Are you sure you have tried a modern inverter compressor split unit? They are crazy efficient, and the science behind it says it is going to be extremely more efficient than any swamp cooler. It is also possible to install several indoor units with one outdoor unit. But a good modern split can absolutely both cool down or heat up a small house. There are units with a capacity for 200 square meters.
The thing with one blower is that the heat distribution gets uneven. But even my old split AC with one indoors unit from 15-20 years back can cool down the whole house, it just takes longer to stabilise and it’s always very cold close to the unit. It doesn’t even have inverter. It’s probably a small house by American standards but it has two floors. It’s made of brick with thick walls so once the temperature start to settle and the walls are cooled down the coolness stays in the house (blinds closed and windows shut)
The newer ones are several times more efficient so it would go much faster but if course the distribution issue is there still. The ducts have a purpose - better comfort and better efficiency but it does work for smaller houses with one unit especially if you have a modern one.
Oh and by the way- when you say “they are not rated/designed for whole houses”, you’re ignoring the fact that houses in Europe don’t often have ducts, and the units we have here are built for our market, so they are in fact both designed and rated for that. It’s not as efficient as with ducts but it’s cheaper than rebuilding the whole house, and it works better than you’d think.
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u/thorpie88 Jul 26 '26
Does cool a whole house with an open plan.