Possibly the most infuriating thing to discover in the heat of the summer is when your AC unit wont turn on. Americans have led the charge in embracing air conditioning from the very beginning — we’re highly reliant on them to keep us comfortable and happy during the too-warm months of the year. Indeed, in 1947, British scholar S.F. Markham wrote that, “The greatest contribution to civilization in this century may well be air-conditioning — and America leads the way.” By 1980, the U.S. was responsible for consuming the most air conditioning than the rest of the world combined — despite only taking up a mager five percent of the population. So it’s natural that when your AC unit wont turn on, it’s cause for irritation and an immediate charge to get it fixed or replace it.
A Brief History of the Air Conditioner
Michael Faraday had the first concept for air conditioners as early as 1820, when he discovered that ammonia in its liquid form could cool the air down when it evaporated. However, it was Willis Carrier who created the first air conditioner in 1902 for a publishing company in Brooklyn. The first air conditioner that we’re familiar with (the ones that sit in our windows) was introduced in 1932, but was a luxury, since they were incredibly expensive to begin with. Using air conditioners was especially popular in movie theatres during the Great Depression, since it attracted desperate patrons looking to escape the heat. The high cost of using air conditioning paid off with the influx of moviegoers.
Today, almost every household in America has at least one air conditioner that they break out during the summer months. Air conditioner sales naturally go up in late spring and early summer, but the prices have come way down and many people regard them as necessary as say, a refrigerator or a microwave.
How Do I Keep My AC Unit From Dying On Me?
It’s important to make sure that you’re maintaining your air conditioner before you turn it on for the season and after you pack it away. The air filters also do more than just cool down the temperature — they can also filter out irritants that make seasonal allergies so miserable. This also means that these filters are trapping dirt, debris, and other irritants throughout their use, so any air conditioning repair specialist will ask you if you’re been changing your filter regularly. If your AC unit wont turn on, it’s most likely due to a clogged filter or a bad motor, which means you only have a replace a part, not the whole thing. You may also want a trustworthy air conditioning service to come look at your wiring or make sure that there’s no ice building up inside the air conditioner.
In some extreme cases, you may have to completely replace your air conditioning unit, but you can always check with your air conditioning service to make sure that it’s necessary to do so and that your air conditioner doesn’t just require a quick fix to start working again.