It's a Cool Story

Abstract

This article discusses about domestic refrigeration and comfort air conditioning. Refrigeration engineers introduced eccentric shaft, closed-crankcase reciprocating compressors, replacing crosshead or crank types, allowing higher operating speeds and smaller size. Leaky stuffing boxes were replaced with rotary mechanical shaft sea is that minimized leaks. Thermostatic controls were applied to refrigeration systems, making them responsive to the vagaries of system load that varied with room temperature, frequency of door opening, and so on. Engineering brought us those old refrigerators in the garage that still run after 50 years. Those that we buy now we plug in and forget—except when the power goes out. Engineering brought us indoor environmental systems that operate so well and are so well hidden that one might think heating or cooling were nothing more than a thermostat on the wall. From impossible dream to luxury, and finally to necessity, refrigerators and air conditioners were indeed a feat of modern technical alchemy that made our lives better.