this post was submitted on 13 May 2026
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Jesus why would ducts be shared between units
so you don't have to heat and cool 185 individual units one by one.
I know it's kinda gross but imagine every room in a house having it's own HVAC....?
Most modern apartments or condos in the US have their own HVAC. I’d say anything build in the last 50+ years at least.
Where are you where this is not common?
lived in apts from 2000-2015 - the ones in texas had their own AC, but elsewhere? Shared heating (steam fed radiators in ny) or large AC units on roofs pumping cold air into multiple units (VA, OR, WA)....
My apartment complex had individual central air for each unit, each with its own furnace and AC. Is that not common? I guess there were only 20 units per building, though.
A false analogy. Every room in a house is not every apartment in a building.
perhaps, but it's not that dramatically different - you share hallways, foyers, garages, but generally have control over a few select places - bedrooms, living rooms etc.
obviously this is a concern in some places otherwise why would they have written the article?
I don't think air ducts are needed for central heating.
It's much better to have individual AC units than have everyone get long covid because one person in the building was irresponsible
Of course ducts are needed for central heating with the exception of a boiler/radiator system.
You can do PTAC or mini splits to avoid ducts.
Neither of those are central heating.
I mean, I use one evaporator to condition the air on the first floor of my home. I get what you're saying, but a one bedroom apartment could be served by two PTACs.
Perhaps I've lost the thread of this conversation though.
Right, but "central heating" means that the heat is generated in one location then distributed to all other rooms via forced air or steam.
PATCs aren't a form of central heating
Who wouldn't use steam for central heating?
If it's cold enough to warrant central heating, you should probably distribute the heat in steam pipes.
Heat pumps are more efficient
Heat pumps can't create steam?
Omg imagine bro?
nah.
Exactly.
Brilliant, what a clever retort, and it perfectly encapsulates your argument, really brings me around and gets me to see it in a different light
💯
"Attention, test prisoners attempting to escape through the air ducts. I don't know what nonsense you learned on TV, but in real life, air ducts just go to the air conditioning unit. It's also pretty dusty, so if you've got asthma, chances are you're gonna die up there. And we'll be smelling it for weeks because, again, the air ducts aren't a secret escape hatch, they're how we ventilate the facility."
You know Andy Weir, author of The Martian and Project Hail Mary? He wrote a comic strip back in the day with a villain who was, by religion, a stereotypical movie bad guy. So his fortress is in a volcano with his face carved on it, and it's full of flagrantly convenient air ducts.
Wut. I'm talking about super contagious viruses traveling in the air ducts.
It just reminded me of that Portal 2 line.
To enjoy the smell of your neighbour's sardines
To save 15 euro for a flap and fan.