Evolution and Brief History of Cold Storage or Cold Rooms
Refrigerators are one of the most important kitchen appliances all over the world. Not only households cannot go without a way to preserve the food, industries too, need proper storage solution — cold rooms — for different purposes.
It is quite hard to imagine the world without a proper storage solution. However, there was certainly a period in which storing the food was a highly challenging task.
The concept of preserving food is an ancient idea as it existed in different periods of time in one way or another. When it comes to the modern types of refrigeration, the very first method was to use ice blocks to keep the room cold. Over the period, the ice industry has been greatly involved, which has led to the introduction of various types of refrigerators, cold rooms, and cold room panels.
In this post, you will be getting complete information about the evolution of the cold room.
Initial Challenges
Simple cold storage can be traced back to thousands of years when the ice was collected to be stored to preserve a variety of food products. In the 1700s, the increasing adoption of industrial and mechanical technology led to several advancements in the cold storage industry.
Different studies suggest that Scottish medical doctor William Cullen was the first person to perform the experiment and solve home cold storage-related issues. He developed a small refrigeration machine in 1755. However, it did not function as per the expectations. Later this machine was thoroughly studied by experts.
Various other developments took place during this era. Benjamin Franklin and John Hadley were involved in the research of using evaporation to cool items in 1758. However, it was not until the late 1800s when the compression refrigeration system was invented and brought a major change in the development of cold storage solutions.
In 1820, Michael Faraday started liquefying the gasses by using high and low pressures. It ultimately led to the invention of the first vapour-compression refrigeration system in 1834. After this period, refrigeration systems started to become common, especially in the meat industry, so that the frozen products can easily be transported abroad.
Such systems were also implemented in rail cars and delivery trucks to keep the frozen products preserved during transportation. At the same time, there was a lot of resistance to these refrigeration systems because they were extremely expensive and even considered dangerous. The introduction of a gas-powered refrigerator made the process much safer. Shortly afterwards, electric refrigerators were developed that used Freon as the primary cooling agent.
Modern Cold Storage
The first major brand to introduce in-home refrigerators was General Electric and Frigidaire. Such major developments in the industry led to massive innovation with the introduction of modern fridges as well as various types of cold rooms and cold room panels to accommodate the needs of different businesses.
In fact, new solutions are being introduced in the cold storage industry on a regular basis because more and more businesses require these solutions for efficient and reliable food preservation. Generally, dealing with large-scale cold rooms is difficult for inexperienced people, due to which it becomes necessary to hire the professional cold room installation services provided by cold room specialists.
Freezer and Cold Rooms
Freezers were mainly introduced in the mid-20th century. They were initially separate from the fringe and later introduced as a hybrid appliance. Studies indicate that from 1965 to 1995, the ownership of freezers had increased about 97% in the UK alone. This shows the massive popularity of the freezer.
Undoubtedly, freezers had the most impact on the development of cold rooms. Initially, some people even referred to a freezer as a “mini-supermarket” within one’s home to preserve and store food for a long period of time.
The Bottom Line
The popularity of the fridge, freezer and cold room has massively increased all over the world.
Businesses have the option of getting a variety of cold rooms and hiring professional cold room specialists to install different types of cold room panels. Surveys also indicate that people have become dependent on the cold storage solutions because it brings a lot of comfort in their lives.
Over the decades, cold storage has become an integral part of almost every home. Businesses and large-scale corporations rely on cold rooms to preserve the food and ensure the customers are getting the best quality products.
All of this is possible thanks to the various invention and how technology has evolved over the years.