Turn the thermostat down, grab an icy-cold beverage, and have a seat. You’re in for a cool, relaxing treat.
As luck would have it, today not only marks the start of Air Conditioning Appreciation Week, but August 15 is also National Relaxation Day. I imagine you weren’t aware of either of these commemorative occurrences because to be honest I’d never heard of them, either. Desperation of a columnist with a heat-fried brain and a deadline often dredges up such things.
I don’t know about you, but I hold my air conditioning in very high regard for about 9 months out of the year. Here in these parts where we endure high temperatures often coupled with extreme humidity, a mere week of honor doesn’t seem to suffice. But since it’s a special time for my appliance, I’ll be sure to visit both the indoor and outdoor components and let them know how grateful I am for the fine service provided. Maybe I should buy a card.
And since today is National Relaxation Day we can all get away with lounging around in the cool air conditioning while doing an activity that eases our stressed souls – even if said activity is doing nothing over and above being conscious. It’s the perfect Sunday combination, but only after reading this first, of course.
As Google aided in my travels through vast amounts of information, I learned that air conditioning for the sake of human comfort is—relatively speaking—fairly young. It got going in a few fits and starts in the early 1900s and went way down on the priority list through the Great Depression and World War II. But in the post-war boom of the 1950s it took off and led the way for migration to the Sunbelt. By 1966, Texas was the first state to have more than half of its homes equipped with climate control.
Almost one-hundred years ago a young engineer, Willis H. Carrier (also known as The Father of Cool), sat waiting for a train on a foggy night and began pondering the problem of temperature and humidity control. He had a ‘flash of genius’ which are the formulas still used today as the basis in all fundamental calculations used in the air conditioning industry.
Yes, I studied Carrier’s famous “Rational Psychrometric Formulae”. Feel free to assume I understood every bit of it. I’ll assume you’d rather I not bore you with the details. In the end, all that matters is that I love the man for what his mind gave us. He didn’t invent the first system used to cool an interior structure, but his ended up being the first truly successful one which started the science of modern air conditioning. Sadly, Willis Carrier died in 1950 just as his work was on the cusp of becoming a mainstay in American homes.
In closing, a very special thanks to The Big Guy for creating me AFTER air conditioning was invented. And thanks, too, for the person who had the cool idea of Air Conditioning Appreciation Week and having it coincide with the melting of my mind. I appreciate that.
© 2010 Natalie Whatley