I'd trust split type.
In Brazil they're quite popular, because installation is much easier than "through the wall" air conditioners, they are much more efficient (I mean, really much more) and the noise is also nearly zero (you can hear the air, but not the motor).
Central A/C has the hassle and the space lost with ducts, blus the PITA of having to cool the whole house (it makes no sense at all).
Ok, some central A1Cs allow closing the registrers, but you nearly always have the full power being used for only one or two rooms and the air is almost always pushed to the room where the thermostat is in most installations. Not exactly efficient.
Also, you have the whole house depending on only one system. If it fails, the whole house will be hot. If you have to replace it, it's F-word expensive because it's ONE huge unit for the whole house.
With split type air conditioners, you have several smaller units, one for each room.
Installation is cheaper as you don't need to buy them all at once, you can plan ahead and even finace one unit at a time. The installation itself usually takes no longer than 1.5 hours.
If something goes wrong and one unit stops working, you still have the rest of the house. You can keep the doors open and use the other units to compensate the out of order unit, or simply ignore that room, close the door and you have other rooms comfortable.
Now the electricity savings is the most attractive feature. Why cool the whole house if you're alone sleeping in the bedroom? Just turn off the other units, close the bedroom door, show the middle finger to the rest of the house that will be freaking hot and keep only your bedroom comfortably cold.
If you want to cool the whole house, ok, no problem, just turn all the units on. Even doing that the energy consumption will be less than a single central unit because you're not pushing air through several feet of ducts.
Other factor is the air quality. How clean are the ducts in a central A/C? With ductless split type systems, each unit has it's own filter and the air stays in the same room.
No more A/C pushing the bacon grease from the kitchen to the master bedroom.
And as the systems are fully independent, there is also the comfort factor. No more fighting because of the thermostat. If one person wants to sleep at 32F and wake up like a popsicle and the other wants to sleep at 600F, and wake up "self cleaned" just like an oven, who cares? each room has it's own independent system.
In Brazil they're quite popular, because installation is much easier than "through the wall" air conditioners, they are much more efficient (I mean, really much more) and the noise is also nearly zero (you can hear the air, but not the motor).
Central A/C has the hassle and the space lost with ducts, blus the PITA of having to cool the whole house (it makes no sense at all).
Ok, some central A1Cs allow closing the registrers, but you nearly always have the full power being used for only one or two rooms and the air is almost always pushed to the room where the thermostat is in most installations. Not exactly efficient.
Also, you have the whole house depending on only one system. If it fails, the whole house will be hot. If you have to replace it, it's F-word expensive because it's ONE huge unit for the whole house.
With split type air conditioners, you have several smaller units, one for each room.
Installation is cheaper as you don't need to buy them all at once, you can plan ahead and even finace one unit at a time. The installation itself usually takes no longer than 1.5 hours.
If something goes wrong and one unit stops working, you still have the rest of the house. You can keep the doors open and use the other units to compensate the out of order unit, or simply ignore that room, close the door and you have other rooms comfortable.
Now the electricity savings is the most attractive feature. Why cool the whole house if you're alone sleeping in the bedroom? Just turn off the other units, close the bedroom door, show the middle finger to the rest of the house that will be freaking hot and keep only your bedroom comfortably cold.
If you want to cool the whole house, ok, no problem, just turn all the units on. Even doing that the energy consumption will be less than a single central unit because you're not pushing air through several feet of ducts.
Other factor is the air quality. How clean are the ducts in a central A/C? With ductless split type systems, each unit has it's own filter and the air stays in the same room.
No more A/C pushing the bacon grease from the kitchen to the master bedroom.
And as the systems are fully independent, there is also the comfort factor. No more fighting because of the thermostat. If one person wants to sleep at 32F and wake up like a popsicle and the other wants to sleep at 600F, and wake up "self cleaned" just like an oven, who cares? each room has it's own independent system.
