While ice makers and commercial ice machines may seem more like a modern convenience because they are common in nearly every home, office, restaurant and business today, they have actually been around for quite a while. Of course there have been huge leaps in technology to help produce cleaner and higher quality ice more quickly at the push of a button but the principle mechanics for ice makers remains pretty much the same as when they were invented. Here’s a quick history on the origin of the ice machines as we know them today.

Commercial Ice Machines in Kansas City, Atchison, and Overland Park, KS

The use of ice itself by humans has been around since the beginning of time but was first recorded as far back as 400 BC when ancient Egyptians would use clay pots filled with water to be left out overnight in the cold to freeze and then stored underground to keep it preserved. In other parts of the world, ice could be harvested from frozen lakes and rivers as any kid that has seen the movie Frozen can tell you. But it wasn’t until the 1840’s when a New England man named Fredric Tudor began to not only harvest ice on a mass scale but also found ways to effectively ship it without it melting which, as you might expect, created a huge demand for ice on a global scale. Refrigeration had already been invented in 1834 by Jacob Perkins who was the first to patent a refrigerator as we know them today using ether in a vapor compression cycle. But an American doctor named John Gorrie was the first to truly produce a refrigerator or cooling device as we know them today in 1844 in an effort to help keep his patients cool from fevers but he opted to introduce it to public by offering chilled wine at a Bastille Day festival offering cold beverages to festival goers on a hot July day.  While the ether powered refrigerator invented by Gorrie and Perkins would later be found to be a danger especially when ether would leak out, two inventors named Charles Franklin Kettering and Thomas Midgely, Jr. discovered Freon in 1928 which would still use Gorrie’s principle of condensing, throttling, and evaporating air but in a much safer way. Many more technological advancements would be made after the foundation for refrigeration and ice making were laid and you’d be hard pressed to not go anywhere without seeing coolers, freezers, or ice machines using the same methods and principles in the modern world today.

At Capital Equipment, we understand the basic principles of what makes ice makers work but more importantly we understand modern commercial ice machines and how to make them produce ice best. If you’re business in the greater Kansas City area that needs a commercial ice machine or service for your current one, give us a call at (913) 683-8972 or CLICK HERE FOR OUR ONLINE CONTACT FORM.

Call Capital Equipment today at (913) 683-8972  for all of your commercial ice machine and ice equipment needs in the greater Kansas City area.

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