Commercial Applications

Refrigeration Facts

We all take refrigerators for granted anymore, but obviously there was a time when people didn't have the luxury of modern day refrigeration. It actually hasn't been that long since refrigerators were easily and widely used.

Refrigerator Facts

• In 1000 B.C. the Chinese cut and stored ice
• In 1855 Dr. John Gorrie build the first compression refrigeration system
• At the turn of the 20th Century about half of U.S. households used melting ice and an icebox to keep food cold. The remaining half had no cooled storage at all.
• In 1911, General Electric sold a refrigerator invented by a French monk, Abbe Audiffren
• In 1916 refrigerators were sold for $900 to American housewives
• Mass production of refrigerators began in 1946
• Until 1929, dangerous gases, such as methyl chloride and sulfur dioxide were used as refrigerants; fatal gas leaks led to the use of freon instead
• Top/Bottom compartment refrigerator models are more energy efficient than side-by-side models
• The refrigerator is the most widely used household appliance, found in 99.5% of American households
• Current Energy Star qualified refrigerator models use 50% less energy than models made before 1993
• Certain evergy efficient refrigerators in today's market use less energy than a 75 watt light bulb

Freezer Facts

• The first ice house may have existed as early as 1700 BC, in NW Iraq. An ancient inscription was discovered detailing its construction.
• In Rome 3rd century AD, ice and snow were brought from higher elevations and stored in straw covered pits and sold. The ice from the bottom of the pit sold for more money than ice at the top.
• From the last half of the 1800s into the early 1900s the commercial ice house industry was at its peak. Ice blocks were delivered to homes in horse drawn carriages.
• Ice cube compartments were included in refrigerators in the 1920s and 1930s.
• In the 1930s several companies developed small freezers for use in the ice cream business.
• The invention of the freezer led to the development of frozen food. Bird's Eye frozen foods appeared in shops in 1939.
• Chest style freezers are more energy efficient, than upright models.
• Energy Star qualified freezers use 10 percent less energy that federal standards require.