Re: The Physics Behind the Spanish Blackout

On 6/11/2025 3:12 AM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

We use about 4T of refrigeration in a typical house, here.  About
3 of that is for a single continuous space (family room, kitchen, dining,
living room, halls, etc.  The balance feeds the bedrooms.
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[Many larger homes will have TWO complete HVAC systems]
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Even the tiniest of mini-splits would be overkill for the smaller bedrooms.
And, the largest would need "assist" to ensure the conditioned air would be
well distributed across that ~1500 sq ft "single space"

 I think mine is a nominal 1Kw, maybe 1.2, maybe 800 (I don't remember, fine print on the split impossible to read, too far). It is inverter type, so most of the time it is doing 300W.

4T is ~14KW.  Not counting the power used by the blower (which is probably
the better part of a KW).

And yes, sure, I use a fan by the door to direct cool air at my bedroom across the aisle. I should place another split in the bedroom, but I intend to move to another house. And the external wall is a pain to drill.

Central HVAC installations, here, typically have the house built with
a buried pipe chase (most often a 4" dia PVC pipe) under the house.
This allows the liquid and suction lines to be routed to/from the
external compressor/condenser to the evaporator mounted atop the
forced air furnace inside the residence.
Power is routed separately (a length of #6/3 SE cable, here, fused at 50A).

I could have a better system by having a multiple-split system. One outside unit connected to two or three units inside.
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They are simple to install in existing houses that have no ducting, and maybe, no winter heating either.

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Yes, but they are visible.  Homes here were designed with HVAC "out of
sight, out of mind".  It would be a cultural adjustment to tolerate what
is effectively a "radiator" (unradiator?) in several places throughout
the home.
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I've tried imagining how I could "hide" them in walls, soffits, etc.
but the house just wasn't built with that sort of use in mind.

 Well, most houses in Spain predate that design. AC is a new fashion, and winter heating is done typically distributing hot water over room radiators, or electric radiators, or even gas stoves. There are no air ducts, that's a retrofit except on new houses.

Growing up, hot water "baseboard" heat was common.  Older homes used steam in
larger radiators often covered to make them less of an eyesore.

So a split placed near the ceiling is not a major eyesore. The external unit hanging on the outside of the building, on buildings 15 floors tall, each flat doing it differently, that's is an eyesore, but the owner doesn't see it :-p

Here, there are no signs of the HVAC system in a living space save for an
exhaust (supply) grill in the wall -- sometimes ceiling.  Placing a 3 ft
wide, 1 ft tall and deep "white box" on a wall would be very noticeable.
Tolerable in a garage space but not a living space.  Much depends on what
you (and other potential homeowners) are accustomed to.  E.g., I would now
consider baseboard heating to be an inconvenience -- both visually and
a hindrance to where furniture can be placed within the home.  Likewise
"window air conditioner units".  And, old "steam radiators" would make me
think I was living in the 1950's!