My house is heated and cooled by a very old packaged device situated outside and linked to HVAC ductwork that feeds the conditioned air to vents in the ceiling.
The system is downright ancient.
When the people I was with and I purchased the house several years ago we immediately observed the advanced and unfortunate age, size and appearance of the HVAC unit. The people I was with and I doubted the system had the capacity to make it through 1 single winter. We’ve been pleasantly surprised by its reliability and performance. In this area, the Winter time weather isn’t all that serious, now and then the temperature drops down into the upper twenties. At that point, the packaged device struggles a bit. It sometimes ices over. We’ve invested in a tiny electric gas furnace to help out. In cooling mode, the system has done a fantastic task of generating the serious heat and humidity. Although it’s so noisy that it often startles myself and others when it starts, it proves a tremendous amount of cool air. We’ve never called for professional repairs. The people I was with and I know there is nothing however dust, debris and grime holding the old components together, then just this past Spring, both of us observed that although the old system was making its usual operational noises, there was virtually no air coming out of the vents. I was worried about calling for repair. I prepared for the worst, figuring the Heating, Ventilation, and A/C contractor would probably insist that the both of us invest in a whole modern system. When the worker took the device apart, there was a significant accumulation of leaves, twigs and dirt within the chaletet. He found a small refrigerant leak. He said that replacing the parts was impossible because of the age of the system. He commanded adding refrigerant, charging it up and then seeing how long it would last. Since then, the system has been providing plenty of cool air. I’m hopeful that it’s going to last us another few years.