The Forgotten Amish Ammonia Cooling Method We Abandoned (And Why)
Eli Vida Salvaje Amish
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https://eli-yoder-construction.com
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Why Did We Stop Using Ammonia To Cool Our Homes? - Amish Secret
Most people never question how their refrigerator actually works. They just pay the bill. But long before electric compressors became the standard, there was a quieter, older technology running in American kitchens — one that made ice in August using nothing but a small flame, a loop of pipe, and ammonia. No motor. No plug. No moving parts to wear out. This video traces that forgotten method from its roots in the 1850s all the way through the moment it quietly disappeared from everyday life, and why that disappearance was not exactly an accident.
The science behind it is simpler than most people expect. When ammonia evaporates, it pulls heat out of everything around it. When you heat an ammonia-water mixture with a small flame, you drive that ammonia out as a gas, run it through a coil, let it cool back into a liquid, and the whole cycle repeats itself forever — driven only by heat and gravity. No electricity required. Old Order Amish families in Ohio never stopped using this system. When ice storms took down power lines and English neighbors lost everything in their freezers, households running on a gas flame did not lose a single thing.
This video covers the real history: Ferdinand Carré's working machine from 1858, the Swedish students who refined it into a sealed unit in 1922, the famous physicist who designed his own version because he was worried about safety, and the moment the electric compressor industry effectively ended the competition. By the end, you will understand exactly how this technology works, where it is still being used today in large commercial operations, and what it would take to bring a version of it into the home you are already living in.
If this kind of self-reliant, off-grid thinking is something you want to go deeper on, consider subscribing. There is more where this came from.
#offgrid #energyindependence #absorptioncooling #ammonia #selfreliance
The Forgotten Amish Ammonia Cooling Method We Abandoned (And Why)
Eli Vida Salvaje Amish
133 views
📘 Get the full guide/book here 📘
https://eli-yoder-construction.com
🔻 Join The Old Ways Workshop here 🔻
https://join.eli-yoder-construction.com
Why Did We Stop Using Ammonia To Cool Our Homes? - Amish Secret
Most people never question how their refrigerator actually works. They just pay the bill. But long before electric compressors became the standard, there was a quieter, older technology running in American kitchens — one that made ice in August using nothing but a small flame, a loop of pipe, and ammonia. No motor. No plug. No moving parts to wear out. This video traces that forgotten method from its roots in the 1850s all the way through the moment it quietly disappeared from everyday life, and why that disappearance was not exactly an accident.
The science behind it is simpler than most people expect. When ammonia evaporates, it pulls heat out of everything around it. When you heat an ammonia-water mixture with a small flame, you drive that ammonia out as a gas, run it through a coil, let it cool back into a liquid, and the whole cycle repeats itself forever — driven only by heat and gravity. No electricity required. Old Order Amish families in Ohio never stopped using this system. When ice storms took down power lines and English neighbors lost everything in their freezers, households running on a gas flame did not lose a single thing.
This video covers the real history: Ferdinand Carré's working machine from 1858, the Swedish students who refined it into a sealed unit in 1922, the famous physicist who designed his own version because he was worried about safety, and the moment the electric compressor industry effectively ended the competition. By the end, you will understand exactly how this technology works, where it is still being used today in large commercial operations, and what it would take to bring a version of it into the home you are already living in.
If this kind of self-reliant, off-grid thinking is something you want to go deeper on, consider subscribing. There is more where this came from.
#offgrid #energyindependence #absorptioncooling #ammonia #selfreliance