Whether you take your HVAC system for granted or include it in your gratitude journal each and every night, most of us don’t really think about the history of air conditioning. We stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer thanks to these modern marvels, but how much do you really know about them? Here are some fun factoids about HVAC:
- The first home heating was invented by the ancient Romans. They created a system called “hypocaust,” in which hot air from a
fire
- The New York Stock Exchange became one of the first U.S. buildings to use air-conditioning in 1903.
- The first fully air-conditioned home was built in Minneapolis in 1913. It was a mansion that took up three city lots.
- The first car with air-conditioning was created by Packard Motor Company in 1939. The system took up approximately half of the trunk and made the vehicle extremely expensive for the time.
- More than one million air-conditioning units were sold in the United States in 1953.
- HVAC is to thank for the term “summer blockbuster,” since in decades past it became very common for families to go to the air-conditioned movie theater to escape the heat of their (un-air-conditioned) homes during the summer months.
- In 1992, the U.S. Department of Energy set new standards for energy efficiency on residential air-conditioning units and heat pumps. This led to a projected savings of $29 billion from 1993 to 2023.
Now that you are ready to win the HVAC round at your next trivia event, give your own system a little attention. If you have questions or are ready to have your system inspected or upgraded, call Dominion Service Company at 1-800-832-0758 or reach out online to schedule an appointment 24/7.