Carrier Air Conditioners

The history of Carrier air conditions began in 1902 with the invention of the first air conditioning system by one Willis Carrier. A frustrated customer who sought a solution to the printing problems involved with excess heat and humidity brought about the demand for this type of invention. For four years, Carrier worked on his system until revealing it to the public in 1906 as the "Apparatus for Treating Air."

For twenty years, Carrier air conditioners became synonymous not only with personal comfort, but also the health and maintenance of machines and industrial appliances. Steel mills, soap manufacturers, meat packing houses and a variety of professional and commercial venues purchased carrier's air treaters. In 1922 the Carrier Company created the first centrifugal refrigeration machine, a breakthrough invention that furthered the ability to cool public areas like airports, hospitals, private homes and department stores.

The Appeal of Carrier Air Conditioners Makes Movie History

During long and hot summers, movie theater attendance suffered due to the hot internal temperatures. With the addition of Carrier air conditioners in the mid-1920s, Americans across the nation stood in long lines not only to watch movies, but also to enjoy some respite from the outside heat. And, although the concept of residential air conditioning experienced a setback during the Great Depression of the early 1930s, it was not too long after World War II that people began looking towards the idea of a future with air conditioners in every home.

After the 1950s, more and more people began to consider internal, personal home air conditioners as a part of everyday life. In 1965, only 10 percent of all homes in the United States were air conditioned. More than 30 years later, 75 percent of American homes (and 90 percent of some homes in the South) are air conditioned, a sure sign that Carrier air conditioners and their legacies are here to stay.