Dometic – Cool story, very cool!!
In 1922, contrary to popular belief, and all logic, two, young Swedish engineering students were convinced the most efficient way to create a cooling effect was to use heat. This crazy idea became an obsession, and the studious pair regularly skipped their classes to engineer a working model. After many lessons missed, and sleepless nights, Baltzar von Platen and Carl Munters managed to design a cooling cabinet, without any moving parts, no compressor, and (most importantly) no ice! Their idea was to apply heat to a boiler which in turn forces a cooling agent to circulate in the system, absorbing the heat and in so doing create a cooling effect. This clumsy prototype was in fact world’s first refrigerator, and arguably the most important domestic invention of the twentieth century.
The refrigeration cabinet that the two invented was granted a patent, and the pair were even complimented by no other than Albert Einstein, who was quoted as claiming their invention was "a stroke of genius".
The two entrepreneurs sold the manufacturing rights to, the aptly named Swedish company, Arctic.
The first ever 'Refrigerator' was put on display at a Stockholm exhibition, and one of the visitors, Alex Wenner-Gren, also known as The Vacuum Cleaner King, founder of a fellow Swedish company, Elektrolux, was more than a little impressed.
The popularity of the refrigeration cabinet grew from the outset, and Arctic was taken over by Elektrolux in 1925 (later to become the household name Electrolux), a company originally selling vacuum cleaners, but saw the greater opportunity of the absorption refrigerator, or fridge, as we now affectionately know it.
After the Second World War, refrigerators found their way into the kitchens of every middle-class home, and global sales were in the millions, as Electrolux ramped up production.
In the 1950s, like other brands, Electrolux saw the growing market in America of camping, as the post war boom increased disposable income and families took the opportunity to buy motor vehicles and explore the great outdoors.
Electrolux starts to get a foothold in the leisure market, and in 1956 develop and manufacture a camping refrigerator specifically for RV’s (recreational vehicles) or Motorhomes, as they are known in the UK.
By 1968 the leisure business had grown so big, that Electrolux establishes Dometic as a stand-alone leisure business, to focus on leisure cool boxes, leaving Electrolux to focus on the residential market.
Compression technology was increasingly used for home refrigerators, but the preference for motorhome and caravan refrigeration was the silent running absorption system.
The passion for the outdoors is a global phenomenon, and as technology has moved on, so has the range of Dometic, providing a huge range of cooling, refrigeration solutions.
To see our entire range of Dometic electric cool boxes click here.
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