In 1810, John Leslie of Scotland created the first intermittent absorption refrigerator, marking the earliest development in absorption chiller technology. In 1860, Ferdinand Carré from France invented the continuous absorption chiller and received a U.S. patent for his invention.

By around 1930, the United States' Arkla company began manufacturing absorption chillers with capacities ranging from 5 to 20 tons. Following the end of World War II, the U.S. Carrier company developed a large-scale air-conditioning absorption chiller. In 1945, Carrier produced the first absorption chiller that used water as the refrigerant and a LiBr solution as the absorbent.

The two-effect absorption chiller, which utilizes steam as a heat source, was successfully developed in 1961 by the Locomotive Works and Ebara Manufacturing, with the U.S. Stahan company also contributing to its development in the same year. Today, the two-effect absorption chiller is the standard model used in the industry.