January 27th, 2012 by Veteran

Close to 70 years prior to a piece of equipment was manufactured to reduce the air temperature, Dr. John Gorrie constructed an early AC for a clinic in the panhandle of Florida. Dr. Gorrie invented an ice machine that essentially forced air over a pail of ice to reduce the temperature of rooms where patients suffered from malaria. In the modern era, replacement PTAC units are considered to be the real reason for the evolution of southern cities; and for most of us who have experienced its reduced room temperatures amid searing dog days, it is a modern-day gadget that is difficult to live without.

A predecessor to a modern DWG, Inc. water source heat pump was the Apparatus for Treating Air invented by an U.S. inventor by the name of Carrier for a local book printing firm. The first apparatus used chilled coils to control the humidity in the air with changeable controls. The use of hot water vapor to move air through preheated coils led to the creation of the first heaters to heat the air in factories. Designers began to scrutinize reversing the concept to blow air over coils filled with cold water to reduce the temperature of the indoor air. In order to maximize potential for businesses, the new cooling machines circulated air around the cold condensers and thereby cooled the air to govern the density of water vapor the air would retain. Subsequently, employees no longer had to brunt long hours in parching factories, warehouses or businesses.

Dr. John Gorrie’s cooling technology had a substantial impact in improving productivity and our nation’s workplace continued to move to Southern regions. Air conditioner manufacturing plants suddenly formed to satisfy the growing demand for cooling systems and McQuay packaged terminal air conditioner parts. From that point forward, air cooling systems have continued to improve the conditions in homes and plants. As the workforce moved to hotter regions of the world, the demand for reducing inside temperatures became more and more obvious and engineers quickly began to expound upon the notion of chemically controlling temperatures. Manufacturing growth initiated an expansion that would seriously affect where Americans lived and worked.