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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