Father of Air Conditioner “Willis Havilland Carrier”

Father of Air Conditioner “Willis Havilland Carrier” |

April 30, 2021April 5, 2024

A famous reporter once said along with finding fire, the air conditioner is considered a treasure of mankind when it has contributed to changing the world. And of course, we don’t forget to thank Willis Carrier, the father of the air conditioner who has dedicated his life to thinking about how to create a cooling machine for the world.

Table of Contents

Determined to change the mechanical practice

Willis Havilland Carrier was born on November 26th, 1876 on a farm near Lake Erie in Angola, New York USA. He was the only child in the family with a love for the job of repairing and sewing machines and household appliances.

This interest originated from his mother Elizabeth. He’s also passionate about mathematics and always learns it whenever the opportunity arises. Willis Carrier a child who has good concentration and likes to practice rather than just study hard with theory.

With his intelligence, in 1895 Carrier received a scholarship to study at Cornell University and graduated in 1901, with a degree in mechanical engineering. He later worked for Buffalo forge company, a company that makes stoves, blowers, and exhaust systems. He designed wood and coffee drying systems as an engineer.

Carrier’s first task in the company was to design a heating system to heat wood and coffee. After that, he continued to research the measurement of the capacity of those heating systems. With effort and dedication at work, Carrier was promoted to the position of director of the experimental engineering department.

Also at Buffalo forge, Carrier established the world’s first industrial laboratory. Since the beginning of his career, he has always been determined to move the practice of mechanical engineering into a more reasonable field.

Because the engineers at the time didn’t really understand the principles of machine operation. They were forced to build design safety factors that led to inefficiencies.
Carrier’s purpose is to let engineers understand why machines stopped working and report problems encountered, then give the most reasonable solution. As a result, Buffalo Forge engineers were able to design products better, safer, and more efficiently.

Create a new breeze for Humanity – Willis Carrier

As people began to understand more the cooling method also improved a lot. However, it takes a series of experiments and failures to find a breakthrough. Before Carrier, there was a lot of research related to cooling. However, no studies have been completed. In the late 19th century, the concept of air production began to emerge. However, this is just a moisture control method for textile factories to achieve higher levels of productivity.

Then people use the cooling system. Combined with the humid air pipeline that travels around the building to preserve food, cool beer, drinking water, or protect important documents. In carriers, time cooling technology wasn’t really noticeable. it’s just a fan system pushing heat from place to place. In the stuffy, hot room of the printing press and newspaper publishing.

In the summer of 1902, business owner Sackett Williams issued a problem with the fact that the temperature and humidity were so high, that the printing paper deformed after each print when printing in large quantities.
Engineer Carrier knows that he must find a way to keep the temperature and humidity in the room balanced at all times. This allows the printer to work smoothly and the product to be error-free.

Carriers Concentration & Working Ability

Carrier was famous for its high concentration ability. Once he puts all his intellect into solving the problem, he will not let anything distract his mind. In the words of Mrs. scale Cooper, author of the book air-conditioning for all America, “Carrier once focused too much on work but forgot to prepare furniture for the business trip. When he opened the suitcase he saw only a handkerchief.
Finally, the air conditioner model was built and officially operated by Carrier on July 17, 1902, in Buffalo.

This device was about the same size as the first computer. Carrier has applied his knowledge of the process of heating an object with steam and sought to reverse that process.
The principle is quite simple, instead of pushing air through a heated tube. He creates the flow of air through a tube cooled by liquefied Ammonia. The system consists of two main pipes. One pipe for air cooling and one pipe for supplying air containing moisture.

As a result, the system can control humidity at 55% inside the chilled air mass. Therefore, the cooling system can preserve equipment in the factory and create the best conditions for printing. With this cooling system, Carrier was dubbed the father of the modern air conditioner model.
According to some records and narratives, the idea of the system appeared when the Carrier was traveling on a train in the fog. If the air intake contains 100% moisture, we’ll adjust the output moisture with the existing knowledge. Hot air is pushed through coils containing refrigerant turning into cold air.

This air conditioner system is very large, quite bulky, loud, extremely expensive, and very dangerous because of the use of Ammonia as a well d agent. This is a highly toxic compound.

Continue the Journey of Improvement – Willis Carrier

In 1906, Carrier received a patent and continued its research on refrigeration and humidity control. He was appointed head of a division of a company called Carrier air. However, at the beginning of World War 1, the company eliminated the division due to budget cuts. After that Carrier and its colleagues set up their own company Carrier Engineering Corporation.

At that time the system of controlling humidity and temperature contributed to the development of many other industries such as film, food, tobacco, medicine, textiles.

In 1911, Carrier continued to introduce a formula for reasonable moisture content to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. One of the most important scientific pieces of literature is the logical formula that establishes the relationship between relative humidity, absolute humidity, and dew point temperature.

In 1913, he developed a humidifier for a room such as an office or a lab. It is the first stand-alone device to have fans, Motors, Eliminator, and injectors in just one product. In 1914, in Minneapolis, the first household installed an air-conditioning system manufactured by Carrier.
This is the home of famous gambler Charles Gates who is known as the million-dollar game. Gates air conditioner measures 2.1 meters high 1.8 meters wide and nearly 7 meters long. However, the air conditioner has never been used because no one lives in that house. But every year, Charles Gates had to spend up to sixty thousand dollars on maintenance costs for the entire house.

Bring Air Conditioner into Life – Willis Carrier

From 1917 to 1930, the main theater where people could enjoy the air-cooled atmosphere. The first Cinema to be equipped with air conditioning was the new Empire Theatre in Montgomery, Alabama in 1917. In the same year, Central Park Theatre in Chicago quickly installed the air conditioning system and received a warm response from customers.

In 1922, Carrier continued to make breakthroughs for the air conditioner manufacturing industry. The first is to replace toxic Ammonia solder with a safer compound than dye rain. In addition, the next generation of air conditioners has been Carrier minimized to a more compact size. This improvement allows air conditioners to be installed in more places such as department stores, offices, buildings on carriages, or in small buildings.

Next, from 1924 to1930, the period witnessed the popularity of air conditioners coming to many US government working facilities, like the United States Senate, the United States House of Representatives, the White House, the business center, and many other important buildings across the United States. However, the era of air conditioning hasn’t come. Expensive installation costs also make air conditioners expensive even for the rich. But things changed when entering the 40s and 50s.

The air conditioner manufacturing companies conducted research on that. Air conditioning helps sin crease employee productivity. A 1957 study by Miss Gail Cooper showed that 90 percent of companies affirmed that air conditioning was a key factor in improving work efficiency.

Turn Air Conditioner into A Tool for War – Willis Carrier

After that, due to the impact of the world economic crisis, the demand for air conditioners dropped sharply. And the development of the refrigeration industry was stopped To change the problem. At the 1939 World’s Fair, Carrier performed a snow-cooled igloo with his system in front of millions of viewers.

Carrier hopes to find the brighter future of this fledgling industry in the future. However, his hopes were not fulfilled due to the Second World War. At this time most factories turned to produce products for the war. In many places, air conditioners were removed from shops for use by military production plants.

During this time, thousands of air conditioners were also produced to keep the Army’s food fresh and then damaged. In hot climates, air conditioners can also be used to preserve fighters. To contribute to the war carrier also proposed using air conditioners to simulate environmental conditions in the air right at the ground to test the aircraft.

This is something no contemporaries think about. Thanks to this contribution Carrier have been awarded many noble titles by both the military and industrial companies.

After World War, two non-military products were produced normally, and the US economy began to have important flourishes. Americans start shopping for air conditioners and enjoy the cool atmosphere at home. The cost of manufacturing equipment is getting cheaper making air conditioners a popular household appliance in the United States. By 1946, thirty thousand home air conditioners were manufactured and supplied to people throughout the United States. The demand for air conditioners at that time exceeded the supply.

By 1953, more than 1 million air conditioners were manufactured and sold throughout the United States. But according to unofficial figures, the actual number goes even further.

The Machine that Changes American Society

Along with fire, air conditioning is considered a treasure. In July 1960, when the first air conditioners were installed for American households, a Saturday Evening Post journalist admired enough that a revolution in air conditioning. But France’s more modest Lamond diplomatic reported that this was a slow warm afar cold conquest than are volution.

At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the cinema only attracted visitors. In winter in the summer the seat tractions are no different than the warehouses. In the face of this situation, the bobbin and cat cinema chain decided to cool its cinemas in Chicago, in 1917. A successful bet expensive installation costs were promptly recovered in the summer.

Other chains followed suit immediately. Signboards can be seen. The theater is equipped with air conditioning stay in a cold theater. The temperature is always at 38 degrees 20 degrees C. Then the size of the air conditioner got smaller the price decreased. Manufacturers are starting to conquer household cars. According to statistics in the 1960s in the u.s. only about 10% of households are equipped with air conditioners. But by 2000 this rate soared to 90 percent.

Air Conditioning Becomes An Indispensable Item

Air conditioning becomes an indispensable item. But most surprisingly the advent of air conditioners had a huge impact on the American population. Before the release of the air conditioner, birth rates were observed to drop sharply nine months after the hottest periods.

At these times, it is impossible to talk about giving birth. The advent of indoor air conditioners has narrowed the gap to seasonal reproduction. As the number of newborns increases, the number of deaths decreases. The air conditioner has drastically reduced the mortality rate in the intense heatwave.

Moreover, air conditioners also change the appearance of the United States, especially in the Sun melt the southern United States. Until the 1960s, Americans tended to come north to get a job. But the air conditioner was born to help the Sun Belt. In the west and southwest, America becomes more active and easy to live in. Without an air cooler, cities like Miami or Las Vegas would probably not be able to grow.

Not only does it affect the population’s way of life and enjoyment of the American people. Air conditioners also have political implications. This cooling machine contributed to the victory for Mr. Ronald Reagan the Republican candidate in the u.s. the presidential election in 1980. A large proportion of Americans migrated north to south thanks to air conditioners for our elderly who want to have are retirement life on Sunday but those people tend to vote for Republicans.

American cities are also gradually changing with the development of air conditioners. To keep the place cool, the house was formerly built in the form of raised floors shaded gates adjacent rooms for ventilation. Now thanks to air conditioning people can skyscrapers under the bright sunlight in places where people once thought it was only suitable to grow tomatoes.

Price Payable – Willis Carrier

Every utility has a price to pay. The air conditioners are alleged to be dangerous air polluters and Marwa Noid Hartman representing France’s nature environment Association. On France 2 TV channel, the air conditioner is like a refrigerator using refrigerant gas inside. If leaked this would be an extremely toxic gas for the environment.

This gas is much hotter than co 2, sometimes 800 times higher than the gas used for gas. Therefore, potentially this is a device that is harmful to the environment. At Phoronix, a study found that at night the outside temperature increased from 34 to 36 degrees F from 1 to 2 degrees C. Resulting in more indoor air conditioners being run.

Lastly, air conditioners consume a lot of energy as modding energy consumption for air conditioners in the u.s. is equivalent to that of Africa s is equivalent but that hasn’t stopped carrier Brand air conditioners from conquering the world for the past century.

Sales of air conditioners have exploded in emerging countries like India, China, and Indonesia. On average, there are 10 air conditioners sold every second in the world. And it’s expected that by 2050, the whole world will have about 6 billion air conditioners.

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