Development of Refrigeration

Refrigeration, the business of preserving food by cold, first became of marketable significance during the 18th century. Ice witch shaped on the surface of lakes and ponds was cut and stored in insulated storerooms to be used during the summer. 

This performance was expended by the distribution of ice from the colder climates to the hotter zones. The use of normal ice made necessary the structure of insulated containers or iceboxes for use in stores, restaurants, homes, etc. These first appeared on a big scale during the 19th century. Ice was first made unnaturally about 1820 on an experimental basis, but it was not until 1834 that non-natural ice developed was perfect. Jacob Perkins, an American engineer, was the inventor of the apparatus used, which was the forerunner of our up-to-date compression systems. 

In 1855 a German engineer produced the first absorption type of refrigerating mechanism, although Michael Faraday discovered the principles of absorption-type refrigeration in 1824. The production of non-natural ice made very small progress until shortly after 1890. During 1890 a shortage of normal ice gave impetus to mechanical ice-making manufacturing. Since that time, the growth of mechanical refrigeration in the US has been phenomenal. Mechanical household refrigerators first made their appearance about 1910.J. M. Larsen produced a physically operated household machine in 1913. It was not until 1918 that the first automatic refrigerator was made available on the US market (Kelvinator). 

The Kelvinator Corporation sold its first machine in 1918 and sold a full amount of sixty-seven Machines that year. Between 1918 and 1920 two hundred units were sold. The universal electric monitor top operated in 1926 after eleven of experimenting. The monitor top was the first of the “sealed” or hermetic automatic refrigeration units. Beginning in 1920, domestic refrigerators became one of our important industries. The Electrolux, which was an automatic domestic absorption unit, appeared on the American market in 1927. 

The use of automatic refrigeration units for comfort cooling, AC appeared on the market in 1927. By 1940 practically all domestic units’ wear of the hermetic type, while commercially, units of thousands of refrigeration ability were successfully made and used. The preservation of extended periods of time by fast freezing was developed in about 1923. This was the origin of the modern frozen foods industry. 

The use of mechanical refrigerating mechanisms in connection with home and building Heating plants during 1920,s was the opening of our modern air conditioning business. From a very little start in the 1930,s, air conditioning of automobiles has grown to over 1,600,000 units a year.