The History of Cold Storage and Refrigeration Systems

[Reprinted with permission of Richmond Cold Storage]

Even before mechanical refrigeration systems were introduced, people needed a means of keeping their food at safe temperatures. Most ancient cultures used ice and snow to keep food cool. Harvesting ice and snow during the coldest months was an important task for people, and what was more crucial was rationing the supply in warmer weather when it was scarce. Many cultures dug holes into the ground and lined these dugouts with wood or straw, and packed the area with snow and ice. Today, one would never imagine the hardship of preserving food, but this was the sole means of refrigeration back in prehistoric times.

The first ever record of synthetic refrigeration was introduced by William Cullen in 1750’s. An expert in the field of natural sciences, most notably, chemistry, Cullen, utilized a pump to create a makeshift vacuum, which made it possible to boil and absorb heat from surrounding air. Cullen’s seemingly small experiment produced a small amount of ice, but at the time his experiment was just that, an experiment.

Several years later, Ben Franklin and a fellow associate further researched and experimented with evaporation. Little did they know it would become a key process in the development of refrigeration, since all heat must be removed, or evaporated, from an area in order to keep cool. Together they learned that highly unpredictable liquids like alcohol and ether could bring the temperature of an object down low enough to freeze. After this notable discovery, many scientists began experimenting with refrigeration and ice-making techniques.

Refrigerators for household use were introduced to the market in 1915. However, it wasn’t until the 1930’s that they gained wider use and acceptance. During this time, the price tag of such a commodity started to decrease due to the implementation of Freon and other non-toxic refrigerants.

With the convenience of today’s refrigerator, most people do not realize how important the appliance is to their daily routine. Refrigerators are used to store any type of food that without such storage risks spoilage from bacterial growth. The household appliance maintains a temperature just a few degrees above the freezing point of water, similar to a freezer, which maintains a temperature below the freezing point of water. It is not until this essential household convenience breaks down that we recognize what it is like to live without.

The most significant impact of the refrigeration on today’s families is that we are much more able and apt to eat fresh produce and have more healthy selections of food than we would without access to such storage. In addition, people are able to buy food in bulk, or prepare homemade foods in larger quantities and store it in a freezer for a longer period of time. Regardless of what we store in our refrigerators, it is an important element in our daily functions, from morning to night. In this day in age, where we have modern conveniences to make just about any daily task easier, it is difficult to imagine how people once kept perishable foods safe to consume without the use of such an important device.

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