by Ron Carter

Created on: November 17, 2010

Many devices have been used throughout history in attempts to cool the air.  Long before the term “air conditioning” was coined by Stuart Cramer in 1906, the Persians built “cool wind towers” that captured the wind coming from any direction to a building, and funneled it down through the building across pools of water, which cooled the air before it was forced upward through the other side of the building and out as the wind continued to force air in.  This was about 500 years ago.

Before that, in the 2nd century, the Chinese invented huge fans (almost 10ft. in diameter) which were powered by servants, to blow air in certain rooms of the palace.  The rooms also contained fountains that sprayed water upward, causing a mist that was carried by the movement of the air.

Even before the Chinese, wealthy Romans were able to have water from the aquaducts piped through the brick walls of their homes to keep cool.

Each of the ancient inventions applied the fundamental concept of modern day air conditioning . . . displacement of heat.  With these types of primitive air conditioning systems having been invented so long ago, it gives us some perspective, and reminds us that we are standing on the shoulders of giants.

Let’s fast forward to 1865 when Thaddeus Lowe invented the ice machine.  This was a huge step for us in that the same basic tenet was used when air conditioning was “accidentally” invented by Willis Haviland Carrier in 1906.  I use the word “accidentally” because Mr. Carrier wasn’t trying to invent a way to cool the air.  Instead, he was inventing a dehumidifier for the lithographer’s shop he worked in. 

Now, what’s the difference in what Carrier did and what Stuart Cramer, the man who coined the term air conditioning, did?  The main difference is that Cramer developed a humidifier for a textile factory, which could increase the temperature when the weather was cold and dry.  He called his process air conditioning. 

Since Carrier, on the other hand developed a dehumidifier which cooled the air, his invention ultimately became know as air conditioning.

It just so happens that dehumidification is caused by exposing air to a cold surface.  The cold surface draws condensation from the air.  If you think of a glass of ice water sitting on the counter, you will understand exactly what I’m saying.  The glass seems to

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