Residential air conditioning is so common now that it’s easy to take it for granted, or think that there isn’t anything interesting about the unit the keeps your home comfortable during the summer days and nights. However, the electro-mechanical air conditioner has been around for more than a hundred and ten years now, and it’s racked up some interesting stories during that time. Below we’ve listed a few of the more intriguing pieces of AC history and the ways that it changed the country.
- Who had the first home air conditioning system? Air conditioning systems were originally developed for industrial and commercial purposes. These early units cost too much for use in homes, and it wasn’t until 1914 that the first residential AC was installed. Charles Gilbert Gates, the son of the manufacturer of barbed wire, arranged to have air conditioning built into his new home in Minneapolis. The completed mansion was the first ever equipped with central air conditioning—although Gates wasn’t around to enjoy it, having died in Cody, WY after a hunting trip in 1913.
- The AC health revolution: Air conditioners have not only benefited the comfort of the U.S., but also its health. Air conditioning helped with the development of medical technology and the increase of the average lifespan thanks to slowing the spread diseases common in warmer climates. In the hottest parts of the country, air conditioners became lifesavers for infants and the elderly.
- The summer movie season… starring the air conditioner! Before the creation of the “summer blockbuster” in the mid-‘70s thanks to Jaws and American Graffiti, the main reason people flocked to theaters during the summer was because of air conditioning. Movie theaters were among the first businesses to adopt indoor air conditioning and used it as an incentive to draw in patrons. It was common for the air conditioning to be a bigger name on the marquee than the movie being shown!
Do you need help receiving the best air conditioning in your home in Wilmette, IL? Then call Malek Heating & Cooling!