How did people keep cool before air conditioning?

The inhabitants of ancient civilizations struggled with the heat just like we do today, except that they didn't have air conditioners to help them. That's why they had to be more imaginative, in order to make life easier for themselves with what they have, he writes N1.

During hot summer days, we all look for a place near the fans with water sprayers in the gardens of cafes and restaurants to cool off.

They were cooled in a similar way in the Old Ages. Ancient Egyptians, Native Americans, Romans and Greeks dipped large pieces of cloth in water and then hung them over door and window openings. Air flow through wet fabrics created a feeling of freshness in heated rooms.

This method has been passed down through the ages, so on the old facades in Kotor and other Mediterranean cities, you can still see metal or wooden structures above the windows, which were used to hang wet sheets.

In Egypt, in the corridors, through which the air flowed, they also kept large vessels with water. Evaporation of water lowered the air temperature by several degrees.

Another way of cooling buildings was the architecture itself, which varied from climate to climate.

In Old Rome, canals were built through the houses through which fresh cold water flowed. Water pipes were installed through the walls themselves, which many call the first central air conditioning systems.

In the Middle East, so-called air towers were built on houses, which, with their system of specifically arranged openings, allowed air to flow through the buildings and thereby cool them down.

The towers were different from area to area, adapted to the winds that blow in that area, the humidity of the air and the amount of sand and dust in the air.

These solutions were neglected in the modern architecture of the 20th century, only to come to life in the 21st as an ideal way to cool the space and reduce the consumption of electricity, and thus costs.

China, on the other hand, had its own architectural solution - skylights, so-called "heaven wells" in the roofs, through which fresh air entered directly into the center of the building. The layout of the rooms around the skylight was such that the sun's rays did not manage to heat the space under the skylight.

Under the opening in the roofs there was often a trough for collecting rainwater, so the water that evaporated from it additionally cooled the space and provided moisture.

Of course, there are also fans as the forerunner of fans. At first, they were made of leaves, paper, fabric, semicircular in shape, so that they could be held as easily as possible and cooled with them.

The first electric fan was created in 1880, and at the beginning of the 20th century they started to become part of the furniture.

The first air conditioner, most similar to the one we know today, was invented by the American engineer Willis Carrier in 1902.