Hacker News Reader

Comment by rkomorn | Hacker News Reader

I don't think it's just "most Americans don't know."

When I installed AC in my former Bay Area home, I would have needed multiple mini split units to cover 1200sq ft, with questions about how many you could have on at once to still get the right performance. I went with a single central air unit instead.

It also (at the time at least) didn't come with a centralized thermostat, which meant managing each room individually (that would've been fine with me, personally, but it's a drawback for lots of people).

On top of that, many (if not most) mini split units are also somewhat aesthetically displeasing.

In my new home (on a different continent), I have mini splits. I'm somewhat satisfied with them, at best. I'd still prefer central air but it's not a thing for residential homes here.

View on HN

If I were to ask most people I know offline, I suspect only a small number of them would know what a minisplit unit is. For most people, A/C is like plumbing. They do not think about it until it breaks. Learning that there are better options is just not something that people do.

That said, I was replying to someone from Vietnam. Assuming that things in Vietnam are similar to China and Japan, people will only heat or cool the specific rooms that they are using, rather than heating or cooling everything like how many Americans do things. Those in the US who cannot afford to heat or cool everything, who are likely very underrepresented here, would be those using window units, since they are cheap upfront. A minisplit would be cheaper over the long term, but the high upfront cost dissuades people in thing market from even looking at them.

Finally, I had Fujitsu minisplit units installed in my basement two years ago. They are far more aesthetically pleasing than window A/C units.

How long of a long term are we talking about? I suspect this is very dependent on many factors (not least of which is labor, but also insulation, climate, etc).

The energy (gas+electric) bill for my whole home would've taken well over a decade to add up the amount the mini split installation alone would've cost, so even if it brought down my energy cost to zero (which it wouldn't), it would've taken a decade to pay for itself (including the cost of window units).

Edit: and yes, they're prettier than window units for sure, but as you've pointed out, they're not competing with window units. They're competing with ducted central air that has almost no visible impact.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com