Buffalo Rising Online

Jun 12th 2005, 10:10pm By buffalorising

So far, I have endured 34 years and one week without ever living with a home air conditioner. But considering the recent heat wave, Iim thinking about buying one as a belated birthday present to myself. Iive tried different old-school techniques for cooling off:

1- Cool showers, several times a day. 2- Plenty of iced beverages, and fruit smoothies. 3- Using the kiddy pool, for the children of course (iMove over, mommais comini in.i) 4- Spending inordinate amounts of time in the chilly basement doing laundry, puttering, retrieving fictitious tools for imaginary projects. (iYeah, honey, I just gotta get that whoosymawidget to fix the you know, thing thatis brokenOei) 5- Trying to make friends with people who have pools (Just kidding. That was a trick I am ashamed to say I did as a kid.) 6- Walking the aisles at Wegmanis. 7- Periodically checking on the contents of my freezer for expiration dates. 8- Staying low to the ground n heat rises you know. 9- Accidentally watering my head when Iim watering the plants. 10- Driving around in my car with the AC blasting.

Now that Iive become obsessed with keeping cool, I started wondering about who invented air conditioning and was delighted to find out he has ties to, get ready for this, Buffalo.

We can thank Willis Haviland Carrier (1876-1950) for developing the first isafe, low pressure centrifugal refrigeration machine using non-toxic, nonflammable refrigerant. By controlling humidity as well as temperature, he invented modern air conditioning.i

Carrier was born in Angola, NY then attended Cornell University. Armed with a degree in mechanical engineering, he landed a job at the Buffalo Forge Company in June 1901, designing drying systems for lumber and coffee and earning just $10 a week. Buffalo Forge Company, located at 490 Broadway, was a manufacturer of heaters, blowers, and air exhaust systems. Five years later he patented his first device (U.S. Pat# 808897) "An Apparatus for Treating Air." Then Carrier headed a subsidiary of Buffalo Forge named Carrier Air Conditioning Company in his honor. Later, he and six friends formed the Carrier Engineering Corporation.

And the rest, as they say, is history. You can pay your respects to the iFather of ACi at Buffalois own Forest Lawn Cemetery (lot 76 in Section 15.)

For more info on Willis Carrier in Buffalo, check out Chuck LaChiusa website .

Let us know if you have any tips for keeping your cool in this heat.