1953

One More Reason to Invest in A/C

A section of The News from the 1950s called “Room Cooler News” ran an article in the May 4, 1953 issue titled “Pill Buyers Are Hot Prospects! Health Conscious Public Seen Ripe for Benefits by Room Air Conditioners.”

H. W. Branson, then Cleveland district manager for Carrier Corp., spoke to a group of Detroit-area air conditioning dealers, stating that there’s more to sell in room coolers than cooling. “Comfort and health are two other good reasons why customers will buy,” he said. “Reduction of humidity alone will produce more comfortable living and working conditions in many areas and is a powerful incentive to buy.”

Branson said that doctors and life insurance companies spend money telling people how to live longer, healthier lives, and people have become more health conscious. He stated that air conditioning produces more healthful conditions in the home, thus will save the occupants more on medical bills.

1996

Now We’re cooling with Gas

The News reprinted in the May 6, 1996 issue some of the results from a survey conducted by Future Technology Surveys, Inc., on natural gas cooling. The 20 who were on the survey panel had presented technical papers or had in some other way distinguished themselves in the natural gas cooling field.

Below are some of the questions from that survey and the top answers that appeared in the article.

What are the most important user trends in natural gas cooling applications at this time?

1. Replacement of CFC equipment;

2. Use of hybrid gas and electrical equipment;

3. Taking advantage of gas and electric utility rebates;

4. Energy awareness and efficient technologies;

5. Replacement of electric equipment to lower peak requirements;

6. Growing acceptance of reliability of gas cooling technologies.

How do you see natural gas cooling technology and applications evolving over the next decade?

1. Desiccant systems gaining position in applications that are biased towards indoor air quality;

2. Slowly growing;

3. Absorption efficiency gains;

4. Engine emissions reductions;

5. Improved market share;

6. Entering the personal computer mainstream marketplace.

What market pitfalls are likely to occur?

1. High natural gas costs;

2. Lack of available service technicians;

3. Electric utility politics;

4. Higher maintenance costs;

5. Electricity costs;

6. Perception of equipment performance.

What do you consider to be some of the most important recent advances in commercial natural gas cooling technology?

1. York Triathlon, York/Caterpillar chiller, and the availability of other new gas-powered equipment;

2. Commercialization and acceptance of desiccant cooling;

3. Development of high-efficiency triple-effect absorption;

4. Production of direct-fired absorption in the United States;

5. Low emissions engine technology;

6. Dual-fired diesel engines;

7. Natural gas engine-driven heat pumps.

Publication date: 05/07/2001