It is becoming increasingly clear how important air conditioning is, and many people in the UK who had previously not seen the need for it even in the height of summer are looking into efficient installations.

Great Britain is somewhat late to the party on this, not only because by this point electric air conditioning is over a century old, but it has been seven decades since one of the most important social experiments in the history of the industry.

In 1954, architecture graduate Ned Cole was keen to make air conditioning systems a central part of houses but had to battle misconceptions that the amount of electricity the systems needed would be so much that nobody could afford to live there.

His solution was to design and build 22 houses in a dedicated experimental village in Austin, Texas, a state famous for its incredible heat and humidity.

It was a flat area with no natural shade, allowing for each of the homes to use different types of air conditioning systems, with vents in different locations, different brands and differently sized windows.

Whilst it was largely a test of which types of air conditioning were most effective, it also ended up being a remarkable social experiment, as the air conditioning units did not just have an economic effect but a social and psychological one as well.

One family noted that they had fewer arguments over the summer because the cool house was always there, families opted for more hot drinks, decorated with lighter furnishings due to the lack of dust and dirt, and families tended to bake more as well as eat heavier meals.

Also, every house in the experiment had problems with scorpions, allegedly because they were common in the area and looked for shady places to rest.

Most importantly, it proved that air conditioning was not just for businesses nor rich families, but could be installed in homes that middle and working-class families could live in as well.