13 Shocking facts about the White House they don’t want you to know (With Pictures)

7. Homemade Air Conditioning Fail

In 1909, President Taft wanted air conditioning so he went and got himself air conditioning–sort of. How did he do this? He decided to install large fans in the attic that blew the outside air over giant vats of ice cubes. The cool air would then be piped through the heating ducts and cool off the entire house.

Maybe it was okay in theory but it didn’t work at all. It didn’t even cool off the attic. There was no feasible way to keep the air cold as it traveled through the heating ducts and around the house. Warm, dusty air would just blow out which was more of nuisance for the cleaning staff than for President Taft. Thankfully he gave up and stopped using his homemade air conditioning system.