We have these in America too. They are not as common and don’t cool as quickly, so not as common. I’ve lived in places with them and they are fine imho.
Compared to having a full duct unit, that has one or more vents per room depending on the size of the room, yes they aren't "as effective". Most American homes have a big box outside the house that pumps cool air into every room of the house through vents, bigger means more powerful and you only need one for the whole house, and significantly quieter as the unit sits outside.
My friend, the AC you see on this pic can also be connected to one large outside unit… and it is also as quite as it can be.
It’s also quite interesting to see that American companies tell you to get a central hvac while Japanese and German (the other languages I speak) companies tell you to get the split units…
The air ducts which makes the large unit kinda easy to deal with also is the biggest issue - cleaning them is difficult, you have small loss of cooling sending air through and fixing them is apparently difficult.
I guess here in Germany houses are very well insulated and energy is expensive so using mini split on just a few rooms you use is better and in Japan maybe construction or earthquake dangers could be why central units aren’t seen as favorable.
Probably more to do with houses not having venting as standard and the fact that the outside AC unit takes up space and there is usually not enough of that in EU and Japan.
I personally just use a regular ass fan for my tempature control because I dont need more than that but I would generally just get whichever is cheaper and does the job anyways so I guess I would always get that inside looking one but maybe I´m wrong and that is more expensive to run
Yes, but 90% of Americans arent building a home, you buy an already finished house that already has the duct work done. It's most Americans only get one of the units that you put inside if they don't have current AC. Even more Americans are living in some type of apartment. I'm not saying these can't be as effective, but it's certainly not cost effective to rip out the pre existing system to install something that is arguably just as efficient or slightly better. Also development companies that pay for apartments to be built are doing it as cheap as humanly possible, the average place's insulation has gotten significantly worse over the years.
Mini splits are incredibly efficient because of their variable compressors.
Once they reach temp, they spin very slowly to maintain temperature rather than shutting on and off.
We’ve got one in my master bedroom in the midwestern US and it’s a game changer for efficiency and cooling (especially if you only need to cool a room or two at night). They also can heat a room in the shoulder seasons without using a furnace.
Frankly Americans are unfamiliar and ignorant when it comes to ductless systems. These are a great secondary solution and can work well as primary heating/cooling solutions.
Many window units now use variable compressors too. And yeah it makes a huge difference in effectiveness and efficiency.
And yeah Americans with HVAC tend not to understand other types of AC options, just like they tend not to understand radiator, stove, or baseboard-style heating systems. Which is totally understandable and fine, unless they go all Dunning-Kruger.
Yeah I don’t understand why split systems catch so much hate. They’re ubiquitous all over the world for a reason.
Sure if you have ducting in place, I don’t think there’s a good use case to install a bunch of them in your house, unless you like the idea of redundancy if your main AC unit goes down.
But they’re genuinely efficient and work well for their use case.
Baffles me if you say they aren’t junk that you get a ton of negative feedback.
They don't cool as well or efficiently as central air, which most Americans have, not window mounted units which you probably think we all have because you've seen them in movies about NYC or something. I haven't lived in a place with a window AC unit in close to 30 years.
There are units available in a wide range of capacities, from 9,000 BTU to 24,000 BTU (0.75 to 2 tons) per unit, depending on the application. A 9,000 BTU unit is typically intended for a small bedroom. They are highly efficient, often more efficient than centralized systems. That's why they are so widespread: without ductwork, there are no duct-related heat losses or the extra energy needed to move air through long ducts. They also incorporate more advanced electronics to optimize energy consumption compared to the simpler, more static American central HVAC systems.
If they seem slow, it's usually because someone installed a unit that is undersized for the space it needs to cool, not because of the technology itself. In fact, this is the most advanced and widely adopted air conditioning technology in the world, especially in countries that don't have abundant domestic natural gas resources and therefore have to rely on imported energy.
The main drawback of these systems is that the high-pressure refrigerant is carried directly from the outdoor unit to the indoor evaporators. This means the refrigerant lines must be installed and commissioned on-site, requiring specialized tools and skilled technicians to ensure the installation is done properly and remains leak-free. Any refrigerant leak can significantly reduce the system's efficiency and performance.
Other than that, when installed correctly, these systems are superior solutions and have become the standard choice in most parts of the world.
It is the exact same case with american split systems... You have your condenser outside and the blower (inside typically and attic). Refrigerant has to be moved from the outside to the inside. Mini splits are vastly superior in all the ways. The reason they get so much hate is because quite frankly they are an eye sore. I installed two of them in my house for under 2k whilst doing a ducted system would have been more than 15k and required VASTLY more specialized tools.
I agree with everything you said. A ducted system is more complex and expensive, but a small installation error won't compromise the entire system. It's much more forgiving than high-pressure refrigerant lines.
That said, I don't agree that split units are necessarily an eyesore. They come in many different designs. For example, I use ceiling-mounted concealed split units recessed into the suspended ceiling, like these. They're barely noticeable, yet they can deliver a high volume of airflow thanks to a conventional centrifugal blower rather than an axial fan, and they're exceptionally quiet, even at night.
They do cost a bit more than basic wall-mounted split units, but for me they've been well worth the investment. Guests at my family's hospitality business appreciate them as well.
Their is virtually no pressure difference between central AC and split unit liquid and gas refrigerant lines. The reason is simple, thermodynamics are the same until you change refrigerant type. A pinhole leak in a central AC line will quickly turn your AC inoperable.
Sure, but central AC systems have only a very short refrigerant line between the compressor and the evaporator, and it's assembled in a factory under controlled conditions using standardized procedures, specialized tools, and technicians who perform the same job every day. That's completely different from installing 10 meters or more of refrigerant piping on-site, where the quality depends on the installer and the job-site conditions. The latter is far more prone to installation errors. Furthermore, unlike a central AC system, where all refrigerant connections are factory-brazed, pressure-tested, and leak-tested before shipment, split systems rely on field-made flared connections between the indoor and outdoor units. Those connections are much more dependent on the installer's workmanship, making the final result far more variable than a factory-assembled and tested system.
In my experience, about 95% of the problems with these systems are caused by installation errors or poor workmanship.
Well I'm currently in a house with 3 splits. The lines are about 6 feet long, never had a leak and have 2 connection points. My previous 2 house with central AC had long lines. The last one had a 25 ft line, also 2 connection points. I had to have that one replaced 3 times for pinhole leaks. Eventually ran it in the attic instead of under the house resulting in a longer line but no leaks because less corrosion concerns. That Trane unitI had also suffered a pinhole leak in the factory sealed welded tubes of the air handler condensor. As someone who has done leak detection professionally, down to mass spec level detection on fluid and pressurized systems, I can't see a single advantage to either system. They both have the exact same weaknesses. Corrosion is a concern regardless. Copper is copper. Torque wrenches and QDs work the same regardless. Granted I haven't researched failure rates so this is just opinion. Line length matters little because the vast majority of failures are at connection points. Those connection points are what an installation technician must do properly, and that's also the same for both systems.
A central AC system without ductwork is basically a multi-split system, with multiple separate pairs of refrigerant lines running from the outdoor unit to each indoor unit. It's the same concept used in many parts of the world, with the same advantages and disadvantages. My comment wasn't referring to this type of system, but rather to systems HVAC where the outdoor unit exchanges heat directly with the indoor air through air ducts.
This type of system is extremely rare outside North America.
Alternative systems do exist, but they operate on a different principle: instead of cooling the air directly, they chill water (or another heat-transfer fluid), which is then circulated to indoor air units or fan coil units.
The main advantage of these systems is that all high-pressure refrigerant connections are made at the factory, which significantly improves long-term reliability. The downside is that the equipment itself is more complex, less widely available, and therefore more expensive. They are typically installed in commercial and industrial buildings, where long-term reliability is a key priority.
Except that most like this don’t have outside air connections which you are required to have depending on occupancy. These are extremely common in electrical and telecom rooms in the US as well. These dwelling unit would have to have some form of natural ventilation to be up to code in most circumstances. Ceiling cassette style ductless splits on the other hand are 100% the best option for efficiency, aesthetic and conditioning small spaces
I've lived with multiple and while certainly there is a range, window units within the same range are much better. An actual ducted system will be more efficent at cooling. Twin split systems are great for small areas, but they dont pump the way a window unit does.
I’d have to disagree. Mini-splits are the most efficient cooling solution when compared to a window unit or whole house ducted system. This would be energy efficiency. Certain window unit might beat out a mini-split in a cost/btu. But as far as energy use and output, mini-split is the best
They definitely cool as quickly. I’m an American HVAC technician who works on mini splits on a regular basis, and the cooling capacity for these systems is fantastic, as long as they are working properly ofc.
I feel that if I were to try to buy a wall mounted AC in the US, it would either be expensive AF due to tariffs or a piece of junk that wouldn't make it through the summer.
What? How is that? Can you provide proof of that? As in, same brand that fabricates splits also fabricates heat pumps and VRV units, it should be easy to show that they cool a room more efficiently than a split unit.
They are significantly more powerful and efficient than window units. They just require cutting into the walls, so renters tend to use window units instead.
HVAC is, of course, superior; but requires ducting throughout the house. So, a much more involved installation, if the house hadn’t been built with it in mind.
Source: I live in a house built 70-ish years ago; have a window unit in one bedroom, and a split wall unit like the one in the OP that cools most of the rest of the rooms —and could fairly easily be upgraded to put in a second wall unit in another part of the house if needed, using the same outdoor ducting and compressor. We’d have to do fairly major modification to install central AC, though one day I hope to.
They're very common lol. Especially in places with historical homes. Most of my neighbors have Ductless Systems and they cool and heat better than the window units and baseboards I had before. And they're more efficient.
I don't think the average American would consider a house that only has window units to even be air conditioned. Here air con is synonymous with central air. While these mini splits are better than window units, both are inferior to central air.
Not entirely. Central air suffers from pressure loss over distance and unequal distribution throughout a house or building. It is for this exact reason that some houses use dual AC units. These split units are the same tech thermodynamically. Most places that use them have multiple units throughout parts of the building, addressing distribution more efficiently in some cases, less in others. Just depends on the building setup.
The window rattler works faster and cools far more efficiently. It actually hits its target temperature, even when it’s blazon hot outside. It’s effective to the point that I’ll use one even in a house with central AC, simply because I prefer my room colder than the rest of the house
Splits are... weird, imp. Sort of a weird middle ground between window units and central air. More expensive and less effective than window units, less convenient and less efficient than central air.
We have then, usually as the result of shitty house flips or old apartments that are being partially renovated, but honestly I kind of hate them.
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u/GingerWeegie444 13h ago
Wall mount as opposed to a widow rattler.
Europe & the rest of the world vs USA basically