Why Air Conditioner is rated in tons other than volume unit?
Because before mechanical refrigeration was used for air conditioning, it was used for making ice. Prior to that, ice was harvested during winter, stored in ice houses, and distributed by wagon to households for use in their ice boxes (pre-refrigerators). The “ton” was the preferred unit because it was a measure of how much heat extraction was required to freeze a ton of water, which was the original use of refrigeration. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Does_one_ton_o… The boys in my dad’s neighborhood would follow the ice wagon on hot summer days in hopes of picking up fallen ice. In his era, the ice already was manufactured by mechanical refrigeration, not harvested. To answer your question, because it is traditional. It’s also easier to work with smaller numbers, in my opinion.
