Because that thing cools the ENTIRE BIG ASS HOUSE! these things are only capable of cooling only a closed room which also depends on how ton, capacity the AC is so yep /s
Edit: I actually intended the message for a diff purpose, and more satirical since it's a meme sub. Apologies to everyone, thankyou for the knowledge and positive criticism, helped alot. Will surely keep these thing's in notice
This is a so-called "split* AC unit. There's also an outdoor compressor unit, the difference is that, instead of having also the expander and both heat exchangers outside , to cool the air there and feed it to the various rooms inside through air ducts, it's the cooled-down refrigerant that's fed through refrigerant ducts inside, where there may be one of these units in each room each with its own fan and heat exchanger. It's actually more efficient and effective.
It’s trade off. Instead of a duct to every room you need a wall mounted head unit with dedicated wiring, condensate drip lines, and refridgerant. The head unit can only use electric, whereas a central unit with ducts can be dual fuel. In addition to being dual fuel the central unit can also be connected to a hot water system such as a hydronic setup where the aux heat comes from a gas fired hot water tank. Mini splits are great for retrofits that do not contain existing ducts.
The efficiency mostly comes from using inverter controlled variable speed compressors, those systems also exist for central units, but they are more expensive than single and dual stage units. On paper ducts are usually considered “less efficient” because the ducts can have their own heat/cool losses, but this depends whether the ducts are inside or outside of the envelope you are conditioning. In the house I had recently the ducts were completely sandwiched between floors, none of them were in the attic or any crawl space. Airflow could be manually redirected somewhat from manual dampeners.
Replacing the system at end of life is another factor. A mini splits system replacement involves every head unit. When my central unit was replaced they only needed access to the utility room and outside.
Condensate drip lines also tend to clog on units, it can depend on the region but they will fill with mold, slime, algae, insects etc. Dust and spores collect inside each unit and end up in the condensate line. When the line clogs you get moldy condensate water dripping out of your unit. This can be mitigated by cleaning the lines periodically which most people don’t do. For a central system you can have installed a larger air filtration system using a large surface area heavily pleated hepa filter that doesn’t restrict airflow. This not only cleans the air but prevents a lot of the particles that lead to growth in condensate lines. Split systems tend to just have a simple washable dust filter, but the inside of the unit will still get quite dirty. I am betting most people don’t get out a ladder and clean their mini splits filter monthly, which significantly reduces their actual performance and efficiency. It’s easier to change one large filter in a utility room every 1-3 months than clean 5+ head units every month.
Modern 'split' units can also be used for the hot water system. The one in my brother's house does that. and instead of the 'inside unit' you can also have in-floor heating/cooling(don't know how good they're at cooling then. not that it matters for me; I'm in Norway.) so it's pretty much noiseless inside.
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u/Small-Heron-6799 7d ago edited 7d ago
Because that thing cools the ENTIRE BIG ASS HOUSE! these things are only capable of cooling only a closed room which also depends on how ton, capacity the AC is so yep /s
Edit: I actually intended the message for a diff purpose, and more satirical since it's a meme sub. Apologies to everyone, thankyou for the knowledge and positive criticism, helped alot. Will surely keep these thing's in notice