Millions of people in the 21st century have become accustomed to fresh and cool air indoors no matter what happens outside. However, this was not always the case. In the early 1990s, due to high humidity in factories and printing houses, paper deteriorated and ink smudged. Plants withered quickly because of the dry air, some products spoiled and the productivity of workers decreased. The most effective solution to these problems was offered by the New York genius Willis Carrier. He invented an air conditioner to regulate and set the required air temperature. Learn more about this useful invention at newyork1.one.
Willis Carrier’s youth and first job: how did he start working with air conditioning systems?
The American engineer and inventor was born on November 26, 1876, in a village in Erie County, New York. His parents were farmers. They taught their son many things and developed his engineering skills, such as repairing technical devices and making various supporting constructions.
Willis and his parents belonged to a religious community that was against holidays and entertainment. Therefore, in his free time, he often read books and solved mathematical tasks.
He also studied very well. As one of the best students in the school, Willis was engaged in preparing other students for admission to higher educational institutions. After graduating from school, he entered the faculty of mechanical engineering at Cornell University. A few years later, Willis received a diploma and began working as an engineer. At first, the employees sold workshops equipped with fans. Later, they started making air ventilation equipment.
Willis worked in the experimental engineering department. During the first year of work, he designed a new device. It was a dryer for lumber and coffee, which immediately became very popular. After releasing a few of them, the company made $40,000. The management began to finance the developments of the talented New York engineer and allowed him to do research at any time.
Using this opportunity, Willis opened the world’s first laboratory for conducting research in ventilation, heating and air conditioning.
How did Willis Carrier come up with air conditioning technology?
It all started when the engineer was working at the Buffalo Forge Company. There he met his future business partner, Irvine Lyle, who worked as a manager in the sales department. One day he was visited by consulting engineer Walter Timmis. Walter inspired Willis and Irvine to think about creating the air conditioner. He told how the high humidity caused the paper to deteriorate and the ink to smudge. Irvine said he had some ideas about it and suggested that Willis work on it.
No problem! This was how Carrier answered him and started to draw schemes.
They began to conduct experiments using a burlap roll and a calcium chloride solution. At first, they managed to reduce the air humidity. However, the evaporation of metal salts also occurred. This was unacceptable during printing. Then Carrier decided to pour cold water into the heating elements and, thus, normalized the air temperature. Next, he drew up a plan for the amount of water consumption and heating. In addition, he changed the amount of airflow that passed through a special device.
After several such experiments, at the age of 25, he successfully completed the development of the world’s first air conditioner. The date of its presentation was July 17, 1902. This device was installed in a printing house. It looked like a set of coils with fans, ducts, heaters and steam pipes designed to humidify the air.
Water for its functioning was collected from a natural source. Later, an ammonia compressor was added to the apparatus. During the year, the air conditioner maintained the required level of moisture. The customer reported that the device worked well.
After achieving initial success, New York engineer and inventor Willis Carrier continued to improve air conditioning technology. One day, another engineer asked him to make an air conditioner for a yarn factory. Willis Carrier agreed, but due to the very high air temperature in the room, the air conditioner failed.
The idea of how to solve this problem came out of the blue when Carrier was at the train station. He understood what should be used to reduce the humidity.
According to vc.ru, the inventor explained: ‘I realized that I could direct airflow through small sprays of water to create mist. By controlling the temperature of the water, I can control the temperature and humidity of the air. If very humid air is needed, I will heat the water. If dry air is needed, I will use cold water. The cold jet of water will be the condensing surface’.
At the beginning of the 20th century, he designed a unique air conditioning system that cleaned, humidified and dried the air. It was successfully tested and Willis Carrier patented the invention. The engineer added this system to a device he had previously designed and called it an air handler.
At the age of 29, he was appointed head of the engineering department at Buffalo Forge Company. Willis was involved in scientific research and approved the design of the devices. In a year, he created a catalog for the presentation of new devices for air treatment. Soon, various enterprises in the United States and abroad started to order them.
How did the engineer start producing air conditioners all over the world?
When Willis Carrier’s air conditioners began to be in demand in the United States, the management of the company where he worked registered a subsidiary company. It was headed by Carrier, who signed agreements with various manufacturers to improve and increase the number of air conditioners.
Together with the company’s employees, he collected $32,000 to build the first factory, despite the economic crisis and the war. They also opened offices in New York, Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia.
In 1918, Carrier moved to New York, where he launched a company with his business partner, Irvine Lyle. They made quick decisions to keep the business growing, such as leasing another plant in Newark, New Jersey.
In 1922, the engineer presented the largest and most technologically complex invention. It was a refrigerator. After many successful tests and reviews, they were placed in public institutions and enterprises. Some of them advertised air conditioners to attract visitors.
The next step in the company’s development was the creation of air conditioners for private homes. This was Willis Carrier’s new dream. The first attempts were unsuccessful. The device had many technological features that made it unsuitable for home use. For two years, the engineer conducted experiments on it, changing various details. In 1991, the company successfully produced the first home air conditioner. Soon, such a device appeared in the homes of millions of Americans, as well as on trains, cruise ships and hospitals.
What happened to the company after the death of its founder?
In the last years of his life, Willis Carrier traveled to Africa. He visited 30 cities. Many people recognized him and looked at him with admiration. Not many people were able to create an invention that became famous all over the world! After returning to New York, his doctor advised him to leave the business because of poor health. Willis lay in bed for 20 hours during the day. He had a very weak heart. Even in such a condition, he continued to work as best he could, writing down complex calculations in a notebook. Willis died in 1950. He had several heirs to whom he left the company.
Since the end of the 1950s, it has produced air conditioners with a million turnover and began to install them in the largest skyscrapers in the United States. In just a year, the company was able to release more than 1 million of these devices and its profit increased to $200 million. This happened after the management of the company began to expand by buying the most popular manufacturers of air conditioners around the world. Since 2002, the company produces not only air conditioners but also refrigerators, heaters, alarms, fire extinguishing systems and air purifiers.