Welcome to the world of Air Conditioners Created by the largest Air Conditioner manufacturer globally Inventor units enjoy a sound reputation of exceptional quality and outstanding performance! In Europe since 1966Who hasn't sung the praises of air conditioning on a sweltering summer day? But who do you have to thank for this refreshing convenience? The short answer to that question is Willis Carrier, an American engineer credited with inventing the first modern air conditioner. However, the idea of using evaporated water — or other liquids — to cool off a muggy space far precedes Carrier's 1902 invention. The first known systems that used water to cool indoor spaces were created by the ancient Egyptians, who lowered the temperature in their homes by hanging wet mats over their doorways. The evaporated water from the wet mats reduced indoor air temperatures and added refreshing moisture to the dry desert air. Not long after the Egyptians beat the heat with their doorway mats, the Romans developed a primitive air conditioning system by utilizing their famous aqueducts to circulate fresh water through indoor pipes, a method that significantly reduced the air temperature inside stuffy villas.

Of course, it wasn't until long after the Romans had their time in the sun that the principles of modern air conditioning were developed. In 1758, American statesman and inventor Benjamin Franklin, along with John Hadley, a professor at Cambridge University, began experimenting with the refrigerating effects of certain liquids. In previous studies, Franklin had determined that the refrigerating effects of a liquid are related to how quickly it evaporates. He and Hadley expanded on this finding by using ether and a bellows to cool down a mercury thermometer to 25 degrees below freezing. This experiment prompted Franklin to remark in his journal about the possibility of freezing to death, even on a warm summer's day. This observation by Franklin was a foreshadowing of things to come. In 1820, British inventor Michael Faraday was also experimenting with the refrigeration properties of gases when he discovered that, by compressing and liquidizing ammonia and then allowing it to evaporate, he could cool the air inside his laboratory.

Several decades after Faraday made his discovery with ammonia, a Florida physician named John Gorrie developed a machine to keep yellow fever patients cool. rv ac unitsGorrie's machine used compressed air and water to create an open cooling system. standing water under ac unitPatented in 1851, Gorrie's "cold air machine" was the first patented invention that facilitated mechanical refrigeration, as well as the first to resemble a modern air conditioner.how do natural gas ac units work But it wasn't until 1902 that the history of air conditioning really began to heat up. In that year, a young engineer named Willis Carrier was tasked with the chore of creating a system for treating the air at the Sackett-Wilhelms Lithographing and Publishing Company in Brooklyn, N.Y. Printing company executives found that excessive humidity at its printing plant wreaked havoc on the color register used for fine, multi-color printing.

By 1903, Carrier had designed a system of chilled coils that maintained a constant, and comfortable, humidity of 55 percent inside the Sackett-Wilhelms printing plant — the equivalent of using 108,000 pounds of ice daily to cool the plant. The modern air conditioner was born. [See also: Science of Summer: How Does Air Conditioning Work?] Not long after Carrier invented his game-changing air conditioning machine, a mill engineer named Stuart Cramer created a similar ventilating device to add water vapor to the stifling air inside of textile plants. While Cramer was the second person to develop such a device, he was the first to coin the term "air conditioning" to describe the purpose of his invention. Air conditioning continued to be used in plants and mills throughout the early 1900s, but it wasn't until 1914 that this modern convenience was installed for the first time in a private home. In that year, a Minneapolis millionaire named Charles Gates hired Carrier to install an air conditioner in his mansion.

By the 1920s, scores of commercial businesses jumped on the air conditioning bandwagon, installing huge (by modern standards) and toxic (they used ammonia as a coolant) air conditioning devices in their stores. The expansion of air conditioning into American homes was stalled during the Great Depression and World War II, but by the 1950s, those who could afford it began adopting this modern convenience by the thousands. Follow Elizabeth Palermo on Twitter @techEpalermo, Facebook or Google+. We're also on Facebook & Google+.1758 All liquid evaporation has a cooling effect. Benjamin "I invented everything" Franklin and Cambridge University professor John Hadley discover that evaporation of alcohol and other volatile liquids, which evaporate faster than water, can cool down an object enough to freeze water.1820 Inventor Michael Faraday makes the same discovery in England when he compresses and liquifies ammonia.1830s At the Florida hospital where he works, Dr. John Gorrie builds an ice-making machine that uses compression to make buckets of ice and then blows air over them.

He patents the idea in 1851, imagining his invention cooling buildings all over the world. But without any financial backing, his dream melts away.1881 After an assassin shoots President James Garfield on July 2, naval engineers build a boxy makeshift cooling unit to keep him cool and comfortable. The device is filled with water-soaked cloth and a fan blows hot air overhead and keeps cool air closer to the ground. The good news: This device can lower room temperature by up to 20 F. The bad news: It uses a half-million pounds of ice in two months… and President Garfield still dies.More: Crown Molding Cutting & Installation Guide1902 Willis Carrier invents the Apparatus for Treating Air for the Sackett-Wilhelms Lithographing and Publishing Co. in Brooklyn, N.Y. The machine blows air over cold coils to control room temperature and humidity, keeping paper from wrinkling and ink aligned. Finding that other factories want to get in on the cooling action, Carrier establishes the Carrier Air Conditioning Company of America.1906 Stuart Cramer, a textile mill engineer in North Carolina, creates a ventilating device that adds water vapor to the air of textile plants.

The humidity makes yarn easier to spin and less likely to break. He's the first to call this process "air conditioning."1914 Air conditioning comes home for the first time. The unit in the Minneapolis mansion of Charles Gates is approximately 7 feet high, 6 feet wide, 20 feet long and possibly never used because no one ever lived in the house.1931 H.H. Schultz and J.Q. Sherman invent an individual room air conditioner that sits on a window ledge—a design that's been ubiquitous in apartment buildings ever since. The units are available for purchase a year later and are only enjoyed by the people least likely to work up a sweat—the wealthy. (The large cooling systems cost between $10,000 and $50,000. That's equivalent to $120,000 to $600,000 today.)1939 Packard invents the coolest ride in town: the first air-conditioned car. Dashboard controls for the a/c, however, come later. Should the Packard's passengers get chilly, the driver must stop the engine, pop open the hood, and disconnect a compressor belt.

More: Ceiling Tiles Installed Easily & Step By Step1942 The United States builds its first "summer peaking" power plant made to handle the growing electrical load of air conditioning.1947 British scholar S.F. Markham writes, "The greatest contribution to civilization in this century may well be air-conditioning—and America leads the way." Yet somehow people still say a brilliant new idea is "the best thing since sliced bread."1950s In the post-World War II economic boom, residential air conditioning becomes just another way to keep up with the Joneses. More than 1 million units are sold in 1953 alone.1970s Window units lose cool points as central air comes along. The units consist of a condenser, coils, and a fan. Air gets drawn, passed over coils, and blasted through a home's ventilation system. R-12, commonly known as Freon-12, is used as the refrigerant.1994 Freon is linked to ozone depletion and banned in several countries. Auto manufacturers are required to switch to the less harmful refrigerant R134a by 1996.