Serving the Phoenix Area  Since 1952  Family Owned & Operated

Here is a time line of historical facts about the development of the air-conditioning industry you may find interesting and help you appreciate the impact this important industry has on our lives.

• 1885 - Samuel D. Lount delivers ice to Phoenix residents for 6 cents per pound.
  

• 1882 - Thanks to Thomas Edison the first electric power plant opens in New York making it possible for the first time to have an inexpensive source of energy for residential and commercial buildings.
  

• 1902 - Willis Carrier builds the first air conditioner to combat humidity inside a printing company.
  

• 1902 - First use of mechanical air conditioning - Sackett-Wilheim Printing Plant, Brooklyn, N.Y.
  

• 1906 - Willis Carrier patents his invention calling it an "Apparatus for Treating Air."
  

• 1906 - Stuart W. Cramer coins the term "Air Conditioning."
  

• 1914 - First air conditioned home - the Charles Gates mansion in Minneapolis.
  

• 1922 - The first air conditioned movie theater opens in L.A. (Grauman's Metropolitan Theater).
  

• 1924 - First air conditioned department store - J.L. Hudson's in Detroit.
  

• 1928 - The Chamber of the House of Representatives becomes air conditioned.
  

• 1929 - The Senate becomes air conditioned.
  

• 1929 - Air conditioners installed in commercial buildings in Phoenix. 
  

• 1930 - The White House, the Executive Office Building, the Department of Commerce become air conditioned.
  

• 1935 - 1,500 Phoenix homes have evaporative coolers.
  

• 1935 - 5,000 Phoenix homes have evaporative coolers.
  

• 1936 - First Phoenix mortuary is air conditioned - Moore & McLellan (later known as A.L. Moore & Sons)
  

• 1939 - More than 4 million visitors view the "Carrier Igloo of Tomorrow" at the new York World's Fair.
  

• 1941 - Nearly every Phoenix building has an evaporative cooler.
  

• 1942 - Pepco becomes the nation's first summer peaking utility.
  

• 1946 - First public bus is air conditioned in San Antonio.
  

• 1946 - After World War II, the demand for room air-conditioners began to increase. Thirty thousand room air-conditioners were produced that year.
  

• 1948 - Boeing Stratocruiser is the first airplane to be air conditioned.
  

• Early 1950s - Air conditioners using refrigeration are mass-produced in Phoenix; the city becomes known as the "Air Conditioned Capital of the World."
  

• 1952 - Hobaica's Refrigeration opens for business in the Phoenix metropolitan area.

• 1952 - First residential community to advertise "central air", in St. Louis.
  

• 1957 - The first rotary compressor was introduced, permitting units to be smaller, quieter, weigh less, and more efficient than the reciprocating type.
  

• 1970 - It is rare to find a structure or car in the Valley that is not air conditioned.
  

• 1977 - New technology allowed heat pumps to be operated 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 phase out of stratospheric ozone depleting substances, including chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) refrigerants.
  

• 1990 - ARI, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Energy, initiates the Materials Compatibility Lubricants Research (MCLR) program, which helped manufacturers to accelerate away from CFC refrigerants.
  

• 1992 - The R-22 Alternative Refrigeration Evaluation Program (AREP) begins. This four year program investigated alternatives to HCFC-22 (the refrigerant used in more than half the air-conditioning and refrigeration equipment in the U.S.) and to R-502.
  

• 1995 - CFC production in the United States ended December 31, 1995.
  

Today's air conditioners are twice as efficient as those produced a decade ago, and enhancements to reduce energy consumption continue to be made.

Sources:
Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute
The Arizona Republic
Phoenix Museum of History
Carrier