Why is air conditioning often referred to as A/C? Why the slash?

Question

I don't understand why it's A/C, what's the purpose of the slash? Are there other examples of the same usage?

Answer 1

The abbreviation AC is very common in building and engineering as "alternating current" and, like its opposite DC "direct current", always seems to be written as a pure acronym without any punctuation. Whatever the origin of using the English language "abbreviation slash" (famous from constructions like w/o "without" and N/A "not applicable") in the abbreviation A/C "air conditioning", it now serves the useful purpose of making the acronyms AC and A/C distinct in contexts like home wiring where the two acronyms might appear close together.

But also note that, with the widespread popularity of modern forced-air systems that have both a furnace and an A/C coil in the same enclosure with a single fan that runs in both the winter and summer, the acronym HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) has become very popular in trade publications, making A/C a far less common abbreviation today.

Answer 2

I think it's to make a difference between AC as Air Conditioning and A/C as Air Conditioner. However, in India, we use AC for everything!

So, when you purchase a unit, you may not prefer to say that you bought an AC. Please note that when you turn on/off, both are okay as you can do that for air conditioning and conditioner as well!

However, I'd say there's no major difference left today. AC and A/C both are in practice (at least wherever I've read) and they are interchangeable.