Over the course of the World Cup in professional soccer and its intersection with America 250, there has been a flood of stories of how visitors, especially Europeans, are viewing America based on what they're seeing and experiencing firsthand. The reports have focused on their reactions to the random folks they've met, their reaction to American food, American portions, and just how different we are than the stories their media painted about how awful America is. A substantial part of that story is that Europe is undergoing a hot weather period, and how everywhere they visit in the US is air conditioned and European countries generally don't allow air conditioning.
There were stories of power consumption limits in Europe such that if you had an air conditioner, you couldn't set it to cool below 80 degrees F (which probably isn't correct since there's no Celsius or Centigrade two digit temperature that's exactly 80) but the story brings many things I've read over the years. And there were worse stories, of people who were literally made sick from the heat exposure and got in trouble with the law for running an A/C.
Like most of the people who grew up in the '50s through the '60s, we didn't have central air conditioning in the homes I lived in while growing up. We were fairly early adopters of window unit conditioners because my dad worked on the night shift (US Post Office) so he would get home at around 4AM and needed to sleep until midday. If you've worked night shifts, you'll know that the world gets much noisier as the day gets going, and his answer was to get a window unit A/C that would let him sleep better and longer. A year or two later, older brother got the next A/C in the house and for a couple of years, we'd move my bed into his bedroom so I could get the cooler air, too. That was only over the summer. I think I got a bedroom window unit the year I turned 13. That house never had central air, but they bought a large window unit for the living room and main living area of the house.
School wasn't air conditioned until I started high school in the '69/'70 school year. I rode school buses and they were never air conditioned. Walking home from school in whatever the weather was is hardly worth noting as part of life.
The part of the European Tourist videos that resonated the most with me was their surprise at finding air conditioning everywhere. This morning, I watched this video linked from over at Virtual Mirage. The theme of the video is how of all the things we talk about being thankful for, air conditioning is hardly mentioned. It works and works so well that we absolutely assume it will always be there.
I've long thought that a technologically advanced civilization couldn't exist without air conditioning. Things like temperature and humidity control that allow even relatively simple technologies to flourish are one thing, but the usefulness for keeping hundreds of people comfortable in an office building could be the biggest advantage.
Perhaps more than any other group, I think engineers will understand that I think we should propose a holiday be created to celebrate the life of Willis Carrier, the engineer who invented the modern air conditioner in 1902. Carrier was asked to create a way to fix a problem in the emerging printing industry. The printing of four color images required four different printing passes, printing with four different base colors. Because temperature and humidity couldn't be controlled, the paper could shrink or expand enough to ruin the pictures.
Willis Carrier in 1915 - Image Credit Wikipedia
Carrier was put in a situation when the employer he stayed with after inventing the A/C changed their operating mode because of World War I. Seven young engineers pooled together their life savings of $32,600 to form the Carrier Engineering Corporation in New York on June 26, 1915. I think the modern air conditioner company would love a holiday named after Willis, and that's my only second thought in this modest proposal. While I like "Willis Carrier Day" as the name, perhaps Father of A/C Day would be better. I suggest that we pick a day close to what people regard as the first day of summer, near June 1st. When you start your air conditioner for the summer, honor the Father of the Air Conditioner. His birthday, November 26, is a day when Floridians may be the only people who would think of Willis.
Blessed St. Willis of Carrier, please allow my a/c to last until winter.
ReplyDeleteWithout air conditioning, the Deep South and Southwest wouldn't have half the population that they do now. Some inventions have incredible effects. If you expand the concept of air conditioning to include refrigeration in general, think of the impact it had on the food supply. It's on the order of the printing press and moveable type.
ReplyDeleteMy grandparents' (on my mother's side) house was built in southern Alabama in the 1890's, without any provision for A/C. They had A/C installed in the 1960's, and by the 1990's their summer electric bills were over $400/month. It turns out that the house was never insulated... After my parents moved in to take care of them, dad got curious, and found that even with all of the doors and windows closed, there was still a breeze in the house. Well, $2000 later and the entire house: attic, external walls, internal walls, and between the floor joists was fully insulated. The electric bill dropped to under $100/month. The insulation paid for itself in less than a year.
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