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Subject | Author |
![]() | Jim Jackson |
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On 2021-02-19, Jon Elson <elson@pico-systems.com> wrote:
> Rich D wrote:
>
>> How did they make ice, in the days before electricity?
Electricity? I once lived in a house with no electricity supply. We used
a Kerosene fridge. I believe there are also propane fridges.
>>
> In the early days, they cut it out of frozen lakes and rivers and stored it
> in ice houses insulated with thick layers of hay.
Usually a deep hole in the ground, often an impressive stone/brick
superstructure over over the top, and a trap corridor with doors each
end to keep any heat out.
There was also a trade in ice from areas where it was cold.
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_trade
>
>> And did they figure it out empirically, prior to the
>> development of thermodynamic theory?
> Mechanical refrigeration was developed about 1850, but took a while to
> become widely commercially available. I think the physics was pretty well
> understood by that time.
making ice on a commercial scale came well before home fridges - mostly
the ice was for the fish and meat trade, but you could buy in blocks of
ice for domestic use.
There is a pretty good history here ...
https://www.reddyice.com/blogs/detail/ID/12/the-chilling-history-of-ice
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