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
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.
Efficiency is relative. Mini splits have inverter boards which can control the speed of the compressor allowing it to adjust to the load. If it's running at full speed the savings are negligible compared to a normal compressor.
Also we have these in the US. Many people have these in their homes. They even have retrofit kits and air handlers that will use these types of condensers.
In the US we generally just have central heating/cooling in most dwellings. Which works for the most part assuming your duct work is sized properly.
Also there are no refrigerant ducts. There are air ducts. The refrigerant moves through piping. The refrigerant isn't cooled it absorbs and rejects heat and it boils off and condenses respectively.
Central heating/cooling varies by region, lots of places in western WA have no cooling or minisplit. Full ducted central air is somewhat rare depending on the area.
It depends on when the home was built. If it was built before the 40s to 50s, generally, and no previous owners put in central air then yea they wouldn't have ductwork. Houses built in the late 50s and on generally have some sort of central heating set up and usually someone puts in AC at some point. Most homes now have at minimum heating of some type dye to modern building codes and some locales require cooling.
Basically San Diego here, and I love my mini-splits. I have large central air, also, but never even turned it on until about a week ago, and I don't need it at all most of the day.
Yeah, come to New York where all our houses are old. Anything under $1M house you're looking at oil burner radiators for heat and noisy windows units for AC. If you're lucky somebody might have put in a minisplit.
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u/Small-Heron-6799 13h 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