Who Invented Air Conditioning?

Over the past century, air conditioning has gone from a luxury to a necessity in much of the United States. As summers grow hotter due to climate change, this lifesaving technology prevents people from overheating. At the same time, air-conditioning technology is a driver of climate change, creating what UNICEF has termed a “cooling dilemma.”

But who invented air conditioning (AC) in the first place? And why? The story begins in the mid-19th century, with John Gorrie, a doctor in Florida who believed cooling devices could have health benefits. Decades later, Willis Carrier cemented his legacy as the father of modern air conditioning.

In the early 1840s, Florida doctor John Gorrie developed an air-cooling apparatus that blew air over buckets of ice into the rooms of yellow fever patients to keep them cool. He eventually developed an ice-making machine for the device, so he could stop paying to import the frozen stuff. The ice machine was patented in 1851.

Although Gorrie was never able to market and sell his air-cooling or ice-making mechanisms, these early devices paved the way for modern air conditioning and refrigeration. The next major development in air conditioning came in the early 20th century, when an engineer set out to help a publishing company prevent its pages from smearing in the summer.

In 1902, engineer Willis Carrier began working on a device to help the Sackett & Wilhelms Lithographing and Printing Company. The Brooklyn, New York–based company found that the pages it printed on humid summer days were misaligned and had smeared ink. The company needed a way to protect its products from humidity.

To solve this problem, Carrier developed a machine that could cool and dehumidify a room by blowing air over coils filled with cold water. He received a patent for this machine in 1914 and started the Carrier Engineering Corporation the next year.

In the early 1920s, Carrier developed a centrifugal air conditioner, known as a chiller, that became popular in movie theaters. Soon, other entertainment venues, businesses and workplaces began to buy air conditioners, too. In 1928 and 1929, Carrier’s company installed the first air-conditioning systems in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, respectively.

Window AC units, the brainchild of inventors H.H. Schultz and J.Q. Sherman, hit the market in 1932. The next year, Carrier invented a new air conditioner featuring a belt-driven condensing unit and blower, mechanical controls and an evaporator coil; the basics of this design are still present in modern air conditioners.

The earliest air conditioners were too big and expensive for most households. Yet, over the next several decades, engineers invented new systems more suited for houses and apartments. Today, more than 90 percent of U.S. households have air conditioning.