioning allowed for exponential advances in medicine and human life expectancy?

Air conditioned hospitals helped defeat malaria, decrease infant morality, inhibit bacteria, and advance developments in surgery.

True or False: Air conditioning has affected education nationwide?

True or False: Air conditioning has affected education nationwide?

FALSE. Summer vacation exists because at the near the turn of the century, hot, stuffy schools were intolerable, and some advocates worried about the spread of disease in such poor conditions. Although air conditioning has made it possible for students to be comfortable year-round, the vacation schedule never changed.

What assisted in a 60 percent of all economic growth in the United States since 1960?

Air conditioning, of course. Since 1960, 60 percent of all the economic growth in the country has taken place in the South, where air conditioning made year-round factory work and apartment-living possible. Demographers agree that the population explosions in places like Arizona, Las Vegas, Florida, and Texas can be directly attributed to air conditioning.

In 2009, what percentage of homes in the United States have a central air conditioning system?

In 2009, what percentage of homes in the United States have a central air conditioning system?

The United States Census Bureau, and the American Housing Survey revealed that 72 million homes , or 65% had central air conditioning and the other 22% have room or window units.

Why is heat needed to cool your home?

Why is heat needed to cool your home?

Refrigerant is used to remove heat form the air in your home, which causes the air to become cooler. Pressure changes are used to manipulate the temperature of the refrigerant. When it is pressurized at the condenser unit, heat from the outside air causes the material to boil. As the material is transported into the indoor evaporator unit, the pressure is reduced, which causes a dramatic drop in temperature. This facilitates the desired cooling activity.

Who invented the air conditioner, and for what purpose?

Who invented the air conditioner, and for what purpose?

It was Willis Carrier who invented air conditioning. He originally created the air conditioner for the publishing company he worked for in Brooklyn, to keep the temperature and humidity low enough for paper to refrain from expanding or contracting.

How have environmental concerns changed A/C?

Greenhouse gases have been a concern on a national scale for many decades, and Freon is among the hydrofluorocarbons considered to be a danger to the environment. This was the primary refrigerant used in air conditioning applications. However, the Montreal Protocol is an international agreement that has been used to phase Freon out of use in participating nations. By 2030, all HCFC’s are expected to be phased out of use. New air conditioning equipment is currently designed to use alternative refrigerants such as Puron.

Air Conditioning will bring about world peace?

False: Well, probably not. But AC can and does save many lives. Researchers found that the chance of dying on extremely hot summer days has fallen more than 80% in America over the last 50 years. The researchers have attributed this to the rise of air conditioning homes.

What was the first auto manufacturer to incorporate AC in their cars?

What was the first auto manufacturer to incorporate AC in their cars?

The first car with optional air conditioning was introduced in 1939 by Packard. The option wasn’t very popular due to its high cost and the fact that the evaporator and blower system took up half the trunk space.

What continent uses the same amount of energy per year the U.S. uses just for air conditioning?

The U.S. is the biggest consumer of air conditioning in the world. We use so much of it, that in one year our energy consumption just for AC is equal to the amount of energy Africa uses to power the entire continent.

Who first coined the term “air conditioning”?

True or False: AC is responsible for the term “summer blockbuster”?

True or False: AC is responsible for the term “summer blockbuster”?

TRUE. Movie theaters were among the fist public places to have air conditioning, as a ploy to try to get everyone to come to the movies. Theaters would release their biggest films in the summer, hence the term “summer blockbuster.”

Who invented the first electric fan?

Who invented the first electric fan?

In 1886, Schuyler Wheeler invented the electric fan, which was the most popular way for Americans to cool down until the end of World War II.

What was the first public building to use AC?

In 1903, the New York Stock Exchange building in New York City was one of the first structures to use air conditioning system.

Who is considered the father of AC & refrigeration?

John Gorrie – As a Floridian doctor in 1842, he developed a machine that made ice in order to cool the air for his patients. He was granted a patent to create a similar machine for homes and buildings, but died before he could create it.

True or False: Air Conditioning has changed the human body?

TRUE: Scientific studies have shown that the introduction of air conditioning has actually lowered the natural human tolerance for heat. Meaning a hot summer’s day seems much more amplified than it did to people generations ago.

Who built the first fully air conditioned home?

The first fully air conditioned home was built in Minneapolis in 1913 by Charles Gilbert Gates, heir to the barbed wire fortune. The mansion took up three city lots and also had gold plumbing, as well as a full ballroom. Sadly, Gates never got to experience it, as he died while on a hunting trip before the house was completed.