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.

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?

[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.

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).

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: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.