History
of Portable Air Conditioners
 1882
-- The first electric power plant opens in New York making
it possible to have an inexpensive source of energy for residential
and commercial buildings.
1889 -- Central station refrigeration
is used in large cities to preserve foods and documents.
1902 -- Willis Carrier builds
the first air conditioner to handle humidity inside a printing
company. Controlling the humidity in printing companies and
textile mills was the start of managing the inside environments.
1906 -- Willis Carrier patents
his invention calling it an "Apparatus for Treating Air."
1906 -- Stuart W. Cramer
coins the term "Air Conditioning."
1913 -- The first international
exposition devoted exclusively to refrigeration is held in
Chicago.
1917 -- The first documented
theater to use refrigeration is the New Empire Theatre in
Montegomery, Alabama. In that same year, the Central Park
Theater in Chicago is built to incorporate the new technology:
air conditioning.
1928 -- The Chamber of the
House of Representatives becomes air conditioned.
1929 -- The Senate becomes
air conditioned.
1930 -- The White House,
the Executive Office Building, the Department of Commerce
are air-conditioned.
1942 -- Pepco becomes the
nation's first summer peaking utility.
1946 -- After World War II,
the demand for room air-conditioners begins to increase. Thirty
thousand room air-conditioners are produced that year.
1947 -- Air conditioning
becomes a bargaining issue when textile workers in North Carolina
strike because of stressful heat and humidity in the workplace.
1950 -- A major study shows
that families living in air conditioned homes sleep longer
in summer, enjoy their food more and have more leisure time.
1953 -- Room air conditioner
sales exceed one million units with demand still exceeding
supply.
1953 -- The Air-Conditioning
and Refrigeration Institute is formed from two associations:
the Refrigeration Equipment Manufacturers Association and
the Air-Conditioning and Refrigerating Machinery Association.
1955 -- Mass marketing of
frozen dinners begins: ads promote "TV dinners."
1957 -- The first rotary
compressor was introduced, permitting units to be smaller,
quieter, weigh less, and more efficient than the reciprocating
type.
1969 -- Neil Armstrong and
Buzz Aldrin walk on the moon in space suits with life support
and cooling systems.
1977 -- New technology allows
heat pumps to operate at lower outdoor temperatures while
heating on the reversed refrigeration cycle.
1987 -- The United Nations
Montreal Protocol for protection of the earth's ozone layer
is signed. The Protocol establishes international cooperation
on the phaseout of stratospheric ozone depleting substances,
including the chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) refrigerants used in
some refrigeration and air conditioning equipment.
1990 -- ARI, in conjunction
with the U.S. Department of Energy, initiates the Materials
Compatibility Lubricants Research (MCLR) program, which helps
manufacturers to accelerate away from CFC refrigerants.
1992 -- The R-22 Alternative
Refrigeration Evaluation Program (AREP) begins a four-year
program to investigate alternatives to R-502 and HCFC-22.
1995 -- Chloroflourocarbon
(CFC) production in the United States ends December 31.
1997 -- North American Technician
Excellence (NATE) formed to promote excellence in technicians
who install and service air-conditioning and refrigeration
equipment. The NATE certified logo means the best!
1998 -- Research for the
21st Century, a multi-year, million dollar research program
for air-conditioning and refrigeration equipment, begins.
The objective is to decrease building energy usage while improving
indoor air quality.
1999 -- Shipments of unitary
air conditioners and heat pumps set a record of more than
6.2 million units.
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