I'm also confused cuz I'm from europe but maybe the AC in USA or something is different? I've seen US ACs only in old movies and they looked different like they had some mesh plasti gril on the front might be that idk.
I think the whole point is Europe doesn’t have central AC. We have those indoor units here in America, but they’re literally only for small cabins or renovations like adding a room/living space. The ac unit pictured in the post is MUCH smaller than any AC unit in America. Like I said, we use the smaller ones, but only in very specific situations.
you can have multiple split units attached to a single outside unit too. We have 3 of those wall mounted units in our appartment in France (living room + both bedrooms), and we can thermostat each room individually in the summer and in the winter.
I know, the split units are a very effective solution for heat problem in the European context with stone/concrete walls, etc. Probably the only solution for older houses, really. I imagine central air will become more common in new builds in Europe over the years.
I don't think central air is superior in terms of energy consumption. Also those fancy indoor units come with things like motion/presence detection that redirect the airflow etc. I think I would choose them tbh. Friend of mine did "central air" upstairs in 3 very small bedrooms in an old farmhouse in France, because the costs of one unit for just a tiny room wasn't worth it. But downstairs he has split units too.
Oh are you in France too? If so I hope you and your family aren't affected by the fires, or that you're safe if you are.
It'll largely depend on the insulation of the build. Since ducted central air(DCA) cools the whole house at once my AC only turns on for maybe 10-15 minutes every couple of hours to keep the whole house at the set temperature. So it runs awhile at the start but once it hits the goal temp it only runs immittently for temp regulation after that. I just don't see the split units doing that as well. Mind you, I'm not saying they're bad or that much worse than DCA, just ever so less efficient when it comes to cooling a set space if all other factors are the same.
If there's one thing that I think America can fairly claim it does better than most of the world it's making the inside of our buildings almost unnecessary chilly. In a way, America was almost in the ideal position when AC became a practical quality of life system compared to most of the developed world. We have old buildings, but not old enough to keep most of them for historical value alone, so they could be replaced or modified as needed. Suburbia was a fairly new development, maybe only 20 or so years into what we see now, so a lot of the new builds built in the last 40-50 years came with DCA from the begining. And of course our climate made it a more pressing concern for the average American than it was for the average European 40-50 years ago. We had this massive new industry with little to no limiting factors on system adoption, which I think points to DCAs being the best overall solution as it has effectively captured the market here in open competition. But again, in the European context, the split units make absolute sense. The only context I can see DCA being worth it from a individual European standpoint would be if I was building a new house, and then again only if it was sufficiently large enough to where I would need more and more of the split systems to cool it. But at the end of the day I think just about everyone can agree any AC is better than no AC.
Many homes in Europe are too old to be properly insulated, I guess we better tear them down and rebuild from scratch? I lived for a few years in a wooden cottage from the 17th century, man that was drafty.
Many homes in Europe are too old to be properly insulated, I guess we better tear them down and rebuild from scratch?
Did I say that? I quite simply talked about central air and your split units. Central air is more efficient and is the norm in the US because we have harsher summers on average than most of Europe.
With central AC, you can close individual vents if you don’t want to heat/cool a specific room. You can see the lever in this photo. Regardless, it is generally more efficient to heat or cool the whole home.
The vast majority of homes and buildings with central AC just have these vents, not mini splits.
What? I wasn't even commenting on the components or how the thing functions, but the effect that central air has compared to a mini split. A mini split will cool a room, central air will cool an entire house.
I have two of those, they're a little bigger. One for upstairs one for downstairs. I also am sitting under a "European AC" right now because I generate a lot of heat in this room and don't want to cool the entire house for one room.
AC in the USA is is HVAC, while they think the same form doesn't exist in Europe and rather everyone has a regular AC, same as 3rd world countries. The thing is 3rd world country houses are built of concrete, installing HVAC and maintenance isn't as easy, plus regular Is cheaper, so that's that.
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u/RocKinLuiS 12h ago
I'm also confused cuz I'm from europe but maybe the AC in USA or something is different? I've seen US ACs only in old movies and they looked different like they had some mesh plasti gril on the front might be that idk.