ᐅ Noise from Outdoor Units of Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery – Are There Regulations Regarding Noise Levels at Specific Times?
Created on: 15 Sep 2016 14:54
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Illo77- Hello everyone, Is there any regulation regarding the times when a mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery is allowed to operate and when not, or on which settings it may run?
We are currently having quite a bit of trouble with one of our neighbors, who becomes very upset as soon as the system runs on level 3 or level 4. According to the manufacturer, level 1 should only be used when the house is unoccupied (for example, during vacations), levels 2 to 3 are for normal operation (we usually use level 2), and level 4 is for situations like guests, drying laundry, cooking, showering, bathing, and so on.
In the summer, we run the system on level 3 in the late afternoon or early evening (depending on the day) to bring the relatively cooler outside air from the east side (where the intake is located) into the upstairs rooms (children’s rooms). Otherwise, it gets very hot in there, and since the children go to bed early, the windows can’t be opened — partly because of the risk of the child climbing out the window, but also because it becomes too bright in the room, not to mention the evening sun shining on the laminate floor, which then radiates heat back into the room overnight. This regularly leads to angry complaints from the neighbor. I work at a care facility for people with disabilities and have already been asked by my neighbor whether I work there or am a client myself, and that my poor child unfortunately can’t choose his parents, etc.
Anyway, the installer was already here and said everything is okay (it could have been a problem with the system).
Now the question, which no one has been able to answer for me so far: Is there a general regulation specifically for systems like this (similar to rules for operating a lawn mower, for example, only until 8 p.m.) that limits noise or operational levels at certain times? Or does only the general noise protection ordinance apply, or whatever its official name is? Maybe someone knows more about this. I only know someone working at the environmental authority who said this is an increasing issue right now (also regarding air source heat pumps).
The house was built in 2013, the system is a Vallox 090sc, the device is installed in the attic on the inside of the east gable wall, with the air intake and exhaust vents located on the exterior of the gable wall, combined in one unit (a wide slot for one and a large downward-facing opening for the other; I’m not sure which is intake and which is exhaust).
And yes, I know it’s not an air conditioner, but the benefit in summer is definitely the cooler outside air, and according to the manufacturer, level 3 is still “normal” operation; we have only used level 4 during winter when we had guests. However, I’m not sure how big the difference between level 3 and 4 actually is.
Oh, and the location is Schleswig-Holstein.
Best regards
ypg schrieb:
How many decibels are we talking about? How much actually reaches the neighbor?
Honestly? It doesn’t matter.
If it were important, the neighbor would have already measured it themselves and possibly taken legal action based on the results. So what’s the point if the original poster now wants to measure it at the neighbor’s place? The neighbor will probably refuse. They likely have no interest in objectively assessing the problem. Too loud is just too loud. No medical certificate will change that. They’ll only be satisfied when the noise source is completely gone. And that’s unrealistic. haters gonna hate
I’d save the money—those two won’t be friends anymore anyway.
We also found our neighbor’s mechanical ventilation system for residential spaces to be too loud. It is now set to level 1, and we are satisfied with that. At level 2, we measured 67 dB near our garden fence at night. In terms of noise, this was, in my opinion, comparable to the outdoor unit of an air conditioner and definitely too loud. At level 1, you can only hear a quiet rustling sound near the air outlet if you focus on it. So, I can understand why neighbors might be upset about it. However, I believe there are systems that were simply not installed or adjusted properly. In new housing developments, I have now passed by such air outlets several times and have only rarely heard a louder system.
Best regards,
Sabine
Best regards,
Sabine
Hi,
67 dB??? Does it have a turbine or the trumpets of Jericho installed? In our (industrial) facilities, we have to comply with 68-70 dB as a work environment limit! That would be extremely loud, but I can’t imagine it suddenly being quiet at setting 1...
How did you measure it?
Best regards,
Andreas
Curly schrieb:
We measured 67 dB (at night) right next to our garden fence on setting 2.
67 dB??? Does it have a turbine or the trumpets of Jericho installed? In our (industrial) facilities, we have to comply with 68-70 dB as a work environment limit! That would be extremely loud, but I can’t imagine it suddenly being quiet at setting 1...
How did you measure it?
Best regards,
Andreas
The system was really that loud; a running car was quieter. You could clearly hear the mechanical ventilation system 30m (100 feet) away in the garden, but I think there is some kind of fault. Maybe the duct diameter is too small or no silencers were installed. As I said, one setting lower it is very quiet, for whatever reason.
Best regards
Sabine
Best regards
Sabine
Alex85 schrieb:
Honestly? It doesn’t matter.
If it were important, the neighbor would have already measured themselves and taken legal action based on the results, for example. So what’s the point if the original poster now wants to measure at the neighbor’s property? The neighbor will likely refuse anyway. They probably have no interest in objectively verifying their complaint. Too loud is too loud. A medical certificate won’t help. They will only be satisfied when the noise source is completely gone. And that’s unrealistic.
hatters gonna hate
I’d save your money; those two won’t become friends anyway.This is not at all irrelevant, because it’s the only thing that can be measured.
But you seem to have misunderstood my post, since I did not suggest the original poster take measurements themselves. I rather assume the installer will be able to provide figures during the inspection, or else the complaining neighbor will.
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