The desire to be able to chill the temperature of the immediate surroundings can be traced back for centuries; Ancient Egyptians, Ancient Romans and the Han Dynasty in 2nd Century China all tried various ways to cool the air around them.
The father of modern air conditioning, however, was an American Cornell University graduate, Willis Haviland Carrier. The first air conditioning unit, designed and built by him in Buffalo, began operation in July 1902. In 1906, he lodged his first patent for ‘The Apparatus for Treating Air’.
Five years later, in 1911, Carrier told the American Society of Mechanical Engineers about his new formula for calculating air conditions. He said he had worked it out while waiting for a train on a foggy night, and that by the time the train arrived at the station, he had understood the dynamics between temperature, humidity and dew point. That formula is still in use today.
Controlling humidity levels before and after production, led to improvements in many products including, film, tobacco, processed meats, medical capsules and certain textiles. In 1921, Carrier patented his centrifugal refrigeration machine. It was the first practical method for cooling large spaces and it was a safer and more efficient method for chilling air.
Three years later, several Carrier centrifugal chillers were installed in the JL Hudson Department Store in Detroit, Michigan. Shoppers loved to shop in the new ‘air conditioned’ stores and not surprisingly, the movie theaters were the next to install them. In 1928 the Carrier systems began being installed in domestic homes, now under the name residential “Weathermaker”.
Contribution to Retail History
The ability to create a controlled and comfortable environment has been a critical component for shopping year-round and is often taken for granted. Air conditioning has enabled extensive retail development in extreme climate cities such as Las Vegas, Kuwait City, Dubai, and Singapore, which boast some of the largest and most innovative shopping malls in the world.