Facts on Refrigerators
Though the concept of refrigeration has been around for more than 1,000 years, the first refrigerators weren't developed until the middle of the 19th century and were first used by the meat-packing and brewing industries. Advancements in the commercial sector and the wiring of homes with electricity in the early 20th century led to the widespread adoption of refrigerators as a standard home appliance. Does this Spark an idea?
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The First Refrigerators
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The concept of artificial refrigeration was introduced by William Cullen at the University of Glasgow in 1748 when he showed that compressed gas could cool the air. In 1855, John Gorrie developed the first functional vapor-compression refrigerator and it was quickly adopted for use in the brewing and meat-packing industries.
Improvements
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Scientist Carl von Linde improved on Gorrie's "refrigerated box" in 1871 when he introduced a concept that combined a number of gases--including ammonia and ether--to the cooling process and improved it significantly. His refrigerators were mass-produced for use in breweries. In 1894, after receiving a request from the Guinness Brewery in Dublin for a more powerful refrigerator, he developed the Linde Technique for liquefying and cooling large quantities of air. This provided the foundation for modern refrigerator technology.
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The First Home Refrigerators
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By the early 20th century, a number of companies began developing small refrigerators that the average homeowner could use to cool and preserve food. General Electric introduced its first line in 1911 and it was followed by other companies, including car manufacturer General Motors and its Frigidaire line. The first widely popular line was Kelvinator, which had close to 80 percent of the market by 1923.
Refrigerators go Mainstream
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The introduction of Freon in the 1930s expanded the refrigerator market and allowed for the introduction of freezers. The market for the combination refrigerator-freezer did not go mainstream until after World War II, when a population and housing boom coupled with growing affluence among middle class consumers drove demand. The widespread use of refrigerators coupled with the debut and expansion of supermarkets allowed families to preserve large quantities of food for long periods of time and led to improved nutrition and better overall health.
Environmental Changes
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Efforts to curb the use of flourocarbons that can damage the ozone layer led to the elimination of Freon in freezers in the 1990s. More recently, government regulations mandated that new refrigerator models be designed to use less electricity to conserve energy. Current models that qualify as Energy Star models use 50 percent less electricity than the same size and type of refrigerator used in 1993.
Next Generation Models
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Scientists in Britain are designing a new refrigerator based on one invented by Albert Einstein in 1930. The Einstein refrigerator uses butane and ammonia to cool the air and is reportedly being fashioned as an eco-friendly refrigerator.
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