Here at Flex Technologies, we sell high quality silicone hoses and tubes online for a wide range of industries. One of those industries is HVAC, which makes use of silicone's ability to conduct heat but not electricity. We are proud to make some of the parts that HVAC contractors work with on your home or business. For your entertainment, we thought we would go over a quick history of air conditioning, and how it turned into what it is today.

Early Uses

• One of the earliest known uses of air conditioning comes from Ancient Egypt, in the form of evaporative cooling. Egyptians would wet cloth or reeds, and then hang them from their windows and doorways. As air blew through the openings, it would be cooled after passing through the soaked reeds/cloth. On top of the natural cooling effect of evaporation, this allowed Ancient Egyptians to live comfortably even in their hot climate.
• In Ancient Rome, a different type of evaporative cooling was used, at least for the more wealthy denizens. They figured out that if they routed their aqueducts through the walls in their homes, the circulating water would evaporate and cool their homes as well.
• Around the 2nd century, inventor Ding Huan, a Chinese mechanical engineer in the Han Dynasty, invented what is likely the first rotary fan. It had seven wheels that were 10 feet in diameter, and was powered manually by prisoners. Eventually, Chinese engineers would improve on the design, using flowing water to power it. Rotary fans saw use in the Tang and Song Dynasties as well, where they gained prominence.
• Fast forward thousands of years, and you will find another breakthrough in evaporative cooling thanks to Benjamin Franklin and John Hadley. In 1758, these men discovered that evaporating volatile liquids (such as alcohol) will quickly cool an object (past the point where water freezes).

Patents and Breakthroughs

• Fast forward about another century, and you will find Dr. John Gorrie patenting his new invention that blows air over ice in order to cool hospital rooms. The motivation behind the invention may have been faulty (Gorrie believed that hot air contained and spread sickness, and that cooling it would make it healthier), but it certainly performed its function.
• In 1902, a man named Willis Carrier who worked for Sacket-Wilhelms Lithographing and Publising Company created a machine similar to Gorrie's, except it blew hair over cold coils to regulate both temperature and humidity. The goal of this invention was to regulate company environments so that ink and paper would last longer. Eventually, the success of his invention took off with other factories around the country, and the Carrier Air Conditioning Company of America was created.
• By 1914, the first ever in home air conditioning unit was put in a private residence, a mansion in Minneapolis. This unit was much bigger than the ones that we are accustomed to today; it measured in at seven feet tall and 20 feet wide.
• It wouldn't be until 1931 that air conditioners changed to the relative size that we know them today. That is due to H. H. Schultz' and J. Q. Sherman's invention of the air conditioner window unit. However, even by this point, it was far from economical except in the most bourgeois circles. Accounting for inflation, the air conditioner would have costed as much as $600,000.
• By the 1950s, air conditioners had been economized enough that they became prevalent in suburban home. By the 1970s, central AC systems became popular. Nowadays, it would be hard to imagine living without one!

Our HVAC Silicone Products

Here at Flex Technologies, we sell silicone hoses and tubes to HVAC companies across the nation. Our silicone products are made to the highest quality, and are subject to strict standards of ISO 9001:2008, TS-16949. Not only do you get exceptional manufacturing when you order from us, but it can be done online at your leisure from the home or office. We offer wholesale options for our silicone products; to find out more about it, reach out to us here. If you need a silicone product to specifications that you can not find on our products section, we offer custom design and manufacturing for our silicone hoses and tubes as well. Check out some frequently asked questions for more information on the different applications for our silicone products.

We are proud of the quality of our manufacturing here at Flex Technologies. We know exactly how much stress different industries can put on our products, which is why we design them to withstand all kinds of stresses while functioning normally. The amazing properties of silicone and our devotion to detail and improvement is what allows us to make such durable products. For more information about our products or delivery, please do not hesitate to give us a call at your earliest convenience. One of our friendly and knowledgeable representatives will be happy to provide answers for any questions that you might need.