How did refrigeration work before electricity was widespread?

Question

I’m curious about the really old ice boxes, but I was really wondering about the ones from the 1800s that relied on coolant and some form of evaporation.

I can’t really picture how old is physics work without electricity.

In: 47

Answer 1

Absorption refrigeration runs off of heat, not mechanical work. It was one of the earlier popular cycles and can run off of any fuel that generates heat. These days they typically use propane.