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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (May 12, 1957)
11 t: summer living '57 S fill. AY f 11 .J! w HUM? II B 7 X' With a portable conditioner, living f, ; C. Mom can move it wherever r . N.S her tasks take her in the home. n t A room air conditioner will li " VM cool your favorite retreat, II J I - - A ALiv1' male Summer really pleasant. I I . Thai's one of the benefit of air conditioning, the boon to modern now within the means of almost any family. by Jack Glasner R EM EMBER THE good old days when Summer's heat settled over town, and there wasn't any place to cool off except the swimming hole? One man a millionaire decided he'd done enough sweltering and could afford to do something about it. So Charles G. Gates commis sioned a pioneer air-conditioning engineer to cool his $900,000 show-place mansion in Minneapolis. This first modern home air-conditioning system had a monster central unit six feet by seven feet and ceiling high, not in cluding the refrigeration unit. And it cost more than most homes do today! Unfortunately, millionaire Gates never enjoyed his air conditioning. He died before the installation was finished. That was 40 years ago. To day it's no longer necessary to be a millionaire pr to have a spare room for a monstrous cooling unit in order to enjoy Summer comfort America's air-conditioning industry has slimmed down the size and cost of units so almost anyone can have a cool, comfortable Summer. Although half a century old, air conditioning has be come a common home appli ance only during the last five years. Room air conditioners are by far the most popular, but central installations are becoming more common in new homes. Air conditioners have changed radically since large numbers of buyers got a look at them. Consumers get what they want, and that's certainly true in air conditioners. A 1955 survey showed that owners and prospective cus tomers objected to air condi tioners hanging out the win dow inside as well as out! So manufacturers now offer models only 16 inches deep. These can be installed in win dows or walls, fitting flush with both sides of the wall. Many customers also re ported that they originally bought a room unit for their bedrooms, but later shifted it to the living room for full family comfort. So manufac turers developed portable units which can be wheeled from room to room and plugged into a regular 110 volt house circuit. The question of voltage was another important one to air conditioner owners who often found their unit necessitated new wiring because it re quired a 220-volt circuit. To day, units up to the -ton size in many models may be plugged right into the ordi nary house circuit, drawing less electricity than an elec tric toaster or iron. The survey also indicated that most of us aren't sure what size air conditioner is best for a particular room. If an undersize unit is bought, the user will be disappointed because it doesn't cool effec tively. Here's a rough rule of thumb to use for room units: A 14-ton unit will cool rooms up to 250 square feet; -ton, 400 square feet; 1 ton, 600 square feet These estimates are for the toughest conditions anywhere high humidity and high temperature. If the humidity is lower in your area, an air conditioning unit will cool a larger area. Don't be intimidated by that term "ton" it's simply a way of classifying the cooling capacity. Technically, a 1-ton unit will deliver the same cooling effect as melting a ton of ice over a 24-hour period. If you have more than 600 square feet to cool, a console unit may be the answer. These units come in a wide range of sizes and styles and cost slightly more than win dow units because of cabinet costs. They can be used for both heating and cooling, re placing a radiator. Window units in regular and casement models run from about $200 to $600, de pending on size, make, and style. But the kingpin of the cooling units is the central air-conditioning system. You can be cool anywhere in your home with one of these! If you're a do-it-yourselfer, several manufacturers offer units complete with fiberglass ducts which are easy to fabri cate and install. An attic in stallation with ducts leading to various rooms is a not-too-difficult job for the home handyman. With this installa tion, you can air condition a 1,100-square foot house for between $600 and $750. If you already have ducts for a warm air heating sys tem, the cost is even less. In many cases, it's simply a mat ter of installing a cooling unit and connecting it to the ex isting ducts. Or this may be the time to install a new furnace, replacing the old one with a modern combination air conditioner-furnace for year-around comfort. An average six-room house in most areas can be com pletely air conditioned for not more than $2,000, if it's prop erly insulated. The job could" run to $3,500 for a 3,500- Famlly Weekly, May 12, 1357 T
