I *Greatly* Prefer "Auto-Off" Fan Modes
Thank-fully, the newer Honeywell stat. in use on the (monstrous) 5 ton A/C unit on our 1200sq/ft house supports the Auto-fan mode, as did the original thermostat.
It is rated at 8 SEER.
Yes, it would be hideously oversized for most weather. But it rans *flat out* once we get to about 113º, which is *very regularly* here in Summer! Thats even at a setpoint of 80º. It wouldn't be so bad if the system was run 24/7, and the core temperature of the bricks inside the house (interior walls, furniture etc) was reduced, but given that it runs somewhere between 12 to 18 hrs a day, it never fully removes that heat, and thus thats why that works like that.
Auto fan is particularly effective during the later Summer when evening temperatures are still in the high 70s/low 80s with humidity around 60-90%.
The house, even when the system runs at 80º setpoint, remains around 40% humidity with the fan in "auto."
If it is left running, particularly overnight when the system only runs once or twice an hour, the humidity gets up to about 60-70%. Not fun or comfortable. Although it makes the compressor cycles of the packaged unit a lot less noticeable with the fan (howling) most of the time.*
* I actually think the fan on our system runs way too fast; given my experience with systems at other houses
In the lounge/kitchen, it can be favorable to have the extra airflow when cooking on hot days/evenings. In this case, its usually so nuclear outside that the fan can be left to "On" without any compromise in comfort, as the unit is running pretty hard anyway. It also moves some of the cooler air from the back of the house to where the cooling is needed.
To be honest, I would NEVER want anything but central air, even if I was all by myself.
If you are moving between different rooms of the house, I'm not interested in turning one system off, and starting another and forcing it to cool off the space for the hour or so I'm in there before moving again.
Central air always provides a draft-less cooling, whereas mini-splits and "window-shakers" tend to be a lot more in-your-face, and often don't have the "auto fan" feature that cycles the fan off to reduce humidity blowback... Unfortunately, most of the modern ducted systems here in Australia don't have an auto fan option, which is really not that great...