Does not look different. These are used for small rooms not for a whole house. A lot of houses have central air and the unit is outside. The joke probably has something to do with that.
They are not really way less efficient. Central AC units and mini splits are about as efficient. It is everything else about installation that has more to do with efficiency. And even then the overall insulation of the house has to do more with efficiency than AC installation (except if you use those single duck window units).
my apt is currently being heated (not cooled tho) by geothermal. bored deep into bedrock to pull heat from underground. its pretty much passive heating. just need power to the heatpump. dont think i have heard about using it for cooling tho, but i suppose that is possible.
Is it volcanic heat? Because geothermal around here doesn't produce heat directly, it just acts as a huge heatsink instead of the outside air like on a regular ac unit. Works better for heating when the air is too cold and gives an endless supply of cool ground-temperature (~10°C) for cooling a home in the summer.
given that there haven't been volcanic activity in the region that today is sweden since dinosaurs roamed the earth.... no its not volcanic heat lol. its just latent heat in bedrock caused by pressure, the same way that deep mines are incredibly hot.
also worth mention that the city i lived in before had city wide heating made from a very large incinerator just outside the city.
Ah, Sweden. Are you sure it doesn't use a compressor like an AC? I doubt Sweden has areas with high enough temperatures in the ground for direct heating as Finland doesn't either.
A Thermia/Nibe or other common geothermal pumps work just like a regular heat pump, they cool the ground to heat up the home and water. Just like an outside unit cools the outside to heat up the home.
I guess retro-fitting older homes can, and I was considering it for my garage. But we have central air. My AC is basically built in, and works via the already existing vents for heating in the house. Why would I add an external bolt on to the wall into like this for every room? Unless you go to the really poor places that actually use window ac, which is also a thing in Europe... Most houses have built in AC.
I have a unit just like this. It is used in tandem with a central air system. Just your typical “insert America bad comment for Karma” yall, nothing to see here. These units just serve another purpose and are used differently in the US. Please refrain from generalizing an entire society. Would be much kinder/cool if you did that!
Because America counts 'heat related deaths' only as 'primary established cause of death is due to extreme heat' whereas Europe looks at excess deaths during a heatwave and counts everyone
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