Chilling Out
The social impact of refrigeration
An exhibit of historic artefacts from the early development of household refrigeration technology.

Chilling out is an interactive exhibit about a new technology

                                                                                                                       …the household refrigerator

and how it changed the way we live,

                                                                                                  …forever

Overview

Chilling Out is an exhibit of historic artefacts from the early development of household refrigeration technology. It is based on the collections of the HVACR Heritage Centre Canada, both artefacts and archival documents, and is supported by archival photographs from several other collections.

The story of the evolution of technology is not just about science, inventions and engineering breakthroughs. It is all of those, but it is also a story of how we used technology and how it has affected our lives.

Chilling Out is divided into four major galleries, each covering an aspect of the story. You can visit just one or two galleries, or you can explore all four to get the big picture.

Here is what you will find in each gallery of the exhibit:

Before refrigeration, most people depended on ice to keep food cold. Refrigerators made life easier and greatly increased the range of foods you could store at home.
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New choices in food and more leisure time allowed people to pursue new activities. Marketers sold refrigerators as a ‘lifestyle’ accessory.
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Find out how only six main components create the magic of mechanical cold. And see how each has been improved from its earliest form.

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Continually developing technologies continue to change and improve our lives. But we have the ultimate say over which technologies survive and which are discarded.

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