People Saying Heat Pumps are Rubbish - Are They?

matt_drummer

BoYaNY73 said:

I live next door to a ASHP system and the noise is driving me crazy! I don’t know what to do. Owners say they don’t hear a thing and it was properly installed. I feel the only way forward is to sell up and move house. Help!

Don't worry.

Once you get yours, you won't be able to hear theirs.

michaels

BoYaNY73 said:

I live next door to a ASHP system and the noise is driving me crazy! I don’t know what to do. Owners say they don’t hear a thing and it was properly installed. I feel the only way forward is to sell up and move house. Help!

Probably start with a phone app to get some idea of the difference in ambient noise levels when it is off as opposed to on, ideally measured 1m outside the nearest room window (room needs to be a bedroom or lounge not a bathroom or kitchen).  If you get a result above 40db then the pump may not be compliant.  The phone apps are not very accurate but might give you an idea of whether there is possibly a case to answer.  If there is I guess go to noise abatement at the local council.

Reed_Richards

I don't find heat pumps to be any noisier than the noise from the flue of a condensing boiler.  But it's a different noise; perhaps some people find it less tolerable?.  

Spoonie_Turtle

Reed_Richards said:

I don't find heat pumps to be any noisier than the noise from the flue of a condensing boiler.  But it's a different noise; perhaps some people find it less tolerable?.  

I really think people are sensitive to different frequencies too.  There's a noise in the night where we live that drives me barmy at times (that I used to think was a grain dryer on the local farm, but it's been going through this winter which wouldn't make sense) but the rest of my family don't know what I'm talking about.

[Thank goodness for noise-cancelling headphones - not money-saving, but I was fortunate to be able to afford them (not just for this noise, for lots of other parts of life) and my sanity is more than worth the cost!]

NedS

Reed_Richards said:

I don't find heat pumps to be any noisier than the noise from the flue of a condensing boiler.  But it's a different noise; perhaps some people find it less tolerable?.  

I think most of the noise comes from the compressor, and I've read reports of certain models of heat pump which owners seem to report as noisy. Whether that's due to a particular component, I don't know. But like you I find my heat pump to be less noisy than my neighbours boiler flue unless it's running flat out at the end of a DHW run.

Fans shouldn't make any noise unless the bearings have gone.

matelodave

I cant hear the compressor at all on my heaatpump (14 year old Daikin) unless I rest my ear on the casing, likewise the only noise is from air passing through the fan blades which can increase depending on the wind direction and if its working hard. There is no mechanical noise. Sometimes there's a hiss as a valve operates. 

They nearly all have either rotary or scroll compressors which are almost silent compared to reciprocating compressors like those fitted in fridges and freezers.

Its not totally silent but I can stand next to my outside unit and hear the roar from the oil boiler across the other side of the road.

NedS

matelodave said:

I cant hear the compressor at all on my heaatpump (14 year old Daikin) unless I rest my ear on the casing, likewise the only noise is from air passing through the fan blades which can increase depending on the wind direction and if its working hard. There is no mechanical noise. Sometimes there's a hiss as a valve operates. 

They nearly all have either rotary or scroll compressors which are almost silent compared to reciprocating compressors like those fitted in fridges and freezers.

Its not totally silent but I can stand next to my outside unit and hear the roar from the oil boiler across the other side of the road.

OK, that sounds potentially different to mine. The noise from mine definitely sounds more 'mechanical' in nature, like a motor than fan noise. Doesn't sound like bearings (and shouldn't as the unit is new) and definitely doesn't sound like movement of air. The pitch changes as the unit ramps up (which of course doesn't discount fans/movement of air as the fan speed probably increases too), leading me to believe it's the compressor, but definitely quieter than next doors roaring oil boiler under normal load.

matelodave

If yours is a monobloc then you probably have the circulation pump in there as well - mine is in the indoor hydrobox but its no more noisy than the circulating pump in the gas boiler we had in our previous home (in fact it looks pretty much the same)

BoYaNY73

It’s not the outside units that disturb me . I can stand next to them and hear nothing. It’s the noise throughout the whole of inside the house that is impossible to live with

QrizB

BoYaNY73 said:

It’s not the outside units that disturb me . I can stand next to them and hear nothing. It’s the noise throughout the whole of inside the house that is impossible to live with

Inside their house?

Or inside your house?