Kenneth J. Wirth, Jr.
The man who devised the thermostat, at all events in my private opinion, was a hero comparable to Shakespeare, Michelangelo or Beethoven. When writer H.L. Mencken penned that in the 1930s, he admitted he didn’t know who the inventor was. On May 28, that will be clear when the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) designates the Johnson Controls automatic temperature control system as a Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark. An event in Milwaukee is commemorating the designation. For your information, Mr. Mencken, the electric tele-thermoscope, was devised by inventor, educator and Johnson Controls founder, Warren S. Johnson. There’s a good deal of information on Professor Johnson and his other inventions (including electric storage batteries, steam and gas powered automobiles, huge pneumatic tower clocks and wireless telegraph communication) on the Johnson Controls website.
You’ll read how Professor Johnson installed the system in his classrooms to help keep students more comfortable. The situation often was worse in commercial buildings. Those control systems often consisted of someone banging on the pipes to wake up the janitor and put in some coal or open a window. This invention was the first of its kind to automatically and economically control temperature in different zones throughout a home or building. By the turn of the century, the Johnson System of Temperature Regulation was being sold in parts of Europe and Asia, including royal palaces in Spain and Japan. If you walked into some of the most important buildings in the United States, including the U.S. Capitol, Smithsonian Institution, New York Stock Exchange, or the Metropolitan Museum of Art, you’d see the ornate bronze thermostats. You’ll continue to see Johnson Controls high-tech equipment in many of those places today.The technology has come a long way since the days when they had to bang on the pipes to alert the custodial staff. Professor Johnson’s 1895 invention has evolved into the modern refrigeration, fire and security systems for commercial, industrial and residential buildings that Johnson Controls provides today.
At the turn of the century, saving energy sometimes meant not having to shovel as much coal! Today, it means utilizing controls technology to operate buildings at their peak, thus reducing the need for energy generation, either onsite or via utilities, and reducing a building’s impact on the environment. It’s a legacy we’re proud of.
Ken Wirth is the records and archives project manager for Johnson Controls, Inc.
