100th Anniversary of Air Conditioning

RealPerseus writes "The Buffalo News reports today in this article that the 100th annivsary of air conditioning is upon us. Who would have thought that air conditioning was invented in Buffalo?"

Comments

Air conditioning has destroyed architecture

[Bastian]

8' (as opposed to 10') ceilings, poor placement of windows leading to no cross-ventilation, cutting down all the trees around a lot to ease construction but destroying the shade, the death of the porch.

I love air conditioning, but I want to hate it. . .

Re:Air conditioning has destroyed architecture

[Bastian]

So... I fail to see how air conditioning caused these problems. Especially "cutting down all the trees around a lot to ease construction". Seems more like the rush to build cheaper and cheaper houses and not a big A/C conspiracy.

Once A/C become common, the need to build houses so that they stay cool naturally went away - and it's much cheaper to just use AC, too.

Hence, ceilings didn't need to be as high, and one didn't need to put as much thought into the placement of windows, because with A/C there was no need for a good breeze to keep the houe cool.

It's cheaper to cut down the trees when building the building, yes. With A/C, those trees (and the shade they provide) lost much of their importance for keeping the house cool.

It's not that I think that there's an A/C conspiracy, it's just that A/C made it more feasible to cut a few corners when building a house. Personally, I'd like to have a house that has all of the stuff I'm lamenting the loss of /and/ A/C.

Re:Air conditioning has destroyed architecture

[Anonymous Coward]

I worked in an older building a few years ago that actually had windows that opened (as opposed to the glass and steel encasements that offer the outer layer of encapsulation around the inner layer of cubicle farm encapsulation). It was a real perk to be able to open windows on a spring/fall day and intermingle the indoor pollutants with the outdoor pollutants.

Re:Air conditioning has destroyed architecture

[EddydaSquige]

Sorry, but standardized building materials has had a lot more to do with destroying architecture than AC has. Most of the houses built in america today use standard sheets of plywood to form the 'skin', and sheet rock on interior walls, both have a standard size of 4' x 8' (hence the ceiling height). Standardized sizes have led to a reduction in the need for highly skilled labor in construction than is evidenced by the decline in truly skilled carpenters and masons, no real skill needed anymore, just a table saw to cut the excess. And the fact that groups like Habitat for Humanity (they do great work, not dissing what they do) can gather a group of everyday people together, most of whom have never built a house, and knock out a building in a couple months working mostly on the weekends.

So if your going to blame something for the decline of architecture, start with building materials being similar to legos, and not AC.

Thanks?

[Comrade Brightski]

This is probably a pretty unpopular comment to make to a crowd of geeks in the heat of summer, but I'll say it anyways. While air conditioning is a great scientific and engineering achievement, I'm not sure that it's been a great advantage to society. It's done very little to improve the quality of life for humans and quite a bit to degrade it. I am by no means an avid environmentalist, yet anyone can recognize all the damage caused by freon and the tremendous strain that condensors place on the power grid.

What amazes me most is how Americans have begun to view air conditioning as a "necessity". Are we insane? The necessities in life are food, oxygen, and heat in climates with extreme cold. Nevertheless, the petroleum supplies are depleted at an increasing rate so that people can be more comfortable as they sit in traffic with the A/C on full blast.

Yes, it's a nice invention. Hospitals can benefit tremendously from it. But it's nowhere near a necessity and if humans would tolerate a little discomfort, the Earth might be in much better shape.

Re:Thanks?

[broohaha]

People die in extreme heat because their homes are not well ventilated. Not necessarily because of lack of air conditioning.

Here in Chicago, it was mostly elderly people living alone who left their windows closed that one summer in 94 when 400 people died from a heat wave.

But when I go visit my relatives in rural Philippines, I see people toughing it out in just-as-humid heat. Even The difference is their homes are better ventilated and they make do with electric fans and a shade (or a swim in the sea).

The guy has a point. It's not a necessity. There is an alternative to air conditioning. Whereas there isn't an alternative to food, oxygen, and heat in extreme cold climates.

Re:Thanks?

[guran]

Unpopular, a bit oversimplyfying, but nonetheless interesting.

Compare housing in america to housing in, say italy or greece. (or mexico for that matter.)
My feeling is that the widespread use of AC has made architects forget how you build a house for a hot climate. You don't have large south-facing windows. You have wooden or even stone floors and not a carpet. (Carpets are germ infested discusting things anyway) You have proper insulation and ventilation. You make sure that you get some freaking shade.

Or,... you just put in some AC, and hope that power will never be a problem.

Re:Thanks?

[tRoll with Butter]

It's done very little to improve the quality of life for humans and quite a bit to degrade it. I am by no means an avid environmentalist, yet anyone can recognize all the damage caused by freon and the tremendous strain that condensors place on the power grid.

Nice try. The quality of life has improved greatly due to air conditioning. Many of the food products that you stated are a "necessity in life" would have a significantly reduced shelf life in a hot, humid climate. (Does "store in a cool, dry place" ring any bells?) Air conditioning potentially saves water, for many people would shower several times a day to avoid becoming smelly, although that is more of an enviormental issue than a quality-of-life one.

The compressor and fan motors are the source of power consumption on an air conditioning system. The condensor is a coil of pipe where the freshly-compressed refriderant cools - it does not require external power. While air conditioning does contribute to power consumption, many homes have electric stoves, electric water heaters and electric clothes dryers... Don't forget the businesses that leave computers, lights and even their AC unit on when no one is even there. Power consumption really becomes a problem when it is power that is wasted - with a proper conservation plan, there is still room for air conditioning.

As for the enviormental concerns of the coolant used, freon (R-12) is no longer manufactured in the US and is illegal to import. There's still a black market for it, but it will continue to deminish as older units that require it break and are replaced with new enviormentally-friendly R-134a compatible units.

While gas consumption would probably drop considerably if everyone turned off their automobile's AC unit, it would drop substancially more if more USians lost their obsession with large engines. I'll keep driving my 4 cylender Toyota with the AC on... I'm still getting better gas mileage than those 6+ cylender cars/suvs even with their AC off. ;)

Is this anyway related to...

[MoThugz]

this poll that's currently running on /.? BTW, it seems that most /.ers don't have the luxury of being cooled by ACs (according to the poll).

Refrigerator?

[hofer]

I thought the air conditioners used the same principle as refrigerators. And that was first built a bit earlier (19th Century in Pennsylvania and Australia, ether machines) and the first practical system was built by Ferdinand Carre (France). Isn't air conditioning just an application of an earlier invention to a "new" area? You know, instead of cooling dead meat, it cools the living? :-)

Re:lower temperature inside - what about outside?

[Scratch-O-Matic]

but I feel that in most places it is abused.

One thing that really pisses me off is the total misunderstanding of the thermostat. How often have you seen someone on a hot day throw the thermostat down to 65? Obviously, most people think the number on the thermostat is the temperature of the air that comes out of the vent.

I once went into a grocery store in the middle of summer, and it was COLD in the store. I asked the cashier: "Aren't you cold?" She replied: "Yeah, but we don't mind, since it's so hot outside." ??

I think a series of public service ads featuring a brief explanation of the thermostat, plus a recommended temperature, would go a long way toward reducing abuse.

Re:now I know how to really cool my PC....

[fragNabbit]

No, like the computer and the television the airplane was invented in germany.

Was it? I think the airplane was invented long before there was a germany. People have been trying to fly since they first saw birds. The Greeks were obviously thinking about it a long time ago (ever here of Icarus?).

I guess it all depends on how you define an airplane. But if you define it as a self propelled flying contraption, well then, you gotta go with the Wrights.

Why is everyone pounding their damn chests over who invented what anyway? Most (if not all) inventions always build on the ideas of others.

Carrier was an engineer for a company that build air handlers. All he did was cool the damn air as it went through the vents. So you could say lots of things about how he didn't invent anything. But yet, there it was, an air conditioner. He thought of a new way to do something.

No since getting your pantties in a wad over who invented what.

Re:But now you can live in certain places....

[sien]

This is exactly right. In the book Dot Con it is pointed out that AC has probably had a bigger effect on the US economy than the Internet.

And indeed, it has led to its own boom in housing prices in the South of the US. If it wasn't for AC who would live in Texas or Florida ?

This isn't to say AC is all good, as other posters point out it is over used in the US, but that doesn't reduce its importance.

Re:lower temperature inside - what about outside?

[derch]

Ahhh... Yes, we're talking slightly different languages. In the US, the reported temperature is taken from a thermometer in the shade.

I can see where 25C in an english box is hot weather. Thank you for a new tidbit of info!