1954 RCA Room Air Conditioner Commercial

A 1954 RCA room air conditioner television commercial.

[@jerometaperman7102]

Refrigeration has to be one of the top five inventions of the 20th century. Right up there with the airplane and television.

[@josefbuckland]

Don’t forget the Lighter. I don’t smoke but the power of fire at the tip of your fingers is a marvel

[@somersetdc]

The South would still be a backwards area without air-conditioning. No one would have built office towers in Atlanta or Houston without the befits of AC.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

​@@josefbuckland We basked in God's domain!

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

​@@somersetdc True.

[@4rumani]

artificial refrigeration is a really a19th century invention, not a 20th century one

[@anthonymastrando9299]

In 1961, my parents moved into a new home and it had central air conditioning,built in dishwasher,wall ovens and gas heat. My mother said that she felt like a princess!

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

She lived better electrically. kzbin.info/www/bejne/i4uUkH6geraapZY

[@katyk6912]

I live in 2023 and I don’t own a dishwasher...

[@franklinshouse8719]

We had this AC when I was a kid in the 50s and 60s. What a flash to the past!

[@peppermeat8059]

do you stil have it?

[@lilajagears8317]

That baby is now around 69 years old.

[@jimmyb1559]

We didn’t have air conditioning in the original home I grew in. We had fans everywhere. Then we moved into a new home in the 60’s and all the rooms had a small window unit. I still remember those first few nights of being under the covers in the summer because our bedroom felt so cold.

[@mrjumaatsamian]

I bet whole house fans was the best choice

[@jeffdwyer6105]

I never knew they had anything that size back in 1954 . I recall a lot of air conditioners in the late 60's and early 70's that were mounted in the wall , they vibrated the room and made a heck of a noise.

[@donaldnye2890]

RCA Really cool Air 🙂

[@gregoryclemen1870]

I have a 1950 model, with the tecumseh compressor( 1725 R.P.M.), and yes the refrigerant charge is R-12.these units did run quiet, you could hardly hear the compressor run!!!!. this unit is still in service!!!!!.( everything is original)

[@russstacey9889]

Any chance on a video of it? Id love to see it!!

[@LarryButler-kp3se]

My old car used R12 as do most boat systems as it uses less power on lower head pressures. So, when a friend asked me what booze he should bring me back from sailing the Caribbean, I said we needed R12 refridgerant. I got two cases as did he. It cost 86 cents per 16oz can. IT WAS MADE IN USA!!

[@allenjones3130]

RCA Corporation (then known as Radio Corporation of America) was a leading manufacturer of products for home and office during the 50s and 60s.

[@martinleavitt6094]

Growing up(born in 1962) dont recall anybody having a c back in the day.......possibly a select few...now there everywhere.....i purchased my 1st a c around 1994,Fedders i believe it had 8,maybe 10,000 btu's?...quite heavy(awkward) at the time.....

[@alanstrong55]

You could put a 5 gallon bucket under the outside portion and catch the water. Use it to water house plants and iron clothes.

[@robsemail]

I have a friend in Atlanta who lived through the water crisis there some years ago. The large lake north of town that supplies the water was going dry, and a number of temporary, very strict water regulations had been imposed on city residents and businesses, including a prohibition on lawn and garden watering. My friend managed to keep a lovely garden right in front of his living room alive by moving a window AC unit from the side of the house to a front window, where the dripping condensate kept the mulch and soil moist.

[@Hibernicus1968]

When I was growing up in the 1970s, in a working class family, we, and every other family I knew, had large window unit air conditioners to keep their houses cool. Central air back then was something only rich people had. I'm glad I grew up when I did, but I am also glad that central air is more affordable, and I now live in a quieter, more evenly cooled home than I did back then. When I was a kid, the window unit A/C was in the living room where we spent all our time as a family, but we had to turn the TV up to hear over it, and the bedrooms at the other end of the house were always a little too warm in the summer, so we all had fans going to keep cool at night.

[@maryspencer6997]

I grew up in Charleston, SC in the 1960s and 70s. We had 2 window units from Sears; one in the living room and the other in my parents' bedroom. Our bedroom was always too warm, too; but we were happy.

[@Mick_Ts_Chick]

We had the same setup at our house in NC. My room was directly across the hall from my parents' room so I got some good A/C also. Our living room unit blew directly down our hall so it kept most of the house comfy. In spring and fall we'd open the windows and turn on the big attic fan. That felt so good for the cool breeze to come into the bedroom at night.

[@alanpower2857]

I grew up in a small bungalow that my mom still lives in. The house to this day has baseboard heat from a small boiler. We had one a/c unit and it was in my parents bedroom window. The rest of the house had fans and open windows.

[@kylevandagriff9119]

Thank you, Air Conditioner Man.

[@donwires5793]

Got the first window unit in our home in 1968! I was the baby

[@smadaf]

I like the exhaust function!

[@new2000car]

Most of the time those louvers should be pointed upward. Then the cool air can settle down gently on the occupants. Chilling the floor is not helpful (unless someone was sleeping on the floor maybe). I remember these old units had a slow blower fan which dehumidified better. Their evaporator coils ran colder, not as efficient but way better dehumidifying. So they generally had a SEER rating of 5, and cost around $300, to me a well worth it luxury. Like others here noted, they also lasted 50 years or more. Even in the 1970s they had 5 SEER models.

[@fonziebulldog5786]

50 years. Not bad.

[@tony--james]

in 1954 RCA also, sold to the public , A color Television. The RCA CT 100, it sold for 1000 1954 dollars, half the price of a new low-end automobile. RCA was making some phenomenal stuff back in the day!! !

[@LarryButler-kp3se]

I wonder how many 1954 RCA air conditioners are still in service? I have 3 old Norcold R12 1.5 cuft fridges still keeping the beer cold. They have AC vibrator compressors on the low pressure gas that only consume 40 watts! My 1981 GE Weathertron 2 ton heat pump only blew a start capacitor since then. It runs on R22.

[@thebuddha4208]

Yeah, the first kids to sleep happy & cool

[@cyrysvonnachtseite4546]

RCA Whirlpool…. There’s three of these up in the attic in my friends house left from the original owners Robin Egg Blue …. 5,000 BTUs each and weighs a TON ….

[@Rockin4D]

R12 was the best refrigerant!

[@davehimlin2374]

this unit probably still works today.

[@TomM2727]

That was back when companies and their employees took pride in making their products. That is all thrown out the windows today.

[@Ibhenriksen]

From what I heard, they used to run on CFC's which would turn your room into a fridge.

[@fromthesidelines]

Stan Sawyer speaks for RCA.

[@alphonsocarioti512]

Cool!

[@heroknaderi]

Cool

[@buckshot6481]

RCA ? Well okay then. I knew York and Carrier.

[@richardgray8593]

GE and Westinghouse too back then. The large electric companies made all kinds of stuff or rebranded from other manufacturers.

[@brianarbenz1329]

But only RCA had air conditioners in color!

[@Davez621]

lol, the noise from that air conditioner will keep him up all night. Anyway thanks for posting. Home air conditioners here in Australia in 1954 were unheard of, not even supermarkets were air conditioned back then.

[@russstacey9889]

What the hell are you smoking? The 1950’s units are quieter than ANYTHING made today. You just said in 1954 AC units where you are were unheard of. And it shows, because you obviously haven’t a clue what you are talking about.

[@TheAirConditionerGuy]

I had to log into my main account. I dont see my other comment so i will leave it here again: What the hell are you smoking? The 1950’s units are quieter than ANYTHING made today. You just said in 1954 AC units where you are were unheard of. And it shows, because you obviously haven’t a clue what you are talking about. And furthermore, they used the Tecumseh S compressor which is probably the quietest compressor ever made. The fans are low rpm with low air flow but with air so cold itll hurt your hands after awhile of leaving them there. Know the facts before you bash what you know nothing about.

[@evil1by1]

I doubt it. Have you heard the absolute racket people seem to need to be able to sleep now? They want 6 fans, a/c, the TV on and a white noise machine.

[@mrroy5542]

Back when rca was good

[@bulletz4life]

i can only imagine how loud this thing actually was

[@air_conditioner_man]

Actually most window air conditioners of this period (early - mid 1950's) were very quiet. They were over-engineered and solid and made to last. Much more quiet than the units of today which are built lightweight and cheap and made for planned obsolescence.

[@bulletz4life]

@@air_conditioner_man i mean you cant lie, the new dual inverters from midea and lg are insanely quiet

[@air_conditioner_man]

@@bulletz4life First of all, the Midea units are not "dual inverter". The GMCC rotary compressors that Midea uses are a standard rotary unit driven by a variable reluctance motor running from the output of an inverter. The LG units are "dual inverter", meaning two rotary pumps. Aside from that the overall design is very similar to the Midea. These units are quiet on their lowest output, about 1/4 to 1/3 of full capacity, but at full output they are noisy like all current window units. Built lightweight with thin gauge sheet metal, a short warranty because of its short life and too expensive to repair out of warranty.

[@bulletz4life]

@@air_conditioner_man you do understand these air conditioners in 1954 cost upwards of 350$, which equates to over 4000$ today. Id say be thankful that most typical window units still cost 350$, i could give a shit about service, since my 2 lg dual inverters from 2018 have been working just fine.

[@bulletz4life]

@@air_conditioner_man to be honest, i still dont beleive your claim on these things being that quiet considering its a standard rotary compressors, they are generally loud and obnoxious, no matter when they were manufactured. Just because you have a nostalgia boner doesnt make this a superior product to any window air conditioner of today.

[@russstacey9889]

Fedders built?

[@air_conditioner_man]

Yes, made by Fedders. These RCA units outsold the Fedders branded versions. Also, the interior cabinet of the RCA units were steel. The Fedders interior cabinets at this time were plastic.

[@russstacey9889]

@@air_conditioner_man was this true for the 1955 and 1956 versions as well? Im having the hardest time finding the Fedders from 55-56 with the 3 louvers on the rear grille. Its eluding me. Found 2 that i thought were it but they were the rca version. Deals fell thru on both.

[@air_conditioner_man]

@@russstacey9889 As a kid in Chicago, I remember seeing 1955-56 Fedders units in my neighborhood. But there were still more of the RCA versions because RCA had many independently owned franchised RCA-branded stores. Back in the late 1940s and early-mid 1950s Fedders made most of their money from making private label units such as RCA, Remington, Crosley, etc.

[@MikeZdoesitz]

Everything technological from this time period was about believing in humanity, so sad it’s all gone.

[@samuel_productions]

Hi. I need your help maybe decoding a serial off an old Friedrich 7.5 ton 3 phase split system. MN: DRAU 1003 SN: 10HP 561

[@air_conditioner_man]

10 hp compressor, manufactured May 1961 in Commerce Street plant.

[@samuel_productions]

@@air_conditioner_man Thank you sir

[@UQRXD]

Too bad todays window ac compressors make so much noise.

[@Thomas-yr9ln]

My grandparents had one when I was a small boy it was far from being great. I was only 10 at the time but my dad's cousin had one that would freeze you out of the room but paid no attention at the brand name being a small boy. It wouldn't do any good if I knew because a lot of them are made in China nowadays.

[@peppermeat8059]

its all china, will never trust china

[@gbipit1]

I bet it still working to vrs China crap