And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Tuesday, July 15, 2025
A guy whose invention made living in Redding in the summer possible.
Carrier originally devised his system to dehumidify the air in a print shop that was having trouble with blurry prints. But he wasn't the only innovator. The first use of the term 'air conditioning' was by an engineer named Cramer, for the textile mills in the deep south in the early 1900s. They were having huge problems with the spinning looms, making yarns out of raw cotton. With varying humidity and heat, the yarns would keep breaking as they were spun. The answer was to condition the air so that it was a constant humidity and filter it for particulates.
After moving from hazy, hot and humid Pennsylvania to cool, dry and sunny Colorado, we do not need home air conditioning here. When the sun goes down, it cools off. By morning, with the windows open, the house is cool. Closing the drapes and shades in the morning keeps the house a lot cooler than outside. And even with the ceiling fan going all day, the electric bills are reasonable all summer. Life is good.
I visited my grandmother in Miami in the summer back in the early sixties. No one had AC in their homes and they did the same. Between lunch and dinner it was a ghost town, nobody went out in the afternoon.
OK he may have created the mechanical device to cool air, but French scientist named Carnot (pronounced car-NO) did the hard work of figuring out the thermodynamics.
I am in full agreement on making Redding bearable. I have been in Redding at different times of the year, and A/C is needed May through September. Still love going there and having it as a base camp for many day adventures.
I cleared a transmission line right of way near Oak Run, east of Redding a few years back. Two days that I specifically remember were 115° with 15% humidity and 115° with 10% humidity back to back.
I knocked off before noon to avoid starting a fire. Then I went swimming. :-)
My wife just yesterday said that living in the Phoenix Valley would not be possible without air conditioning from May through to October. We are relatively new comers to the Valley of the Sun as we spent most of our adult lives in the North West. The heat here is just brutal; thanks Mr. Carrier for our home's having not one but two A/C units making life livable in the Sonoran Desert. Dan Kurt
Quite a number of folks formerly of the PNW now occupy Arizona. It is curious to me. Humans are amazingly adaptive. In a few years you'll get used to it providing you don't hide indoors.
I heard that some dude invented it for his patients that were suffering from fevers. Someone told him it was a stupid idea so he gave up on it. The second guy promptly stole the invention. Maybe it was this Carrier dude. Making his units in Meheco now. Great American.
NO! The first air conditioner was built in Apalachicola Florida by Doctor John Gorrie for his clinic's patients. They even have a museum dedicated to him with a statute of our benefactor outside. Well worth a trip to the very pleasant town of Apalachicola - great oysters too! I'll give Carrier for making a successful commercial product.
Way better than the toaster or pre-sliced bread…
ReplyDeleteRedding, okay, but Red Bluff ....?
ReplyDeleteTwo sides of the same coin.
DeleteI do, every day in South Texas...
ReplyDeleteCarrier originally devised his system to dehumidify the air in a print shop that was having trouble with blurry prints. But he wasn't the only innovator. The first use of the term 'air conditioning' was by an engineer named Cramer, for the textile mills in the deep south in the early 1900s. They were having huge problems with the spinning looms, making yarns out of raw cotton. With varying humidity and heat, the yarns would keep breaking as they were spun. The answer was to condition the air so that it was a constant humidity and filter it for particulates.
ReplyDeleteAfter moving from hazy, hot and humid Pennsylvania to cool, dry and sunny Colorado, we do not need home air conditioning here. When the sun goes down, it cools off. By morning, with the windows open, the house is cool. Closing the drapes and shades in the morning keeps the house a lot cooler than outside. And even with the ceiling fan going all day, the electric bills are reasonable all summer. Life is good.
ReplyDeleteI visited my grandmother in Miami in the summer back in the early sixties. No one had AC in their homes and they did the same. Between lunch and dinner it was a ghost town, nobody went out in the afternoon.
DeleteOK he may have created the mechanical device to cool air, but French scientist named Carnot (pronounced car-NO) did the hard work of figuring out the thermodynamics.
ReplyDeletehttps://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry_Textbook_Maps/Supplemental_Modules_(Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry)/Thermodynamics/Thermodynamic_Cycles/Carnot_Cycle
I am in full agreement on making Redding bearable. I have been in Redding at different times of the year, and A/C is needed May through September. Still love going there and having it as a base camp for many day adventures.
ReplyDeleteI cleared a transmission line right of way near Oak Run, east of Redding a few years back. Two days that I specifically remember were 115° with 15% humidity and 115° with 10% humidity back to back.
DeleteI knocked off before noon to avoid starting a fire. Then I went swimming. :-)
Needs a halo!
ReplyDeleteMy wife just yesterday said that living in the Phoenix Valley would not be possible without air conditioning from May through to October. We are relatively new comers to the Valley of the Sun as we spent most of our adult lives in the North West. The heat here is just brutal; thanks Mr. Carrier for our home's having not one but two A/C units making life livable in the Sonoran Desert.
ReplyDeleteDan Kurt
Quite a number of folks formerly of the PNW now occupy Arizona. It is curious to me.
DeleteHumans are amazingly adaptive. In a few years you'll get used to it providing you don't hide indoors.
My brother spawned with one of his great grand daughters.
ReplyDeleteI’ve always said my three favorite things developments of the 20th century are air conditioning, Novocain and Rock ‘n Roll
ReplyDeleteI have the day marked on my calendar every year. Mr. Carrier has saved many lives. Many more have been made bearable.
ReplyDeleteI heard that some dude invented it for his patients that were suffering from fevers. Someone told him it was a stupid idea so he gave up on it. The second guy promptly stole the invention. Maybe it was this Carrier dude. Making his units in Meheco now. Great American.
ReplyDeleteNO! The first air conditioner was built in Apalachicola Florida by Doctor John Gorrie for his clinic's patients.
ReplyDeleteThey even have a museum dedicated to him with a statute of our benefactor outside. Well worth a trip to the very pleasant town of Apalachicola - great oysters too!
I'll give Carrier for making a successful commercial product.
But, without air conditioning, think of what it might be like in Washington DC. More of a literal swamp with fewer political swap creatures.
ReplyDelete